ABSTRACT
A Greek historian of Rome once claimed that history is philosophy teaching by example. For many observers of the American party system, history has become political science teaching by example. Instead of studying the party system by concentrating only on recent events, political scientists in the last two or three decades have learned to benefit from what some of them call ‘longitudinal analysis’ – which simpler folk might call historical awareness – going back into party history a century or two rather than merely a year or two. By doing this, they have become aware – some would say all too aware (for there is no guarantee that the past will be repeated) – that the American party system has gone through several cycles, punctuated by what have become known in the trade as ‘critical elections’.
