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Dynamics of Development of American Political Parties
Pecka, Jiří ; Calda, Miloš (advisor) ; Raková, Svatava (referee) ; Hadley, Charles (referee)
Schizophrenia, it might be this psychiatric term that enters one's mind when an amateur observer is asked to describe the contemporary nature of major American political parties in one word. Such an uncomplimentary connotation has its rationale, and, at first sight, the American party system indeed may remotely remind of this ambivalent psychological disorder. Its "Jekyll and Hyde" character can be illustrated by the simple fact that, for example, before the 2000 presidential election, according to a Gallup Poll, 67 percent of the electorate supported the idea of a third party, but, at the very election, only 3.8 percent actually voted for a third party candidate.1 Also, Americans commonly complain that "there ain't a dime's worth of a difference between the political parties"2and they even compare them to two famous brothers from Lewis Carroll's Alice in the Wonderland - Tweedledum and Tweedledee; however, if we analyze the floor voting in recent Congresses, we can discern unprecedented high partisan voting patterns which demonstrate deep loyalties of the individual congressmen and senators to their parent party. Moreover, there exists a common feeling of apathy among American voters because, according to them, political parties are too remote, and they do not address their needs but, at the same time,...
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