The Life of the Parties: History of American Political Parties - Tapa dura

Contrary to the widely held popular belief that today's major American political parties are ineffectual and virtually indistinguishable shells of their formerly glorious selves, A. James Reichley argues the case that Democrats and Republicans remain the best and most effective conduits for the contending ideological and social forces that define American political life. Reichley examines parties not only on the national but also state and local levels. While he documents the breakdown of the great political machines, the extreme damage done to the Democratic Party by the "amateur Democrats" in the 1970s and the media's role in hijacking the parties' historical function of screening and selecting candidates, he shows that hopeful signs for party revival exist. Pointing to the success of the Democrats under John Kennedy and the Republicans under Ronald Reagan, as well as a host of earlier figures from Abraham Lincoln to Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Reichley show that strong leaders who convey a clear sense of purpose can marshall party loyalty to overcome the countervailing forces undercutting the nation's political life.