Watch the Videos and read the required text I provide to answer each questions separately
What incentives do politicians have to join parties, rather than run and govern as independents?
What is the difference between a “weak” party and a “strong” party?
Were American parties strong or weak in the 1950s and 1960s? Are parties stronger, weaker, or about the same today?
What is “racial realignment”? How has it changed the composition of American parties since the 1950s and 1960s?
Reading list
Mon, Aug 24 Parties I • Textbook, Chapter 5: Parties and Leaders
Reader, Chapter 15: “Setting the Agenda” (by Cox & McCubbins)
Reader, Chapter 16: “Party Influence in Congress” (by Steven Smith)
Tues, Aug 25 Parties II • Canvas: Hetherington, M. J. (2009). Review article: Putting polarization in
perspective. British Journal of Political Science, 39(2), 413–448.
Malone, Clare. “The Republican Choice.” June 24, 2020.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-republican-choice/
Video link https://tinyurl.com/y6chqdu8