ABSTRACT
This chapter discloses the patterns of change and development that characterize American political history and the patterns of inquiry that characterize the study of these changes. It focuses on macrolevel approaches to the study of political development and change, particularly on two major conversations within the scholarly literature about macrolevel influences on American politics. Calvin Jillson's comprehensive periodization illustrates the dynamic shifts that occur in American politics across time and thus highlights the need for students of politics to be attentive to the existence and explanation of political change. Taken together, the chapters by Robert Huckfeldt and Paul Allen Beck and by Clarence Stone provide a powerful analysis of the group dynamics driving American politics; they also present a troubling assessment of the direction of contemporary politics. The macrolevel conversation focuses on the contrasting roles of economics and political processes in shaping American political development.
