Political Conflict in America [Paperback]

Recently, there has been a high level of conflict in American politics. Massive disagreements over government policies have pitted one group of Americans against another. This book explores how and why this style of politics developed and argues that fundamental disagreements between Americans have always been at the root of its politics.The Divisions in American Society Political Ideologies The Decentralization of America's Political Institutions The Party System Voters and the Managing of Conflict Careerism, Professional Politicians and Conflict Crises and the Future of American Politics

'Alan Ware presents a valuable and thought-provoking big picture interpretation of the long-term nature of political conflict in American politics. Few scholars could undertake this, but he pulls it off admirably. He is concerned with the historical sources and intensity of conflicts - the roles of region, class, religion, and ideology over time. He addresses how those conflicts are represented and perpetuated by parties and politicians as they work within decentralized American institutional arrangements. He presents a convincing answer to the question of why elections in America rarely settle anything, but only provide the context for the next round of conflict. This analysis asks important and broad questions and provides comparative commentary. It is well-written interpretative political science at its best and provides many arguments for further research. For those interested in the fundamentals of conflict in American politics, I highly recommend it.' - Jeff Stonecash, Maxwell School, Syracuse University

'In Political Conflict in America, Alan Ware goes in search, not of the minutiae all too common to the study of American politics, but of a small set of lasting influences that have created its diagnostic hallmark: multiple policy disputes that are ongoing, rancorous, and never truly settled. In Ware's hands, social divisions, ideological divisionló(