PRINTED AND READY 4/14 - Political Party Systems Continued

TEST‑WORTHY MASTER NOTES — PARTY SYSTEMS, DEALIGNMENT, REALIGNMENT, CIVIL RIGHTS, & POLARIZATION

(All content derived from your lecture — citations included.)

I. What the Professor Wants You to Know

• This WILL be on the exam.

  “This is gonna be on the exam… I will expect you to understand what I’m talking about.”

• Past the 5th Party System, he is giving his interpretation, not settled consensus.

  “I am a participant in an ongoing scholarly debate… not everything is settled.”

FLAG FOR EXAM: You must understand his framing of realignment, dealignment, and salience, even though scholars debate it.

II. Key Terms

1. Salience ⭐

Definition: How important an issue feels to people.

2. Dealignment ⭐

Definition: People lose their party identification.

3. Realignment ⭐

Definition: People shift into a new party after dealigning.

4. Cross‑Cutting Issue ⭐

A new issue that cuts across existing party coalitions and reshuffles them.

III. The Party Systems (Professor’s Version)

1st Party System (Founding – 1828)

• Origin of parties.

2nd Party System (1828–1860)

• Origin of mass‑based parties.

• Democratic hegemony early on.

3rd & 4th Party Systems

• Not covered in detail.

5th Party System (1932–1968) — New Deal System ⭐

• Democratic hegemony.

• Coalition included:

  • Labor unions

  • Immigrants

  • African Americans in the North

  • The Solid South

• Economic issues were the salient axis (redistribution vs laissez‑faire).

  “During the fifth party system, the left–right spectrum on economic issues was the salient thing.”

6th Party System (1968–2001) — Dealignment & Realignment Era ⭐

• Triggered by civil rights becoming salient.

• Creates a cross‑cutting cleavage that splits both parties.

• Southern Democrats begin to leave the Democratic Party.

• Republicans move toward social conservatism to capture them.

7th Party System (2001–present) — Polarization Era ⭐

• Narrow margins, but when a party wins, it tends to win everything.

  “When a party wins, it tends to win everything.”

FLAG: We are ~25 years into this system → professor suggests we may be near another shift.

IV. The Solid South & Jim Crow (CRITICAL SECTION)

What Was the Solid South?

• Existed 1876–1964.

• An authoritarian enclave inside a democratic nation.

• Maintained through fraud and violence.

  Pitchfork Ben Tillman: “We solved the democracy problem through fraud and violence.”

Why It Mattered for Party Systems

• The Solid South was a pillar of the New Deal coalition.

• Civil rights fractured this coalition.

V. Civil Rights as the Cross‑Cutting Issue

Northern Democrats

• Left on economics

• Liberal on civil rights

Southern Democrats (Dixiecrats)

• Segregationists

• Conservative on civil rights

• Slightly right on economics

Northern Republicans

• Liberal on civil rights

• Laissez‑faire on economics

• Supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Western Republicans

• Laissez‑faire on economics

• Ambivalent on civil rights

• Concerned about “liberty of business owners.”

VI. The Southern Realignment (Professor’s Framing) ⭐

Key Events

• Civil Rights Act (1964) → Southern Democrats begin dealigning.

• Strom Thurmond switches parties immediately in 1964.

  “Strom Thurmond literally quits the Democratic Party in 1964 and immediately becomes a Republican.”

• Barry Goldwater (1964)

  • Opposed Civil Rights Act (not segregationist; federal overreach argument).

  • Wins the Deep South → first crack in the Solid South.

• George Wallace (1968)

  • Segregationist governor of Alabama.

  • Wins Southern states as a third‑party candidate.

Republican Strategy

• Nixon + Kevin Phillips → “Southern Strategy”

  “We need to make them Republicans… if we don’t, they’ll drift back to the Democrats.”

• Reagan launches 1980 campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, site of murdered civil rights workers → signals to Southern conservatives.

Democratic Strategy

• Moderate on economics to attract liberal Northern Republicans who felt alienated by GOP’s social conservatism.

VII. The Result: Modern Polarization

By early 2000s:

• Democrats = Left on economics + liberal on social issues

• Republicans = Right on economics + conservative on social issues

Polarization Pattern

• Narrow wins

• But unified control when a party wins

  • 2016 → GOP wins presidency + House + Senate

  • 2020 → Dems win presidency + House + Senate

  • 2024 → GOP wins presidency + House + Senate

VIII. Swing States

• Not new, but which states swing changes over time.

• Historically: Missouri & Ohio

• Today: different states

• Machines used to control state outcomes (Tammany Hall, Boston machine).

IX. Rigged Elections? (Professor’s Answer) ⭐

Two closest cases:

1. 1876

   • Compromise ends Reconstruction.

