"American exceptionalism" is the scholarly term for the common perception that there is something different about American life, stemming from the origins of the United States and its subsequent evolution, and marking it off from the experience of other developed nations. There is a long, rich, and varied argument about this perception, its reality, and its component elements. In Is America Different?, major scholars from the realms of history, politics, economics, and sociology return to the question in the light of changes in the last thirty years and debate an answer which is appropriate...
"American exceptionalism" is the scholarly term for the common perception that there is something different about American life, stemming from the ori...
Electoral realignment, referring originally to a major shift in party preference within the general public, has been one of the most successful theories in modern social science. Since V.O. Key introduced the theory in the 1950s, it has been the reigning explanation for patterns of electoral behaviour in American history, but it has stimulated a great deal of debate. The End of Realignment? provides a forum for differing viewpoints in this debate. Six political scientists and historians question whether the theory of realignment can explain electoral developments both of the post-1968 period...
Electoral realignment, referring originally to a major shift in party preference within the general public, has been one of the most successful theori...
This concise, comparative history looks at politics in the nations collectively known as the Group of Seven the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and Italy from the end of the Second World War to the end of the Cold War. Emphasizing political eras and political orders, editor Byron E. Shafer and the contributing authors use an identical framework for each nation as they consider its political evolution and the structures that shaped it. No other book offers this comparative reach or this common framework, making Postwar Politics in the G-7 useful for both students...
This concise, comparative history looks at politics in the nations collectively known as the Group of Seven the United States, Canada, Britain, France...
In this defining statement about the state of the discipline, a "who's who" of prominent scholars addresses and critiques the entire sweep of American political history. Exemplifying the revitalizing power of the "new political history" and its renewed emphasis on large "P" politics, these writers have combined to produce an illuminating synthesis of the most recent work in the field. Focusing upon both the major policy issues in the politics of each period (substance) and the major social forces shaping politics (structure), these essays chronicle and evaluate the evolution of American...
In this defining statement about the state of the discipline, a "who's who" of prominent scholars addresses and critiques the entire sweep of American...
In this defining statement about the state of the discipline, a "who's who" of prominent scholars addresses and critiques the entire sweep of American political history. Exemplifying the revitalizing power of the "new political history" and its renewed emphasis on large "P" politics, these writers have combined to produce an illuminating synthesis of the most recent work in the field. Focusing upon both the major policy issues in the politics of each period (substance) and the major social forces shaping politics (structure), these essays chronicle and evaluate the evolution of American...
In this defining statement about the state of the discipline, a "who's who" of prominent scholars addresses and critiques the entire sweep of American...
Where did the Era of Divided Government come from? What sustains split partisan control of the institutions of American national government year after year? Why can it shift so easily from Democratic or Republican presidencies, coupled with Republican or Democratic Congresses? How can the vast array of issues and personalities that have surfaced in American politics over the last forty years fit so neatly within-indeed, reinforce-the sustaining political pattern of our time? These big questions constitute the puzzle of modern American politics. The old answer--a majority and a minority...
Where did the Era of Divided Government come from? What sustains split partisan control of the institutions of American national government year after...
Why do voters so often exhibit patterns of policy preference vastly different from what analysts and strategists predict? And why do these same voters consistently cast ballots that ensure the continuation of -divided government?-
In The Two Majorities Byron Shafer and William Claggett offer groundbreaking political analysis that resolves many of the seeming contradictions in the contemporary American political scene.
Provocatively, the authors argue that each party's best strategy for success is not to try to take popular positions on the whole range of issues, but to...
Why do voters so often exhibit patterns of policy preference vastly different from what analysts and strategists predict? And why do these same vot...
The transformation of Southern politics after World War II changed the political life not just of this distinctive region, but of the entire nation. Until now, the critical shift in Southern political allegiance from Democratic to Republican has been explained, by scholars and journalists, as a white backlash to the civil rights revolution.
In this myth-shattering book, Byron Shafer and Richard Johnston refute that view, one stretching all the way back to V. O. Key in his classic book Southern Politics. The true story is instead one of dramatic class reversal, beginning in...
The transformation of Southern politics after World War II changed the political life not just of this distinctive region, but of the entire nation...
What is the real nature of substantive conflict in mass politics during the postwar years in the United States? How is it reflected in the American public mind? And how does this issue structure shape electoral conflict? William J. M. Claggett and Byron E. Shafer answer by developing measures of public preference in four great policy realms social welfare, international relations, civil rights, and cultural values for the entire period between 1952 and 2004. They use these to identify the issues that were moving the voting public at various points in time, while revealing the way in which...
What is the real nature of substantive conflict in mass politics during the postwar years in the United States? How is it reflected in the American pu...
Asking whether, to what extent, and in what ways parties and partisanship have contributed to political and social change, Shafer leads a panel of distinguished scholars who approach the postwar political story of the US by focusing on party officeholders, party factions, party elites, party organizations, mass partisanship and partisan rules.
Asking whether, to what extent, and in what ways parties and partisanship have contributed to political and social change, Shafer leads a panel of dis...
