No Middle Ground How Informal Party Organizations Control Nominations and Polarize Legislatures Masket, Seth E.

Masket, Seth E.

ISBN 10: 0472116894 / ISBN 13: 9780472116898

Published by Univ of Michigan Pr, 2009

About this Item

Used Item. Does not include New Access Codes , Cd's or one time use items that come when New. This item is Used.

Seller Inventory # 047203467713122-KEPA-1213230434

Bibliographic Details

• Title: No Middle Ground How Informal Party Organizations Control Nominations and Polarize Legislatures Masket, Seth E.
• Publisher: Univ of Michigan Pr
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0472116894
• ISBN 13: 9780472116898
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

"This is a fascinating book. It is one of the best studies of the ways that parties and politics get conducted in any American state. Masket shows that legislators can be perfectly content without parties that control agendas and does a terrific job of explaining the transition from free-wheeling legislators to rigidly partisan voting blocs."
---Sam Popkin, University of California at San Diego

"No Middle Ground makes a significant contribution to the study of American parties and legislative politics."
---Matthew Green, Catholic University of America

Despite concerns about the debilitating effects of partisanship on democratic government, in recent years political parties have gained strength in state governments as well as in Washington. Whereas political machines of the past manipulated votes, today's machines determine which candidates can credibly compete in a primary.

Focusing on the history and politics of California, Seth E. Masket reveals how these machines evolved and how they stay in power by directing money, endorsements, and expertise to favored candidates, who often tend toward the ideological extreme. Masket argues that politicians are not inherently partisan. Instead, partisanship is thrust upon them by actors outside the government with the power to manipulate primary elections.

Seth E. Masket is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Denver.

About the Author

Seth E. Masket is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Denver.