orate. Collectively, these changes ushered in an era of candidate-centered elections. Political parties were initially unable to make the transition to the candidate-centered system, and most party committees sat on the sidelines of congressional elections from the 1940s through the early 1980s. Congressional candidates became largely self-starters rather than party recruits. They waged campaigns almost entirely through their own organizations. They received little financial, strategic, or technical help from party committees, turning instead to political action committees (PACs) and individuals for money and to professional consultants for political expertise. Some local party organizations continued to play a significant role in voter mobilization, but many candidates also relied on their own volunteers to carry out grassroots campaign activities. The contemporary era of party politics, marked by the partial adaptation of party organizations to the candidate-centered system, began around the mid-1980s. Most of this change took place at the national level, as the parties' national, congressional, and senatorial campaign committees began to assemble some of the financial, technical, and organizational resources needed to play a role in modern campaigns. Some state party organizations also adapted to the requirements of contemporary campaign. The importance of parties in the contemporary campaign environment depends not on their ability to dominate elections, but rather on their ability to help candidates and their organizations wage campaigns. The parties' national, congressional and state campaign committees can each make $5,000 in direct contributions to each general election candidate for the House. Parties also can make coordinated expenditures on behalf of candidates. These frequently take the form of polls, television ads, fund-raising assistance, issue research, and other campaign services over which both the parties and the c...
