The Idea of a Party System: The Rise of Legitimate Opposition in the United States, 1780-1840 (Volume 2) (Jefferson Memorial Lecture Series) 6.1.1970 Edition

by Richard Hofstadter (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-0520017542

ISBN-10: 0520017544

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This work traces the historical processes in thought by which American political leaders slowly edged away from their complete philosophical rejection of a party and hesitantly began to embrace a party system. In the author's words, "The emergence of legitimate party opposition and of a theory of politics that accepted it was something new in the history of the world; it required a bold new act of understanding on the part of its contemporaries and it still requires study on our part." Professor Hofstadter's analysis of the idea of party and the development of legitimate opposition offers fresh insights into the political crisis of 1797-1801, on the thought of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Martin Van Buren, and other leading figures, and on the beginnings of modern democratic politics.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The late Richard Hofstadter was DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University. He was the author of many books and articles on American History and twice received the Pulitzer Prize: in History in 1956, and in general nonfiction in 1964.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of California Press; 6.1.1970 edition (July 1, 1970)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0520017544
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0520017542
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #645,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,194 in United States History (Books)
- #3,191 in Political Science (Books)
- #29,656 in Politics & Government (Books)

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Mark D. Jacobs

Current political conflicts explained historically.

Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2022

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Provides insight into past and present political frictions.

Helpful

Yoshiame

The Difficulties Between Representative Democracy and Partisan Politics.

Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2017

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An excellent discussion of the U.S. Constitution and it's problems with partisan politicians. Complimentary reading is G. Washington's Farewell Address.

One person found this helpful

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Brimo

Writing style

Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2019

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I enjoy the style of Hofstadter's prose.

One person found this helpful

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btrimble

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2018

In good condition.

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2014

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I found this book very helpful in explaining the function of political parties. Spoiler alert: the parties fight over issues in a public way, thereby informing the electorate of the stakes in elections. Hofstadter is a pleasure to read.

2 people found this helpful

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George T. Garlock

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2015

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Excellent in all aspects!

One person found this helpful

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FrugalDutchman

Hofstadter knows how to Party

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2012

Parties and faction in the 18th century were though to be divisive. How could opposition to the standing government be legitimate and not treasonous? By the mid-19th century, this perception had changed. In America, political parties were seen as necessary and unavoidable in a free, democratic state. Hofstadter explains how this change occurred.

There was an English precedent for opposition, although opposition was seen as an evil. Party caused discord and could enable a small group to ascend to the top. It was against civic virtue. Bolingbroke, for example, wrote that parties were against the common weal. Madison saw parties as inevitable given the nature of man, but thought tyranny was worse than faction. Like Hume, Madison thought parties were a necessary evil. Only Edmund Burke thought parties were good. Burke wrote that formal political opposition forces men to debate legislation. Burke's views however, came too late to be of much help for the founding generation.

America's initially negative view of party was based on past quarrels in Europe. The colonies had developed without parties, and the United States as the first mass participatory democracy. Salutary neglect left the colonists to argue over their own affairs. In Virginia as in other colonies, politics were run by a tight-knit band of aristocrats, individuals tied together and looking out for each other's common interest without faction or fight. Balance, Americans thought, was to be found in the separation of powers, not in parties.

But there were few trends in the early American republic that would shape a positive view of parties. Religious tolerance and pluralism in the U.S. led to political tolerance and secularism. If multiple religions led to religious freedom, then perhaps multiple political parties could lead to political freedom. Parties developed naturally and as a benign force. Unlike in France, the American political parties, the Federalists and the anti-Federalists, did not subject each other to the guillotine. The first political issues in the U.S. were also of a limited scope and passion. While Washington feared opposition, even Jefferson wished the Federalists would disappear. But the peaceful transition of power in 1800 set a precedent for legitimate opposition, and Jefferson showed in his cabinet that difference of opinion was not grounds of removal from office.

Federalism died out in 1812 as the Jeffersionian republicans, through their heirs of Madison and Monroe appeased the opposition. But some argued that the republicans had adopted much of the original Federalist platform: a national bank, tariffs, etc. Still, during the Era of Good Feeling, Monroe spoke of the Federalists as monarchy hacks and warned of the formation of parties.

The second, and lasting two party-system in America developed in the Silver Age with Jackson, J.Q. Adams, and Van Buren. Van Buren, for example, thought that party divisions were better than personal or sectional divides. De Tocqueville accepted parties in America as a matter of course, and Sumner wrote that there were no parties in despotism, thereby signaling that parties were necessary in a free country.

8 people found this helpful

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James R. Mccall

One is Too Few, and Three are Too Many

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2000

What with the current flap in Florida over the Presidential election, and the concomitant party posturing, I pulled down this book to get some perspective on the silliness of political parties. But, in a low-key way, the author leads me to believe that our system is pretty good.
This is not a book that analyzes the system of political parties-not a book of political science, in other words. It is a targeted history, which confines itself nicely to a single question: how did our current system of two major political parties arise?
I had read the book about ten years ago, and found it unmemorable. I liked it better this time, perhaps because the issue it discusses (that is, why there should be political parties, and in particular, why two of them) interests me more these days. Basically, Hofstadter contrasts the traditional views of party that Jefferson and Madison espoused, with more or less consistency at various times, with what came later-particularly through Martin van Buren and his ilk. Under the Founders parties tended to be factions in legislatures loyal to particular elites. Fairly soon, though, and under the force of necessity, they came to embrace the common man (later yet, woman), and changed character.
What is most interesting in this story is that parties were never planned for by those that designed our government, but it is unlikely it could have endured for more than a few years without them. Moreover, the current party situation, with two dead-even opponents of vague ideology but who agree to play by the rules, is probably about the best any democracy can hope for. We have plenty of examples in the world where ideology trumps civility, and party strife easily jumps over into violence. Not much chance of a persistent democracy there!
This book is an easy read for non-historians, as is appropriate in its origin as Jefferson Memorial Lectures. And it is pleasant to come out of a history book with a grasp of anything, however limited.

18 people found this helpful

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