Party Activists In Southern Politics

The implications of these and other significant realignments - especially as reflected among grassroots activists in the two major parties - are the focus of this valuable new book.

" The South continues to be the most distinctive region in American politics. Over the last half century, Democratic dominance in the South has given way to the emergence of a truly competitive two-party system that leans Republican in presidential elections. In some ways, the region is increasingly like the rest of the country, yet even the degree of change and the speed with which it occurred give the South a distinctive air. The contributors to Southern Political Party Activists examine both the development of American political party organizations and the changing political character of the South, focusing on grassroots party activists-those who are involved in party organizations at the county level. John A. Clark is associate professor of political science at Western Michigan University. Charles L. Prysby is professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Maps the ways political parties remain vital components in the American political system, especially in the eleven states in the South As Tocqueville noted more than 100 years ago, “No countries need associations more . . . than those with a democratic social state.” Although some contemporary observers see a decline in associations, especially in the political sphere, the contributors in this volume argue not only that political parties remain an essential component of the American political system but also that grassroots political groups have revitalized the political process, especially in the South. Using data gathered from local party officials in the eleven southern states, the authors examine such key issues as: Who becomes involved in local party organizations and why? How do parties recruit and retain workers? What are the ideological and issue orientations of these activists? How does intraparty factionalism affect local party organizations? What is the connection between the party organization and its external environment? The large regional database provides these contributors with the opportunity to extend the study of local party organization and activists, thus addressing some of the significant gaps in previous research. The additional data enable them to clarify the nature of local party organizations and, in a larger sense, the role of the parties in the contemporary American political system.

This groundbreaking volume describes and analyzes grassroots political party organizations in the South. Based upon surveys of county political party committee activists, conducted for the Southern Grassroots Party Activists Project and funded by the National Science Foundation, the work examines each of the 11 Southern states. Each chapter in the book, written by a scholar from the particular state, describes the general political history of that state over the 1954-1992 period, and then details state party organizations and activists—activists' backgrounds, politics, motivations for party activism, and party organization maintenance. The data and analysis presented depict political changes in the South, at both the state and national level, and provide for fascinating comparisons from state to state in the solid South.

Tracing the changes taking place in the South, this volume identifies their broader consequences. The South is undergoing a political revolution--from issueless politics to one of the most issue-oriented sets of party coalitions and policy alternatives in the nation. These studies explore fundamental aspects of the changing system. Concerns include the role of elite studies in understanding mass politics, the increasing institutionalization of American politics particularly as effected by 1970 nominating reforms; and the realignment of southern politics, its present condition, and its consequences for both southern and national politics.

Scholars, journalists, writers, and pundits have long regarded the South as the nation's most politically distinctive region. Its culture, history, and social and economic institutions have fostered unique political ideas that intrigue observers and have had profound political consequences for the nation's citizens, politicians, and policymakers. Writing Southern Politics is the most comprehensive review of the large body of post–World War II literature on southern politics. Since the publication of V.O. Key Jr.'s landmark work, Southern Politics in State and Nation (1949), scholars have produced an astounding number of books, monographs, professional journal articles, and research papers addressing elements of continuity and change in southern politics. The contributors to this book sort through the literature, identifying major themes, examining areas of scholarly disagreement, and making the key dimensions and contours of the region's politics understandable. Individually, the essays in this volume identify and clarify the key writing and research in selected subfields of southern politics, including religion, race, women, and political parties. Collectively, the essays identify and discuss the major components of and trends in southern politics over the past half century. The contributors, some of the foremost scholars in the field, have been heavily involved in researching and writing about southern politics during the past three decades and have observed the development of many of the research projects that form the foundation of southern political literature. In many instances, their own writings are included in the body of literature they discuss, bringing unique skills, research, and perspectives to their original essays. In addition to reviewing existing literature, Writing Southern Politics also includes suggestions for a future research agenda. Not all aspects of the region's dramatic fifty-year transformation have been fully explored, and the continuation of this development ensures new avenues to examine. The discussion of past research and writing is an invaluable tool for understanding the trends in southern politics over the past half century. By examining these trends and developing an agenda for future research, the authors provide a roadmap for identifying the changes that will likely shape the region over the next half century.

Interpreting extensive data gathered in eleven southern states during the 1992 presidential election, this book addresses a critical question about the democratic process: Do political parties still have a meaningful role to play in linking government and the governed? While some observers have written off modern parties--arguing that they have been supplanted by political action committees, social movements, candidate organizations, and the like--Michael Maggiotto and Gary Wekkin find that parties remain viable mediators between the wishes and values of the electorate and the policy behavior of those whom they elect. The authors base their conclusions on surveys conducted among a wide range of southern political participants in the 1992 election--from the eligible electorate to those constituting the various party elites, such as chairs and members of party committees and delegates to the national conventions. In analyzing the data, the authors proceed in three steps. First, they define party masses by party identification and expected vote and compare them to party elites using demographic, socioeconomic, and ideological factors. Second, they identify issue and ideological connections between party elites and masses. Third, they contextualize their findings by exploring the various political and socioeconomic environments within which elite-mass interaction occurs. This study is valuable for several reasons. Its southern focus adds to our understanding of a dynamic political culture in which patterns of party competition and loyalty have changed rapidly in recent decades. Also, it is the first such study to take into account the influence of demographic, institutional, and cultural variables on the ways in which parties cohere on issues. Finally, it reaches some intriguing conclusions. The authors find, for example, that issue-congruence within parties often has as much to do with internal factors, such as the strength of the party organization, as it does with external variables, such as race, religion, or level of education. In illuminating the continuing vitality of partisanship in American political life, this book will be studied and debated for years to come. The Authors: Michael A. Maggiotto is professor of political science and dean of the School of Letters and Sciences at the State University of New York, Brockport. He is co-editor (with Gary D. Wekkin, Donald E. Whistler, and Michael A. Kelley) of Building Democracy in One-Party Systems. Gary D. Wekkin is professor of political science at the University of Central Arkansas and author of Democrat versus Democrat: The National Party's Campaign to Close the Wisconsin Primary.

Winner of the 1999 V. O. Key Award, sponsored by Southern Political Science Association, these essays map the ways political parties remain vital components in the American political system, especially in the eleven states in the South.