ns can expect in most elections to receive at least one-third of the labor union vote, and in some years it has reached as high as 46 percent (1984). Similarly, while support for the Democrats normally declines as income levels go up, Democratic presidential candidates can usually expect substantial support from upper-middle-class voters. In 1996, for example, Bill Clinton and his Republican opponent, Bob Dole, had approximately equal shares of voters with annual incomes between $50,000 and $75,000. Political parties in the United States also exhibit relatively low levels of internal unity and lack strict adherence to an ideology or set of policy goals. Rather, they have traditionally been concerned first and foremost with winning elections and controlling the personnel of government. Given their broad socioeconomic bases of electoral support and the need to operate within a society that is largely middle-of-the-road ideologically, American parties have adopted essentially centrist policy positions. They have also demonstrated a high level of policy flexibility. This nondoctrinaire approach enables the Republicans and Democrats to tolerate great diversity within their ranks; it has contributed to their ability to absorb third parties and protest movements when they have occurred. DECENTRALIZED PARTIES It is hard to overstate the extent to which American parties are characterized by decentralized power structures. Within the party in government, presidents cannot assume that their party’s members of Congress will be loyal supporters of presidential programs; nor can party leaders in Congress expect straight party-line voting from members of their party. Within the party organization, the Republican and Democratic congressional and senatorial campaign committees (composed of incumbent legislators) operate autonomously from the presidentially oriented national party committees. Except for a narrow range of authority over procedures f...
