The Evolution of Partisan Politics  Political Party Systems

	Ruling Elite	Oppositional Elite	Major Party Issues  Domestic policy	Major Party Issues  Foreign policy	Issues Unaddressed  by Major Parties
First Party System 1790s -1820s	Dominant Political Party:The Democratic-Republican Party displaced the Federalist Party. Ruling Section: The "Virginia Dynasty" Economic base: tobacco, land, shipping Ruling ideology: opportunity, mobility, agrarian paternalism	Major Oppositional Party: Federalists, after the late 1790s. Oppositional economic base: mercantilism. Oppositional ideology: traditionalism.	Federalists favor central government involvement in internal improvements and imposition of protective tariffs; Democratic-Republicans oppose them.	Federalists favor reconcilliation with Britain against the French Revolution; Democratic-Republicans sympathetic to French Revolution and remain hostile to Britain.	Slavery; aspects of Constitution.
Interim 1820-29
Second Party System 1820s -1850s	Dominant Political Party: Democratic Party Ruling Section: The Cotton  South. Economic base: cotton plantations and infrastructure linking them to the Transatlantic Industrial Revolution Ruling ideology: opportunity, mobility, paternalism	Major Oppositional Party: National Republican, then Whigs Oppositional economic base opportunity, mobility, paternalism Oppositional ideology: opportunity, mobility, paternalism	National Republicans or Whigs favor government involvement in internal improvements and imposition of protective tariffs; Democrats oppose the specific measures raised.	Democrats party of "Manifest Destiny," expansion, Indian removal, war on Mexico.  Whigs less likely to initiate such things, but generally concur with them..	Slavery, expansion
Interim 1858-66
Third Party System 1860s -1890s	Dominant Political Party: Republican Party Ruling Section: The Midwest, particularly centering on Ohio. Economic base: Industry and railroad development.  Ruling ideology: "Social Darwinism"	Major Oppositional Party: Democratic Oppositional economic base: Agrarian, small scale industry, and those larger scale manufactures disadvantaged by government policies. Oppositional ideology: Agrarianism, some pro-regulatory reformism.	Republicans subject priorities of the central government to the promotion of industry; the Democrats oppose them on some issues in some places.	Part of the promotion of industry is the subjugation of the unsettled western territories internal to the US; Democrats have some mild interest in Latin America, the Republicans in Asia, these converging at the close of this period in the Spanish-American War..	The bipartisan abandonment of Reconstruction and the assumption that what was good for privately owned industry was good for the nation..  Rise of mass circulation newspapers, news syndicates and services with rising costs restricting diversity.
Interim 1896-1901
Fourth Party System 1900s -1930s	Dominant Political Party: Republican Party Ruling Section: The Northeastt Economic base: Finance, Management Ruling ideology: "Progressivism" as political manifestation of "scientific management"	Major Oppositional Party: Democrats Oppositional economic base: Agrarian and big city machines. Oppositional ideology: Both traditional Democratic approaches and, in the cities, an emerging Progressive current.	Progressives who favor government action to regulate economic institutions; the current has growing power within both parties.	The expansion of America's role in the wake of the Spanish-American War, the "Big Stick in the Western Hemisphere and involement in Europe's "Great War," creating a backlash of "isolationism" in their wake.	Racial inequality; the priority of capitalist interests in formulating policies; the changing nature of the family and women's rights.  New politics driven by mass media, which includes radio as well as newspapers.
Interim 1931-36
Fifth Party System 1930s -1960s	Dominant Political Party: Democratic Party Ruling Section: The Northeastern power base. Economic base: Finance, management Ruling ideology: a particularly aggressive "scientific management".	Major Oppositional Party: Republicans Oppositional economic base: old elites. Oppositional ideologies: "Liberty League" conservatives, the more conservative of the old Republican "Progressives," and rural/small town isolationists.	The Democrats sought to increase the role of the central government in regulating large commercial and industrial concerns to match its role in promoting those concerns, as successfully established by the Republicans.	The ascendancy of Italian fascism and German Nazi-ism in Europe and of Japan in Asia leads to the Second World War.  Division among the victors in that conflict leads to the "Cold War".	The goals of expanding government authority in economic affairs; the purposes of American military involvement in the world..  Mass media expands into television with globalization through satellite and other technologies., with costs continually rising.
Interim 1963-72
Sixth Party System 1970s -2000s	"Independent" as largest category in general; those voting disproportionately tending to be conservative. Dominant Political Party: Republican "Sun Belt" elites. Democrats retain the majority of those expressing party preferences; those voting tend to be conservative Ruling Section: The "Sun Belt" Economic base: petrochemical, "defense" Ruling ideology: corporate mysticism, "Cowboy Capitalism," resurgent Fundamentalism.	Major Oppositional Party: Although most who identify with a party are "Democrats," the ranks have drifted from the polls and the leaders to nonopposition. Oppositional economic base: new technologies Oppositional ideology: libertarianism, environmentalism	Foster maximized corporate profits, largely through the export of America's industrial base.	Related to domestic goals, "national security" has become global; a "Cold War" continues without the ideological justifications.	Environmental, older agendas on civil rights, women's rights, polarization of wealth and power.   Deregulartion of media leads to spiraling increase in profits, reflected in unprecedented increase in the price of electoral participation.
Interim 2001?