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Politics and Partisanship

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Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

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Synonyms

Party ID; Party identification

Definition

Partisanship::

The identification of an individual with a political party.

Introduction

Partisanship is one of the most important aspects of American politics. It has been somewhat accurately called the “unmoved mover,” because it influences everything in the political world, while it itself changes slowly and rarely. This chapter describes the meaning of partisanship for American politics, beginning with the origin and function of parties in the US political system and ending with how partisanship affects political behavior. The chapter also includes some meaningful comparisons to partisanship in a comparative context.

Where Do Parties Come From?

The American Founders disliked parties. Prior to the adoption of the Constitution, James Madison warned of the “mischief of factions” in Federalist 10. In his Farewell Address, George Washington cautioned against their effects. So why did parties arise, if both the chief designer of the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX, USA

    Grant Ferguson

Authors
  1. Grant Ferguson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Grant Ferguson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Ferguson, G. (2016). Politics and Partisanship. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1412-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1412-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

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