The Breakdown of Democratic Party Organization, 1940-1980

For this Clarendon Paperbacks edition, Dr. Ware has written a new introductory note relating his arguments to those of three recently published books in this area. American Democratic parties have traditionally drawn their strength from local party organizations. This book examines the origins of the spectacular collapse of local party organizations in the United States between the early 1960s and the mid-1970s. It is the first major study of organizational decay at the local level. Dr...
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For this Clarendon Paperbacks edition, Dr. Ware has written a new introductory note relating his arguments to those of three recently published books in this area. American Democratic parties have traditionally drawn their strength from local party organizations. This book examines the origins of the spectacular collapse of local party organizations in the United States between the early 1960s and the mid-1970s. It is the first major study of organizational decay at the local level. Dr Ware draws attention to the problems faced by many local parties in America during this period, concentrating on Democratic parties in three major urban areas - New York City, which previously had strong parties; East Bay in California, which has always had weak parties; and Denver, which is an intermediate case. He argues that the collapse in the 1960s resulted from the complex interaction of various factors, and left the parties ill-equipped to deal with intra-party competition and the quickening of social, economic, and political changes during the unsettled Vietnam era. 'a very thoughtful review and analysis of the substance and the causes of party decline.' UTimes Higher Educational Supplement'intellectually stimulating and exceptionally well-informed. Political Science QuarterlyThis replaces the hardback edition, published in September 1985