Two Major Political Parties of the United States
List of Political Parties in the United States
Party Representation in Congress
From the U.S. Senate website, this page provides resources on the political parties of the United States in relation to the Senate, with historical information on political parties as well as information on the two current major parties: The Democratic and Republican parties.
This website offers a breakdown of political party affiliations of members of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1789-present. Sources on how these numbers were derived are referenced.
Other online resources:
Part of the Library of Congress "Creating the United States" online exhibit.
Adapted from Bentley University
Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections by
This new volume contains all the material a reader needs to understand the American election process and its political parties. This complete A-to-Z reference guide covers the people, events, and terms involved in the electoral process. It also provides the history of elections in the United States, focusing primarily on the presidential elections. Appendix material includes the results for every presidential election. Entries include: Absentee voting; Blue states; Campaign ethics; Dark horse candidate; Dirty campaign tricks; Election fraud; Electoral College; Fundraising; Internet voting; League of Women Voters; Populist Party; Recall; Republican Party; Super Tuesday; Voter turnout; Wedge issues; and more.
Political Parties and the State by
This book collects a number of Martin Shefter's most important articles on political parties. They address three questions: Under what conditions will strong party organizations emerge? What influences the character of parties--in particular, their reliance on patronage? In what circumstances will the parties that formerly dominated politics in a nation or city come under attack? Shefter's work exemplifies the "new institutionalism" in political science, arguing that the reliance of parties on patronage is a function not so much of mass political culture as of their relationship with public bureaucracies. The book's opening chapters analyze the circumstances conducive to the emergence of strong political parties and the changing balance between parties and bureaucracies in Europe and America. The middle chapters discuss the organization and exclusion of the American working classes by machine and reform regimes. The book concludes by examining party organizations as instruments of political control in the largest American city, New York.