America’s political parties are in a state of disarray. Once the pillars of civic life and responsible governance, today’s Democratic and Republican parties have become hollow shells – overbearing yet ineffectual, locked in a polarized struggle for power and unrooted from the communities they are meant to serve.
In their new book, The Hollow Parties: The Many Pasts and Disordered Present of American Party Politics, political scientists Sam Rosenfeld and Daniel Schlozman trace the evolution of America’s party system from the rise of mass politics in the Jacksonian era to the present-day dysfunction. Through meticulous historical analysis, they reveal how the parties have lost core functions like voter mobilization, fundraising, ideological advocacy, and agenda-setting – ceding these to a sprawling network of para-party organizations they term the “party blob.”
The result is a political landscape where partisan identities are stronger than ever, yet the parties themselves have become hollowed out, unable to effectively organize collective action or shape political conflict. On the Republican side, this hollowness has made the party vulnerable to the rise of right-wing populism and personalist figures like Donald Trump. On the Democratic side, it has rendered the party largely ineffectual, “less than the sum of its parts” in addressing the policy challenges of the post-New Deal era.
The Paradox of Polarization
Rosenfeld and Schlozman see the current state of American politics as a paradox. While polarization has reinforced partisan identities and strengthened the grip of party leaders over their rank-and-file legislators, the parties themselves have become increasingly incapable of fulfilling their core functions.
“Part of this is political scientists who tend to take a maybe slightly more optimistic view of how modern parties look,” says Rosenfeld. “They have noticed that you have formal party organizations… and they do things. But encroaching on every aspect of what you think a political party does… are informal organizations that swamp the formal organizations.”
These “party blobs” – a sprawling network of super PACs, think tanks, advocacy groups, and media entities – raise more money, attract more engagement, and often act at cross-purposes with the official party organizations. The result, argue Rosenfeld and Schlozman, is a drag on public trust and loyalty to the parties themselves.
“The blobs act in ways that actually stoke incapacity more than they are a modern, efficient way of getting a lot done,” says Rosenfeld. “And they end up exerting a drag on people’s positive trust and loyalty to the parties – because most of the time, people aren’t actually interacting with the parties.”
The Long Shadow of History
To understand the present-day hollowness of America’s parties, Rosenfeld and Schlozman take a deep dive into the history of American party politics, tracing six recurring “party strands” that have waxed and waned over two centuries.
These include the accommodationist strand, embodied by the urban political machines of the 19th century, which prioritized pragmatic coalition-building and local problem-solving over lofty ideological visions. In contrast, the policy reform strand saw strong parties as a means to pursue substantive policy goals, while the radical strand viewed them as vehicles for sweeping social change.
The authors argue that the decline of accommodationist politics – rooted in local civic life and face-to-face interaction – has been a key factor in the nationalization and polarization of partisan conflict. As politics has become increasingly abstract and detached from community concerns, it has become more vulnerable to the forces of grievance and resentment that characterize the populist strand.
“Part of what we’re trying to do is revive parties as civic organizations, which is part and parcel of trying to revive civic life – which is a tall order,” says Rosenfeld. “Nationalization itself has been a force for polarization in a way that I think is unhealthy for politics.”
The Path Forward
Rosenfeld and Schlozman are not without hope for the future of America’s parties. They see potential in the example of the Nevada Democratic Party under the late Harry Reid, which invested heavily in building a locally-rooted, professionally-staffed state party organization connected to vibrant civic institutions like the Culinary Workers Union.
“Harry Reid was a nationally prominent political figure who, in contrast to many other counterparts, paid a lot of attention to the strength and the vitality of the formal state party organization in his state,” says Rosenfeld. “He invested a lot of money and resources into growing the staff, professionalizing the staff, creating a real esprit de corps of Democrats involved in that state.”
For the Republican Party, the path forward is more daunting. Rosenfeld and Schlozman argue that the GOP’s “hollowness” has made it vulnerable to the rise of right-wing extremism and personalist figures like Trump. Rebuilding the party’s guardrails against such forces will require a “very fundamental course correction” – one that can only happen through repeated electoral defeats.
“Parties reform when they lose repeatedly, they lose badly, and they realize that their present path will not work and they need something very, very different,” says Schlozman. “And that is the big… the way to get a very fundamental course correction is lose, lose badly, lose repeatedly.”
Ultimately, the authors see the salvation of America’s political parties not in the pursuit of ever-greater sums of money or the latest media-savvy tactics, but in rooting them more deeply in the civic life of local communities. As Rosenfeld puts it, “The idea is for all actors across the spectrum to think of how they can behave in ways that are productive, pro-party, pro-democracy.”
For those interested in the past, present, and future of American politics, The Hollow Parties is a must-read. By tracing the long arc of party development, Rosenfeld and Schlozman offer a compelling framework for understanding our current predicament – and how we might yet revive the parties as central institutions of democratic self-governance. Visit www.winegardeninn.com to plan your stay and explore our award-winning wine offerings.