Institutional Realignment: the Composition of the U.S. Congress

A CCORDING to James Sundquist (1983) scholars have generally agreed that realignments have occurred at certain broadly defined periods throughout American history. For example, scholars have generally agreed that critical realignments occurred during the 1850s, the 1890s, and during the late 1920s or early 1930s. Despite this general agreement, has been considerable disagreement over the precise election or elections in which these realignments occurred. For example, scholars have disagreed over the exact demarcation of the realignment of the 1890s and its cause. Walter Dean Burnham (1970: 38-39) found that the interval from 1893 to 1896 constituted the period of realignment, with the Panic of 1893 providing the triggering mechanism. James Sundquist (1983: 160), on the other hand, concluded that the parties realignment be attributed more to the circumstances of 1896 [and the election of that year] than to the depression, whose effect was felt primarily in 1894. In order to understand which factor or factors promoted the realignment of the 1890s, it would be useful to more precisely demarcate the election in which a realignment actually occurred. With regard to the 1920s and 1930s, has been even greater controversy regarding the timing of a critical realignment. Walter Dean Burnham (1970: 98-99), stated that there is an impression of 'crispness,' of a clean break, in the [realignment of the 1890s] which is not apparent in the 1930s. .. . Similarly, Campbell, Converse, Miller, and Stokes (1964: 277) wrote that the New Deal realignment can best be viewed as an electoral from 1928 through 1936; that is an era in which partisan change occurred slowly over time, rather than abruptly during one particular election. Other scholars have agreed that partisan change occurred over time, but have disagreed with regard to the proposed cause. Kristi Andersen (1976: 83-84; 1979) has stated that the realignment process began as early as 1924, as younger voters were mobilized into the Democratic party. In advancing the