ABSTRACT
Political parties are a universal and essential feature of western democratic systems. The reason for the rise of political parties in the United States is common to all democracies: the need to organise for competitive elections. Both the emergence of new parties and the transformation of established ones have been brought about principally by developments in the fundamental issue agenda of American politics. Since the 1960s, social, technological and institutional changes had undermined the importance of parties in their two main spheres of operation: elections and government. The Democratic and Republican parties have survived because they have been willing to change in response to a changing society. Elections in America are candidate-centred, rather than party-centred something which applies as much to voters as it does to candidates themselves. The Bush and Obama terms have thrown up more examples of the tensions within and between parties, both when a single party dominates, and when control of Washington's institutions is divided.
