Download Your Copy The Next Realignment: Why Americas Parties Are Crumbling And What Happens Next Composed By Frank J. DiStefano Distributed In Paperback

a recap of American history through the lens of the different iterations the two party system has gone through there have always been two parties, but they haven't always been the same two.
The Federalists and Democratic Republicans fought over things like if there should be a national bank y'all saw Hamilton but eventually they reached a clear consensus around the issues they cared about.
When this happens, parties have a tendency to hang on for a surprisingly long time, coasting on momentum, arguing about issues that have stopped being relevant to most people, and enacting very little change even when they get the chance to.
"I couldn't undo it if I tried, And I tried. "

Then the two parties are both like a dead tree they look solid but they're really hollow, eaten away from the inside, and vulnerable to being knocked down by a strong breeze.
Then all it takes is someone proposing a new agenda that's actually relevant to voters and suddenly all the small political factions scramble around and trade partners and form new coalitions to argue about the new issues.
That's a realignment.

The author then makes the case that we haven't had a real realignment since FDR's New Deal in the's and that the parties we have now reached the dead tree stage in the mid's, which does jib with my experience.
Very good book. I think Frank has nailed our current political predicament, If you want to understand why everything seems broken today and America's political system no longer functions as designed, read this book, This is one of the better modern political books that is two things:rigorously researched and argued, andpolitically serious and grounded, Too many books trying to examine our moment in history only accomplish one of those, without providing the other,

There are several threads running through this book, The main one is is political alignment theory, which is controversial in the political science literature, I tend to side with it, but acknowledge the controversy is finding themes and patterns in history, DiStefano connects history together in a way that argues in favor of realignment theory and he does a good job of that,

The second main thread are the forces at place right now this was published in, The book is strong on identifying forces on the right, weaker on the left, This doesnt detract overall, but it is a weakness,

Finally, what this book adds that so many miss is the interplay of religious awakenings in US history with politics,

Combined together, you end up with a pretty comprehensive look at the forces trying forge a new party system in America, The book doesnt claim to have the answers, but does try to pull

on some of the threads and logical conclusions of that,

I tend to agree with him that were headed towards a realignment in the party system, What that looks like is TBD, But the electoral trends say hes right, Highly recommend. An astute analysis of today's political chaos showing that the current period of disruptive change is part of a recurring pattern in American politics,

What's happening to American politics Old political norms seem to be slipping away, Politics has progressively become angrier, new movements keep butting into the public square, and more and more of the unwritten rules that governed American politics for decades have fallen away.
Naturally, many are anxious.

Former congressional aide and presidential campaign veteran Frank J, DiStefano argues that this political turmoil feels disquietingly new only because most of us know so little about the history of American politics, In this book, he puts the present era in historical context, showing that America is facing its next realignment, a period of destruction and rebirth in which old political coalitions decay and new parties rise to replace them.


DiStefano explains how the history of past realignments connects to contemporary politics, He examines clashes between Hamilton's Federalists and Jefferson's DemocraticRepublicans, the rise of Andrew Jackson, the traumatic collapse of the Whigs, the populist revolt of William Jennings Bryan, and the formation of our New Deal party system of today.
He explores America's periodic explosions of moral crusading called great awakenings, He clarifies the real ideas and philosophical forces that make up our politics, from liberty and virtue to populism and progressivism, showing how their interaction is now remaking our parties into something new.


Will this realignment be a quick renewal as we adapt our politics for a future with new problems, or do we face years of disruption, dangerous movements, and chaotic politics before we rebuild This book shows that, with a knowledge of history, all of us can help shape the politics of the coming decades and restore our trust in the American Dream.
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