ABSTRACT
Alexis de Tocqueville spoke of at least two important ways in which political parties, in particular, fostered the maintenance and mediation of political tension. First, political parties were catalysts for articulating, differentiating, and aggregating public views and opinion. Second, the two major parties were sufficiently competitive in their capacity to win elections and thus to share governance equitably. In the long term, the major parties have been competitive and have shared power equitably over the entirety of American election history. The mediating role of political parties in the development of public opinion has nonetheless weakened. The political party system is, subsequently, less effective as a catalyst and a mediator of political ideas, conflict, and consensus. Twentieth-century developments in both the political party system and in Supreme Court involvement attest to a dynamic process of mediating democratic tensions. This mediation grew increasingly essential, but difficult, as gains in equality and freedom were realized.
