152 pages AEI Press  (Washington) Publication Date: January 1980 Paperback ISBN: 0-8447-3377-6 Hardcover ISBN: 0-8447-3382-2

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The reforms of the American party system undertaken since 1986 were intended to democratize party activities, to diminish the influence of party professionals and elected officials, to rely more on primary elections for selecting candidates, and to guarantee greater participation by women and minorities.

The authors of the essays in this volume agree that the changes have affected constitutional processes profoundly, probably more so than do most constitutional amendments. But the authors agree on very little else: they disagree on whether parties have been improved or weakened in the last ten or twelve years, whether the selection process is more democratic or less, and whether good candidates are more or less likely to be nominated and elected. Most important, they disagree on the character of American political society and, therefore, on the kind of party system that would best serve it.

Most of the essays in this volume were originally presented at a joint conference of the American Enterprise Institute and the Public Affairs Conference Center of Kenyon College.

Robert A. Goldwin is a resident scholar of constitutional studies at AEI.