Florida: Party Activists in a Two-Party System

Abstract

This article examines the background characteristics of Democratic and Republican party activists, their issue and ideological preferences, patterns of party factionalism, organizational strength and patterns of activity within parties at the county level. The findings demonstrate that underlying Florida's competitive party system are two sets of ideologically polarized and active party activists. While signs of internal party factionalism have not completely disappeared from Florida's political parties, at the beginning of the twenty-first century Florida's party system and party organizations are a far cry from the multifactional chaos that once characterized the old one-party or no party-system in Florida.