political parties

Lichtman: Polarization Makes Dynastic Politics Less Prominent

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks to Allan Lichtman, a professor of history at American University, about Liz Cheney's political career after her Wyoming primary loss, and the political dynasties.

What Are Parties For?

by Jan-Werner Müller

The Republican Party has outsourced the work of policymaking to a handful of billionaire-funded think tanks, leading to an incoherent platform of plutocratic populism and a party structure that cannot debate and advance new ideas, says a top scholar of comparative politics. 

How the Black Vote Became a Monolith

by Theodore R. Johnson

Despite the political diversity within Black America, the political system's accommodation of bigotry and the political utility of appeals to white identity have pushed the overwhelming majority of Black voters to cast ballots for the same party. 

Are We More Divided Now Than Ever Before? (Review)

A political scientist argues that today's polarization is enabled by the collapse of political diversity within the major parties, not by an especially ideological electorate.

Why America Is Stuck With Only Two Parties

by Micah L. Sifry

If the United States ever gets a major new political party, it won’t be built by think tank denizens.

Do America’s political parties matter in presidential elections?

by Richard M. Valelly

The evolution of the presidential selection system suggests not that American political parties abandoned a key function of party politics sometime in the 1970s, that is, the task of picking the presidential nominee.

A Plea for Political Moderation

by Vaughn Davis Bornet

Moderates are a depressingly vanishing breed... and in the absence of moderates, extremism, anger, and shrillness rule the day.

Why Do So Many Americans Hate Politics?

by Thomas Patterson

The nastiness of American politics is keeping voters from the polls.