Party Games: Getting, Keeping, and Using Power in Gilded Age

Party Games: Getting, Keeping, and Using Power in Gilded Age Politics
- Used Book in Good Condition
Much of late-nineteenth-century American politics was parade and pageant. Voters crowded the polls, and their votes made a real difference on policy. In Party Games, Mark Wahlgren Summers tells the full story and admires much of the political carnival, but he adds a cautionary note about the dark recesses: vote-buying, election-rigging, blackguarding, news suppression, and violence.
Summers also points out that hardball politics and third-party challenges helped make the parties more responsive. Ballyhoo did not replace government action. In order to maintain power, major parties not only rigged the system but also gave dissidents part of what they wanted. The persistence of a two-party system, Summers concludes, resulted from its adaptability, as well as its ruthlessness. Even the reform of political abuses was shaped to fit the needs of the real owners of the political system--the politicians themselves.
Country USA
Brand University of North Carolina Press
Manufacturer The University of North Carolina Press
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 18 illustrations
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780807855379
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

Country	USA
Brand	University of North Carolina Press
Manufacturer	The University of North Carolina Press
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	18 illustrations
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780807855379
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

Party Games: Getting, Keeping, and Using Power in Gilded Age Politics