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Master of American History and Government
Ashland University
AHG 642:
Political Parties
Sunday, July 27 to Friday, August 1, 2008
Instructors: Sidney Milkis and Marc Landy
Course Focus:
This course focuses on the development of the American Party System from its origins in the 1830's up to the present day. It describes the critical transformations that the parties have undergone and the challenging political circumstances they currently face. It explains the role of parties in maintaining the decentralized political system of the 19th Century and in building the administrative state of the 20th Century. Because Congress is the arena for so much of the interplay between parties at the national level, special attention is paid to the relationship between Congress and the parties, especially in the past few decades.
Learning Objectives:
- Students will understand the key principles that undergird the American Party System.
- Students will understand the relationship between the Constitution and political parties
- Students will examine the relationship between political parties and Congress
- Students will examine the origins and development of the party system and of the two major political parties
- Students will examine the transformational shift in the structure and dynamics of the parties that took place in the 1960's and 1970's.
- Students will examine the key political dynamics at play in the contemporary party system.
- Students will contemplate alternative possibilities regarding the future of
American party politics
Course Requirements:
- Students will take an in-class final examination.
Students auditing the course as a part of a Teaching American History Grant program must complete the readings and fully participate in the seminars during the week.
Required Texts:
- Richard Hofstadter, The Idea of a Party System, U. CAL Press, paperback
- Sidney Milkis, Political Parties and Constitutional Government: Remaking American Democracy The Johns Hopkins University Press, paperback
- A. James Reichley, The Life of the Parties, Rowman and Littlefield
- Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, ed. Terrence McDonald, paperback
- Ronald Brownstein, The Second Civil War, Penguin Press, hardback
- Readings with "TAH" in parentheses are online at the TAH website
Schedule
Sunday, July 27
4:30 - 6:00pm:
Session 1 – Parties and American Democracy
Focus:
What were the leading views of political parties in Great Britain and America in the 18th Century? Which of these views were most important in the United States at the time of the Founding? What role have political parties played in American political life? (Can they be described as civic associations?) What role have critical partisan realignments played in the development of American politics? How have parties influenced the evolution of Congress?
Readings:
- Hofstadter, Chapter 1
- Milkis, Chapter 1
- Reichley, Chapter 1
- Walter Dean Burnham, "Party Systems and the Political Process," in Walter Dean Burnham and William Nisbet Chambers, The American Party Systems: Stages of Development (Oxford University Press, 1967)
- Mann and Ornstein, 1-46
7:30 - 9:00pm:
Session 2 – Ashbrook Lecture (Attendance Required)
Monday, July 28
9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 3 – The Constitution-Against-Parties
Focus:
What does Hofstadter mean in claiming that America has a "constitution-against-parties"? In Federalist 10, Madison makes a distinction between republican and democratic government - how will republican government, as embodied by the Constitution, moderate partisanship? Madison identifies the task of breaking and controlling the "violence of faction" as a principal objective of the Constitution - what is the relationship between parties and factions? Does the American Constitution privilege a two-party system?
Readings:
10:50am - 12:20pm:
Session 4 – Party Politics in Early America, Part I: Jeffersonian Democracy
Focus:
How did Madison, perhaps the leading architect of the "constitution-against-parties," come to play a principal part in the founding of the Jefferson Republican party (Did he change his mind about the Constitution?) What is the "idea of a party system"? Did the Republicans and Federalists embrace this idea? Has Washington's warning about the dangers of party politics been heeded through American history?
Readings:
- Milkis, 13-22
- Reichley, Chapter 3
- Hofstadter, Chapters 3 & 4
- George Washington, "Farewell Address" (TAH)
4:30 - 6:00pm:
Session 5 – Party Politics in Early America, Part II: The Rise of the Jacksonian Democrats
Focus:
What lessons can be drawn from the "Era of Good Feelings" about the relationship between American democracy and the political parties? What are the similarities and differences between Jeffersonian Democracy and Jacksonian Democracy? What role did local self-government play in the development of the American party system?
Readings:
- Milkis, pp. 22-34
- Reichley, Chapter 4
- Hofstadter, Chapter 5
- Richard John, "Affairs of Office: The Executive Departments, the Election of 1828, and the Making of the Democratic Party," in Julian Zelizer and Meg Jacobs, The Democratic Experiment: New Directions in American Political History (Princeton University Press, 2003)
Tuesday, July 29
9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 6 – Toward A Party System
Focus:
How did the Democrats and Whigs transform party politics into a party system? What role did Martin Van Buren play in advancing the development of the American party system? Did the party system that emerged during the first three decades of the twentieth century transform the original Constitution?
