ABSTRACT
By the mid-eighteenth century, the Tory and Whig parties were the established political parties of Great Britain and were principally active in Parliament. In several British colonies there were partisan counterparts of the British parties, namely, the Crown and Country parties, respectively. As in the mother country, the colonial parties engaged each other regularly in the colonial legislatures. American politicians differed from their counterparts in the mother country because, from the outset, they were primarily concerned with their constituencies, that is, the electorate. Thus, colonial parties were more electoral than parliamentary. Local caucusing, campaigning and grass-roots organizing received serious attention. Grass-roots politics and decentralization remain characteristic of US party development. Even today, organization continues to be a prime concern of American party leaders. Decentralization and loose structure are still major characteristics, although there is a firm trend toward centralization.