   • Troops withdrawn → used to crush 1877 railroad strike.

2. 2000 (Florida)

   • Governor = candidate’s brother

   • Sec. of State = campaign manager

   • Supreme Court justice appointed by candidate

   • “Some measure of shenanigans.”

2020 & 2024

• No evidence proven in court.

X. Why the New Deal System Collapsed

FLAG THIS — HIGH TEST PROBABILITY

1. Economic axis always exists.

2. Civil rights becomes new salient axis.

3. Creates cross‑cutting cleavage.

4. Splits both parties internally.

5. Leads to dealignment → realignment.

6. Ends with polarized two‑party system.

1. Difference Between Dealignment and Realignment

Dealignment:
People stop identifying with their old party. They drift away, feel disconnected, or become “independent.”
Key idea: Losing an old attachment.

Realignment:
People form a new party attachment after drifting. They settle into a new coalition.
Key idea: Gaining a new attachment.

In one sentence:
Dealignment = leaving your old party; Realignment = joining a new one.

⭐ 2. How Civil Rights Became a Cross‑Cutting Issue

Civil rights didn’t fit neatly into the old economic left–right divide.
It cut across both parties, splitting them internally:

• Northern Democrats → pro–civil rights

• Southern Democrats → segregationist

• Northern Republicans → pro–civil rights

• Western Republicans → skeptical of federal intervention

Because it divided both parties, it forced voters to rethink their loyalties — that’s what makes it cross‑cutting.

⭐ 3. Why the Solid South Was an Authoritarian Enclave

The Solid South was “authoritarian” because:

• One party (Democrats) dominated everything for nearly 90 years

• Black citizens were excluded from political life through Jim Crow

• Elections were maintained through fraud, intimidation, and violence

• There was no real competition — Republicans almost never won

It functioned like a non‑democratic region inside a democratic country.

⭐ 4. Trace the Southern Realignment (1948–1980)

1948:

• Dixiecrats break away over civil rights (Strom Thurmond runs third‑party).

1964:

• Civil Rights Act passes.

• Southern Democrats begin leaving the party.

• Goldwater (R) opposes the Act → wins Deep South.

1968:

• George Wallace runs as a segregationist third‑party candidate → wins Southern states.

1970s:

• Southern whites increasingly vote Republican at the presidential level.

1980:

• Reagan completes the shift by appealing to Southern conservatives.

• The South becomes the GOP’s core region.

⭐ 5. How Salience Shifts Create New Party Systems

A salience shift happens when a new issue becomes more important than the old ones.

Example:

• Before: economics was the main dividing line.

• After: civil rights becomes the most important issue.

When a new issue becomes the thing people care about most, the old party coalitions break apart and new ones form, creating a new party system.

⭐ 6. Coalition Structure of the New Deal System

The New Deal Democratic coalition included:

• Northern urban immigrants

• Labor unions

• African Americans in the North

• The Solid South (white segregationists)

• Farmers

• Working‑class voters

They were united mainly by economic issues — support for government programs and economic security.

⭐ 7. Why the Professor Thinks We May Be Near an 8th Party System

He argues:

• We’ve been in the 7th system (polarization era) for ~25 years

• Party systems tend to last a few decades

• Polarization is intense but unstable

• Narrow wins + unified control suggest a system under strain

• New issues (immigration, culture, technology, generational divides) may become new salient issues

In short:
We’re due for another major shift because the current system is stretched thin.

⭐ 8. Compare Northern vs Southern Democrats (1950s–60s)

Northern Democrats

• Liberal on civil rights

• Support federal intervention

• Urban, union‑based

• Economically left‑leaning

Southern Democrats (Dixiecrats)

• Segregationist

• Opposed civil rights legislation

• Economically moderate‑to‑conservative

• Dominated by white elites and Jim Crow systems

They were in the same party but ideologically incompatible.

⭐ 9. Role of Goldwater, Wallace, Nixon, and Reagan in Realignment

Barry Goldwater (1964)

• Opposed Civil Rights Act (federal overreach argument)

• Won the Deep South → first major GOP breakthrough

• Signaled the start of Southern Republicanism

George Wallace (1968)

• Ran as a segregationist third‑party candidate

• Won several Southern states

• Proved there was a large white conservative base ready to leave Democrats

Richard Nixon (1968–1972)

• “Southern Strategy”

• Appealed to white Southern conservatives through coded language (“law and order”)

• Pulled Southern whites into the GOP without openly endorsing segregation

Ronald Reagan (1980)

• Completed the realignment

• Appealed to Southern conservatives on social issues, religion, and small government

• South becomes reliably Republican