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Consensus and Conflict: A Content Analysis of American Party Platforms, 1840–1896

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2018

Adam Silver
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Abstract

Throughout the nineteenth century, political parties attempted to mediate local, state, and national conflicts to forge a winning electoral coalition. The question here is whether party leaders felt that success depended on offering clear divergent positions to their voters. In other words, to what extent did the parties present alternative programs to the electorate—at any specific time or over time? This study examines the growth of the two-party system in nineteenth-century America by focusing on the interaction of the elites of the Democrats and Whig/Republicans in forging their electoral message. The methodology includes a content analysis of national and state party platforms during presidential election years 1840 through 1896 to show when and where parties emphasized certain issue proposals. Ultimately, this is a story of interparty polarization—over time, the two major parties tended to emphasize the same issues and offer divergent positions in their platforms.

Type
Research Article
Information
Social Science History , Volume 42 , Issue 3 , Fall 2018 , pp. 441 - 467
Copyright
© Social Science History Association, 2018 

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Footnotes

*

I would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers and editors of Social Science History for their valuable comments and suggestions in the preparation of this article. This article appeared in a much earlier form as part of my unpublished doctoral dissertation.

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