New Changes In American Party Politics Since The End Of The 20th Century

The development of political parties in the United States has been through doubts and distrusts,then became an essential part of American politics.Due to different standards,the party politics can be divided into multiple political party systems.Compared with other western countries,American party politics is quite unique.From the perspective of the “Three Faces” of political parties: Firstly,the characteristics of “political parties in government” are:the irresponsible political party government with decentralization,a stable two-party system,and independent party-political relations;secondly,the characteristics of the party's own organizational structure is: a loosely organized pyramid structure with no clear party rules;the characteristics of the “political parties in elections” are as follows: the pragmatically oriented party politics is based on elections,and the constituents of voters are complex and flexible.Since the end of the 20 th century,American society has undergone tremendous changes in politics,economy,and culture.The Cold War ended the US-Soviet struggle for hegemony and opened up a new situation in which the United States tried to star as the world leader.The rapid economic development drove an unprecedentedly promotion in its self-confidence.After the entrance to the millennium,followed by the “911” terrorism attack that shocked the whole America and the financial crisis that swept the United States and the world in 2008 caused great social panic.In this background,the hidden ethnic crisis in the U.S.society and the wide gap between the rich and the poor continue to challenge the traditional political pattern of the party.The political parties of America began to present new features during this period: First,“political parties in the government”,intensified party-to-party struggles,deepened differences within parties,severe polarization of political parties,and a transition to a responsible political party government;Political party organizations at all levels are actively improving their own organizational structure,compensating for the weakening of traditional functions such as the expression of their own interests by utilizing the third parties and interest groups.Third,the new characteristics of the "election party" are: on the one hand,political parties at all levels update the methods of election and recruit professional talents to meet the challenges of the information age;on the other hand,voters' party identification that continues to decline and the electorate base has undergone tremendous changes.