Dynamics of American Political Parties

Mark D. Brewer is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine. His research focuses on partisanship and electoral behavior at both the mass and elite levels, the linkages between public opinion and public policy, and the interactions that exist between religion and politics in the United States. Brewer is the author of Relevant No More? The Catholic/Protestant Divide in American Politics and Party Images in the American Electorate, and he is coauthor of Diverging Parties: Realignment, Social Change, and Party Polarization; Split: Class and Cultural Divides in American Politics; and Parties and Elections in America, 5th edition. He has published articles in Political Research Quarterly, Political Behavior, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Jeffrey M. Stonecash is Maxwell Professor in the Department of Political Science, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University. He researches political parties, changes in their electoral bases, and how these changes affect political polarization and public policy debates. His recent books are Class and Party in American Politics (2000), Diverging Parties (2003), Parties Matter (2005), Split: Class and Cultural Divides in American Politics (2007), Political Polling, 2nd edition (2008), and Reassessing the Incumbency Effect (2008). He has done polling and consulting for political candidates since 1985.