The Social Bases of Political Parties

Based on 16 national surveys from 1952 to 2012, this book (1) describes—in colored charts—how the United States society has changed from 1952 to 2012 in terms of occupation, education, regional growth, urbanization, religion, ethnicity, and ideology; (2) summarizes how the patterns of social support for the Democratic and Republican parties have shifted with these changes; (3) indicates how the parties have articulated the political interests of their social bases in congressional voting in Congress; and (4) invites readers to speculate about the future of our two-party system in 2032 by offering their views in a national survey.