ent form. During the first period, which extended from the post-Civil War era into the 1940s, political parties were the major organizers of elections. In most parts of the country, local party organizations, often referred to as old-fashioned political machines, recruited and selected candidates for public office and carried out their candidates' campaigns. Parties, not candidate organizations or political consultants, managed the campaigns, raised the funds that were spent in them, assessed the public mood, communicated with voters, and mobilized the electorate. Local party organizations were able to dominate the electoral process because they had the power to dispense nominations, possessed a virtual monopoly over the tools of campaigning, and provided the symbolic cues that informed and activated most voters The golden age of political parties ended because of several events and trends. Early in the twentieth century, the direct primary deprived party leaders of the opportunity to handpick candidates. Primaries also made it necessary for most candidates to assemble campaign organizations that were independent of party committees in order to win their party's nomination. Civil service reforms prevented local party bosses from distributing government jobs and contracts to party activists. Campaign finance legislation limited the amounts of money that parties could raise and contribute to campaigns. Broader cultural transformations, including declining immigration, the erosion of tightly knit ethnic communities, suburbanization, the widening of educational opportunities, and the introduction of the modern mass media encouraged voters to rely less on local party leaders and more on national sources for their political information and voting cues. Modern polling and marketing techniques and the emergence of a corps of professional political consultants made it possible for candidates to appeal directly to this more independent elect...
