Electoral Realignments A Critique of an American Genre David R. Mayhew

One of our most influential political scientists shows why realignment theory does not hold up under scrutiny and calls for new ways of thinking about election issues.

David R. Mayhew is Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University. He is also the author of America's Congress: Actions in the Public Sphere, James Madison Through Newt Gingrich; Divided We Govern: Party Control, Lawmaking, and Investigations, 1946-1990; and Congress: The Electoral Connection, all available from Yale University Press.

"A lucidly argued and stimulating book." Alan Ehrenhalt, New Republic; "Mayhew's work will no doubt spark a spirited debate within a discipline that has long relied on the ideas he so effectively critiques here." Virginia Quarterly Review; "This book will be an essential part of any discussion about the development of American political parties." Choice; "This is a provocative book that challenges reigning orthodoxy. It should be required reading for all serious observers of American politics." Darrell M. West, Brown University; "This elegant volume is a profoundly subversive book in an intellectually positive sense, delivering a body blow to a highly influential scholarly literature and preparing the way for more productive inquiry. No student of political parties can ignore it." Fred Greenstein, Princeton University"