The election of 2016 prompted journalists and political scientists to write obituaries for the Republican Party—or prophecies of a new dominance. But it was all rather familiar. Whenever one of our two great parties has a setback, we've heard: "This is the end of the Democratic Party," or, "The Republican Party is going out of existence." Yet both survive, and thrive.
We have the oldest and third oldest political parties in the world—the Democratic Party founded in 1832 to reelect Andrew Jackson, the Republican Party founded in 1854 to oppose slavery in the territories. They are older than almost every American business, most American colleges, and many American churches. Both have seemed to face extinction in the past, and have rebounded to be competitive again. How have they managed it?
Michael Barone, longtime co-author of The Almanac of American Politics, brings a deep understanding of our electoral history to the question and finds a compelling answer. He illuminates how both parties have adapted, swiftly or haltingly, to shifting opinion and emerging issues, to economic change and cultural currents, to demographic flux. At the same time, each has maintained a constant character. The Republican Party appeals to "typical Americans" as understood at a given time, and the Democratic Party represents a coalition of "out-groups." They are the yin and yang of American political life, together providing vehicles for expressing most citizens' views in a nation that has always been culturally, religiously, economically, and ethnically diverse.
The election that put Donald Trump in the White House may have appeared to signal a dramatic realignment, but in fact it involved less change in political allegiances than many before, and it does not portend doom for either party. How America's Political Parties Change (and How They Don't) astutely explains why these two oft-scorned institutions have been so resilient.
Industry Reviews
"Michael Barone, who knows more than anyone else about American politics, punctures myths for a living. This slender volume, which is as sharp as a stiletto, demonstrates that America's political parties are remarkably-'astonishingly' is his word-both durable and adaptable."
-George F. Will
"This book could not be more timely, and Michael Barone, whose knowledge of American politics is beyond encyclopedic, is the man to write it. Taking us from the founding through the 2016 election, Barone's calm voice lifts us above the fray and shows us where we stand and how we got here."
-Charles Murray, Hayek Emeritus Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
"No one has been around the political wars longer, or observed with greater perceptiveness, than Michael Barone. In this illuminating study, he makes a powerful case that, for all the hysteria tied to politics today, our two major parties, among the world's most ancient, remain remarkably resilient. For most of our history, our binary political culture has been shape-shifting as alliances, constituencies, and programs change, yet there is far more continuity in the system than most of today's political journalists, lacking Barone's erudition and depth of knowledge, can comprehend. This is a necessary book for anyone trying to understand what has made our system, for all its faults, work over so many generations."
-Joel Kotkin, Presidential Fellow, Chapman University, and author of The Human City and The Coming of Neo-Feudalism
