| During the late nineteenth century, a new idea of party emerged within American politics. This idea rejected the traditional Jacksonian idea of parties as defenders of local prerogative within the parties, and infused the national party organizations with a new commitment to speak for the national party-in-the-electorate. Under the new idea, national party organizations were restructured in such a way as to make the national party-in-the-electorate an effective component of party democracy. Campaigns became “educative,” designed to persuade, rather than to mobilize, the public. Local party clubs sponsored by the national parties were founded, in an attempt to bypass sub-national party leaders and to put the national government on the institutional horizon of voters. National convention procedures were altered to decrease the power of sub-national organizations, and to enhance the power of the party-in-the-electorate. And presidential party leadership was transformed, leading presidents to attempt to use the national party-in-the-electorate as an effective partisan tool, and to claim popular party mandates for governance. This new idea was a response to the unique challenges of modern government, and intended to change the party's basis of support from the support of sub-national party leaders to popular mandates for national rule. |
