The Losing Parties: Out-Party National Committees, 1956-1993

Philip Klinkner is The James S. Sherman Professor of Government at Hamilton College More ...
Margaret Morgan-Davie is Lecturer in Economics at Hamilton College More ...
Yale University Press

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Drawing on party documents, interviews with party officials, and contemporary accounts, Philip Klinkner provides detailed case studies of opposition party politics. He shows that Republican national committees have reacted to loses by making organizational changes to improve campaign technology and fundraising and that losing Democrats have sought to refine or make more democratic their internal procedures for selecting delegates to the national convention or for choosing presidential candidates. Klinkner suggests that the reasons for these reactions stem from the historical development of the parties. the organizational response of the Republican party is the result of its long-term relationship with business, its homogeneity and hierarchical structure, and its minority party experience. The Democrats' emphasis on participation and representation for its constituent elements is based on its characteristic composition of social and economic out-groups, its heterogeneity and decentralization, and its tradition as the majority party.
Yale University Press

Reviews

"An important and distinctive contribution to the study of party politics. The case studies of national committees are rich and informative and the writing style is both clear and readable."
-Leon D. Epstein, University of Wisconsin-Madison