LEAD 315
Parties in American Politics Spring 2025
Division II
Cross-listed PSCI 315

Is the American party system what’s wrong with American politics? It has been said that parties are essential to democracy, and in the U.S., political parties have played a central role in extending democracy, protecting rights, and organizing power. But their worth is a continuing subject of debate. Although parties have been celebrated for linking citizens to their government and providing the unity needed to govern in a political system of separated powers, they have also been disparaged for inflaming divisions among people and grid-locking the government. Other critics take aim at the two-party system with the claim that the major parties fail to offer meaningful choices to citizens. This course will investigate this debate over parties by examining their nature and role in American political life, both past and present. Throughout the course, we will explore such questions as: What constitutes a party? For whom do they function? How and why have they changed over time? Why a two-party system, and what role do third parties play? Is partisanship good or bad for democracy? For governance? What is the relationship between parties and presidents? How does partisanship become tribalism or polarization, and can this be prevented? We will explore answers to these questions through seminar discussion, analytic essays, and independent research culminating in the writing of a longer (15 to 20 page) research paper.