ce 1856 has been either a Republican or a Democrat, and in the post-World War II era the major parties’ share of the popular vote for president has averaged 95 percent. After the 1998 elections, there was one lone representative in Congress who was elected as an independent, while only 20 (.003 percent) of the more than 7,300 state legislators elected were neither Republicans nor Democrats. It is the two major parties that organize the government at both the national and state levels. Although American parties tend to be less ideologically cohesive and programmatic than parties in many democracies, they do play a major role in shaping public policy. Indeed, since the 1994 elections, both congressional Republicans and Democrats have demonstrated sharp policy differences and an unusually high level of intraparty unity. This has created a super-heated atmosphere of partisan conflict, especially in the House of Representatives. In an era of divided party control of the government, partisan conflict has been unremitting between Democratic President Bill Clinton and the Republican-controlled Congress. Partisan divisiveness was especially intense during the congressional impeachment proceedings against President Clinton during 1998 and 1999. The intensified partisanship within the Congress and between the legislative and executive branches reflects the extent to which the Republicans and Democrats in Congress have become more ideologically unified and distinct from each other in their policy orientations during the 1990s. A TWO-PARTY SYSTEM Two-party electoral competition stands out as one of the American political system’s most salient and enduring features. Since the 1860s, the Republicans and Democrats have dominated electoral politics. This unrivaled record of the same two parties continuously monopolizing a nation’s electoral politics reflects structural aspects of the political system as well as special features of Amer...
