Goals of the Course Students of politics have traditionally assigned to political parties a critical role in the successful functioning of western democracies. Thus in his classic 1944 study, E.E. Schattschneider boldly asserted this claim. The rise of political parties is indubitably one of the principal distinguishing marks of modern government. Although most political scientists still ascribe an essential role for political parties in a democratic order, the cultural, legal, and political environment of the United States has been less than hospitable for parties. Like George Washington, most Americans are suspicious of parties and they have been less and less guided by partisanship in making election day choices.
Parties also operate under severe statutory regulations that restrict their operations.
By the standards of most European political systems, American political parties are comparatively weak within the government and in their ability to control policy making. Despite the constraints under which they operate and the rapidity of economic, social, and political change in the post-World War II years, American parties have demonstrated an amazing level of adaptability and durability. Party organizations, which were thought by many informed observers to be withering away in the 1960s and 1970s, today are in showing renewed signs of vitality. Cannon at the turn of the century. Even though there are these positive indicators of party strength, there are also worrisome signs for the Democratic and Republican parties and the two party system.