The Democratic Party Heads North, 1877–1962

This book provides a wholly new analysis of the American party system. It examines how the Democratic party tried to construct a winning electoral coalition between 1877 and 1962. It argues that there was a much greater continuity in the elements of the Democratic coalition from one era to another than is usually believed. Neither the economic depression of the early 1890s nor the New Deal programmes of the 1930s had the effects on the party system that they are supposed to have had.