ABSTRACT

Today we look upon presidential elections as a matter of a contest between the candidates of the two major parties. The “party battle,” in one form or another, has been part of American presidential campaigns since at least 1796. While the founders despised partisan activity—they assumed that politics should involve individuals acting intelligently to seek the good of the commonwealth—they invented modern parties. The word “party” comes from “part” or “partial,” something less than the whole. Eventually, however, the founders themselves realized that to govern effectively they had to organize and compromise on issues to present a unified front. As parties emerged, leaders sought ways to build legislative majorities, to put forth candidates who represented certain outlooks about government, and to organize the voters to support them.