The Party of Government, the Party of Opposition, and the Party of Balance: An American View of the Consequences of the 1980 Election

This chapter sets out certain forms of accounting for measuring the institutional and policy legacy of the 1980 election. Political parties are usually discussed primarily in terms of formal organization. To understand the central tendency of the party of balance, one must set it in the context of its main rival in modern times, the party of government, against which it reacts. The politics of the party of government may be expressed in the same word Samuel Gompers used to characterize the demands of trade unions—more. More to the moment is the emphasis this proposal gives to item-by-item consideration of savings divorced from the context of presidential government. A multitude of comprehensive changes overloads the political system, and a plethora of minor adjustments increases complexity without improving control. Acting precipitously leads to unanticipated consequences, and delay allows presidents to be overwhelmed by the sheer momentum of events.