"The two-party system has long characterized American politics, but partisanship as it is understood today is a relatively recent phenomenon. Today, partisanship is not simply based on one's voting record, but a totalizing sense of identification with one party over the other. Consequently, the US political climate is more polarized than ever before. Though this fact is often reported with alarm, it may be too soon to determine whether partisanship actually damages democracy. This volume examines what partisanship means today, how this differs from historical partisanship, its contributing factors, and the effect it has on the country"--
"We argue that ideology lacks meaning in the United States: what is conservative and liberal is that which Republicans and Democrats have labeled "conservative," and "liberal." This premise is central to how we understand the role of the political parties in American political behavior and why political party leaders are so essential to crafting the beliefs of partisans in the electorate. Second, we trace how the parties have evolved on issues over time, highlighting the lack of ideological consistency in the party platforms. We then explain how negative partisanship and partisan-motivated reasoning create a situation where partisans are psychologically rewarded for adopting the party's position and being receptive to information from their own party while blocking information from other sources"--
Why do people identify with political parties? How stable are those identifications? Stable party systems, with a limited number of parties and mostly stable voter identification with a party, are normally considered significant signals of a steady democracy. Ken Kollman and John E. Jackson study changing patterns of partisanship in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia over the last 50 years in order to disentangle possible reasons for shifting partisanship and party identification. They argue that changes in partisanship can be explained by adjustments in voters' attitudes toward issues or parties; the success or failure of policies advocated by parties; or alterations in parties' positions on key issues.
"Increasingly integrated global financial markets have been shaken by a series of severe shocks in recent decades, from Mexico's Tequila crisis to the upheavals in the Eurozone. These crises have demonstrated that signs of uncertain local economic and political conditions can result in market fluctuations which in turn cause economic, social, and political instability. Such instability is particularly severe for developing countries that rely heavily on international financial markets for their financial needs. Building credibility in these markets is therefore important for national governments who wish to prevent market panic and capital flight and, ultimately, to achieve stable economic growth. Earlier studies have argued that institutional arrangements that constrain governments and commit them to protecting private property rights and market-friendly policies can send a strong positive signal to the markets about a given country's sovereign credibility. This book argues, however, that the market perception of such credibility-building institutions is significantly contingent on which party governs the country. Formal institutions confer significant credibility-building effects on left-wing governments, whereas less or no significant effects are enjoyed by right-wing governments. And beyond that, any significant changes in a country's institutional landscape--such as a breakdown of democracy or joining an international organization that can influence domestic politics--have particularly strong impact on the credibility of left-wing governments. This argument is supported by a quantitative analysis of sovereign credit ratings data collected from around 90 developing countries from 1980 to 2007, by case studies from South Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, and by face-to-face interviews with 24 financial market experts based in Hong Kong, Seoul, and Paris."--Provided by publisher.
