INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 PARTY BEHAVIOR: THE RESPONSE OF AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTIES TO RACIAL, REUGIOUS AND ETHNIC GROUPS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfülnient of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Laurel Elizabeth Elder ***** The Ohio State University 1999 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Paul Beck, Adviser WUliam Nelson Herbert Weisberg Adviser Pohdcal Science Graduate Program Kira Sanbonmatsu DMI Number: 9941317 UMI Microform 9941317 Copyright 1999, by UMI Company. Ail rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 ABSTRACT This study examines the behavior of the major parties towards three groups in American society: African Americans, Protestant evangelicals (the Christian Right), and Hispanics. Although at different times, each of these groups has orchestrated a contemporary political mobilization and brought a unique set of demands into the political arena. The parties have responded in strikingly different ways to their demands for incorporation. This study seeks to explain this variation in party behavior. I used several approaches to explore the puzzle of party behavior. The primary source of original research came from 27 in-depth interviews with party elites conducted in 1998 and 1999. I also performed content analysis of platforms and State of the Union Addresses and examined the legislative behavior of the parties. At the heart of my project are three case study chapters that explore the responses of the parties to blacks, evangelicals and Hispanics and offer critical tests of competing theories of party behavior. This study reviews several mainstream theories of party behavior, pluralism, the median voter theorem and the ideological or responsible party model and argues that they have difficulty explaining the responses of the parties towards these groups. This study argues that a fourth model, the elite power struggle framework, best explains party behavior. This theory suggests that conflict between elite factions within a party determines the extent that a ii party will support a group's causes. Groups can best achieve representation by mobilizing into and organizing within the party. This project provides insight into the evolution of party pohcies on a range of issues, including affirmative action, language and immigration policies, and morality-based social issues. These types of issues will become increasingly important to the viability of the party system as the size and political activism of racial, rehgious and ethnic groups continue to increase. Moreover, the ability of a pohdcal system to address the needs of its citizens is a critical test of representative democracy. Assessing the responsiveness of the parties to the interests of these groups demonstrates the extent that our two-party system helps and hinders our political system from achieving these democratic ideals. Ill Dedicated To My Mother, Father and Sister IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my advisor, Paul Beck for being a steady source of pragmatic advice and guidance throughout the process of writing my dissertation. I would also like to extend my sincere appreciation to the other members of my committee, William Nelson, Herb Weisberg and Kira Sanbonmatsu, as well as Paul Beck, for patiently reading through drafts of my long chapters and correcting both my stylistic and, more importantly, my analytical and theoretical errors, and for their encouragement and enthusiasm. I am also grateful to Retta Semones, who has been a tremendous source of help and friendship over the past several years. I would like to thank my mother for her help, her love and her inspiration as a strong, independent woman. I heartily thank my father for sending me newspaper clippings about issues relevant to my dissertation and for our many philosophical conversations about politics and life. More than anyone else, my sister supported me, comforted me, and shared each small disappointment and victory with me as I worked on my dissertation over the past two years. For that I am appreciative beyond words. I would also like to thank my grandmothers, Dorothy Holley and Betty Vogelgesangs, two truly remarkable and admirable women, for their unconditional love and praise. Although I always doubted whether I could actually finish my dissertation, my friends were always unshakable in their conviction that I could accomplish this task. I would like to thank Allie Balzer, Ann Glynn, Sue V Hmzenga, Debbie Pesanti, Jessy Rapp, Ashley Smith, Laura Stoner and Andrea Weinreb for their faith in me. I would especially like to thank Andrea for her gentle encouragement throughout my graduate career and helping me escape to tropical places when I needed a break. 1 would also like to thank Debbie Pesanti and her husband Chip for their gracious hospitality, excellent political connections and tremendous kindness when I was in Washington DC. Steve Greene, Joe McGarvey, Stefanie Torphy and Jason Pigg have given me invaluable advice and years of fun and laughter. I want to thank them for being such wonderful friends and the best colleagues a political scientist could have. This research was supported by a Graduate Student Alumni Research Award which helped pay for my trips to Washington DC to conduct interviews. My progress was also helped substantially by a fellowship from the Program for the Enhancement of Graduate Studies and I would like to thank the political science department for granting me this award. VI VITA August 31, 1972 ............................................................. Bom - Danbury, CT 1994 ..................................................................................B. A., Colgate University 1994-1997 ....................................................................... Graduate Assistant, Political Science Department The Ohio State University 1997-1999 ......................................................................... Instructor of Political Science The Ohio State University PUBUCATIONS Research Publication 1. Pigg, Jason and Laurel Elder. 1997. "Political Parties and the Gender Gap." American Review of Politics. FaU/Winter 1997. Volume 18. pp. 3BB­ SS 1. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Political Science V ll TABLE OF CONTENTS Page A bstract ........................................................................................................................... ii D edication...................................................................................................................... iv Ackaov>dedgments.......................................................................................................... v V ita................................................................................................... vil List of T ables .................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures ............................................................................................................... x Chapters: 1. The Puzzle of Party Behavior.................................................................................. 1 2. Theories of Party Behavior ................................................................................... 25 3. The Response of American Political Parties to African Americans 54 4. 4. The Response of American Political Parties to Evangelicals................156 5. The Response of American Political Parties to Hispanics......................240 6. Explaining the Puzzle of Party Behavior: The Elite Power Struggle Model .........................................................................................................................319 7. Conclusion...................................................................................................................369 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................386 Appendix A: Information