 | Political Parties and the State: The American Historical Experience Subjects: Political parties -- United States -- History; Politics Practical -- United States -- History; United States -- Politics and government; This book collects a number of Martin Shefter's most important articles on political parties. They address three questions: Under what conditions will strong party organizations emerge? What influences the character of parties--in particular, their reliance on patronage? In what circumstances will the parties that formerly dominated politics in a nation or city come under attack? Shefter's work exemplifies the "new institutionalism" in political science, arguing that the reliance of parties on patronage is a function not so much of mass political culture as of their relationship with public bureaucracies. Martin Shefter is Professor of Government at Cornell University. He is author of Political Crisis/Fiscal Crisis: The Collapse and Revival of New York City (Columbia), co-author, with Benjamin Ginsberg, of Politics by Other Means: The Declining Importance of Elections in America (Basic Books), and editor of Capital of the American Century: The National and International Influence of New York City (Russell Sage). |
