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Appendix - The Search for a Method
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Summary
Because a great many works have already been written on the general subject of ideology, and the specific histories of the American parties have been told many times, readers may be skeptical about the empirical and theoretical yield of the current project. Is there anything new to say about such an established topic? Chapter i set forth the substantive claims justifying this enterprise. Here, I shall stake methodological claims. Specifically, I shall argue (i) that ideology needs to be brought to the forefront of the study of the American parties, (2) that these ideologies can be approached through the medium of presidential rhetoric, (3) that 1828 marked the beginning of competitive party politics in America and hence constitutes an appropriate beginning point for this study, and (4) that the textual medium of election rhetoric should be analyzed both quantitatively and nonquantitatively. Since the persuasiveness of the evidence presented in the foregoing chapters rests upon these methodological choices, I shall cover this ground slowly and with considerable care, making clear how my own approach to the subject differs from others'.
Party Ideology in the Academic Mold
Political scientists have studied the American parties within electoral, organizational, and policy-making contexts, but rarely within an ideational context. Leon Epstein's magisterial survey of the field, for example, provides chapters on the congressional parties, the presidency, state and local parties, candidate selection, national organization, party identification, and campaign finance; only in passing does this otherwise splendid book directly address the question of what the parties stand (or stood) for.
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- Party Ideologies in America, 1828–1996 , pp. 287 - 298Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1998