Readings:
- Reichley, Chapter 5
- Hofstadter, Chapter 6
- James Ceaser, Presidential Selection: Theory and Development (Princeton University Press, 1979), Chapter 3
- Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Volume I, Part 2, Chapter 2; Volume II, Part 2, Chapters 4, 5, 7.
10:50am - 12:20pm:
Session 7 – The Rise of the Republican Party and Lincoln
Focus:
How did the rise of Republican Party affect the development of the American party system? Was Lincoln a statesman or party broker? Can these roles be reconciled? Did the Civil War Realignment remake American Politics?
Readings:
- Milkis, pp. 34-41
- Reichley, Chapter 6
- Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln, Debate at Freeport (TAH)
- Marc Landy and Sidney M. Milkis, Presidential Greatness (Kansas University Press, 2000), Chapter 5
4:30 - 6:00pm:
Session 8 – Machine Politics
Focus:
What is a political machine? Did these organizations invigorate or corrupt American democracy? Why did reformers like Mary Simkovitch and Jane Addams see some value in machine politics?
Readings:
- Reichley, Chapter 7
- Plunkitt of Tammany Hall (entire)
- Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch, "Friendship and Politics," Political Science Quarterly, vol. 17, no. 2 (June 1902)
- Jane Addams, "Why the Ward Boss Rules," Outlook LVIII (April 2, 1898), 879-882
Wednesday, July 30
9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 9 – The 1896-1912 Election and Beyond: From Populism to Progressivism
Focus:
What was the Populist Party all about? Did the Populists co-opt the Democrats or did the Democrats co-opt the Populists in 1896? How did William Jennings Bryan function as party leader. What great changes did Mark Hanna bring to party organization and electioneering. Should Hanna be called the father of the modern American political party?
Readings:
10:50am - 12:20pm:
Session 10 – 1912-1918: The Heyday of Progressivism
Focus:
How did the Republicans and Democrats change during the Progressive Era, how did they stay the same? What did the Progressive Party Stand For? Why were Progressives so hostile to parties? How did TR and Woodrow Wilson function as party leaders? Why did both parties become less progressive after WWI?
Readings:
4:30 - 6:00pm:
Session 11 – 1918-1936: The Making of the New Deal Democratic Party
Focus:
Why did the Democratic Party languish in the 1920's? Why was Al Smith nominated in 1928? What was composition of the Democratic Party coalition in the 1920's? What was the composition of the Republican Party coalition? What key changes took place within the Democratic Party culminating in the 1936 landslide? Why was FDR nominated in 1932. How did FDR function as a party leader? What was the role of the Democratic Party in forging the modern administrative state?
Readings:
Thursday, July 31
9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 12 – 1936-1968: The Entrenchment of the New Deal Democratic Party
Focus:
After 1936, what were the critical lines of factional cleavage within each of the 2 parties? Why did Truman win the 1948 election? Why did Kennedy win the 1960 Democratic Party nomination? Why did Goldwater win the 1964 Republican nomination? What was the relationship of each party to the burgeoning administrative state?
Readings:
- Reichley, Chapters 14-16
- Brownstein, Chapters 1-3
10:50am - 12:20pm:
Session 13 – 1968-1992 The Rebirth of the Republican Party
Focus:
What caused the end of Democratic Party dominance? What was the state of party rivalry in the 1970's? What was the nature of Reagan's party leadership? What were the key lines of cleavage within each of the 2 parties? How did the Democratic party influence congressional reform in the 1970's and vice versa? What strategy did Gingrich adopt as leader of the Republican minority in Congress.
Readings:
- Milkis, 103-136
- Reichley, Chapters 17-20
- Brownstein, Chapters 4-5
4:30 - 6:00pm:
Session 14 – 1992-2006: Clinton Democrats - Gingrich and Bush Republicans
Focus:
What was the impact of the third party on the 1992 election? How did Clinton try to change the Democratic Party?How did he function as party leader? Why did the Republicans win the 1994 congressional elections. How did Gingrich try to change the Republican Party. What was the role of party in the Clinton impeachment? How has party served to influence the behavior of Republicans in Congress post 2000? How has Bush functioned as a party leader? Why did the Democrats win the 2006 elections? Why do Mann and Ornstein say that there has been a decline in the "institutional identity" of Congress.
Readings:
Friday, August 1
9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 15 – 2006 and Beyond: The Future of Party Politics
Focus:
How does the past history of party politics help us to understand the present? Can it help predict the future? What are the most important lines of cleavage within each of the two parties. How do the themes and rhetoric adopted by the leading presidential candidates in each party help us to understand the current state of party dynamics?
Readings:
- Milkis, 174-186
- Brownstein, Chapter 10
10:50am - 12:20pm:
Session 16 – Review & Questions
1:30 - 3:00pm:
Session 17 – Final Comprehensive Examination
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