Noted scholar Jeffrey Stonecash gives us a big picture analysis that helps us understand what is happening in contemporary party politics. He explains that parties behave the way they do because of existing political conditions and how parties adapt to those conditions as they prepare for the next election.

Talk of politics in the United States is abuzz with warring red and blue factions. The message is that Americans are split due to deeply-held beliefs - over abortion, gay marriage, stem-cell research, and prayer in public schools. Is this cultural divide a myth, the product of elite partisans? This work argues that the cultural divisions are real.

This study proposes and assesses an alternative explanation of the changes in the relationship between presidential and House of Representatives election results during the last century. Jeffrey M. Stonecash argues that the separation of presidential and House election results that occurred from the 1960s to 1980 was a party-driven process, with both parties seeking to change their electoral base. Republicans sought a more conservative electoral base to counter what they saw as disturbing liberal trends in the nation. Democrats sought to reduce their reliance on the South and its...