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Issue Co-optation: A Historical Account of the Agenda-Setting Role of Minor Parties in the American Two-Party System

Russell, Eric Duane
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1218704282

Abstract Details

2008, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Political Science.
The story about the flow of issue ideas between the American major and minor political parties is very incomplete. Most scholars assume that the minor parties provide ideas to the major political parties, who periodically co-opt their platform planks for incorporation into their own platforms. However, because of the minor parties’ lack of electoral success, they are rarely studied in a systematic fashion, and the subject of issue co-optations has been woefully neglected. This dissertation systematically studies the flow of policy positions and ideas between major and minor political parties over the course of American history from 1840 to 2004 through an extensive content analysis of party platform positions. It documents the co-optation of minor party policy ideas by the major political parties and using multivariate analysis, accounts for variations in co-optations by employing such theoretically-relevant variables as the specific major and minor political parties, the major parties’ competitive position, the time period (especially before and after the Progressive reforms of the early 1900s), and the stage of the electoral cycle.
Paul Beck, Dr. (Committee Chair)
Janet Box-Steffensmeier, Dr. (Committee Member)
Dean Lacy, Dr. (Committee Member)
William Nelson, Dr. (Committee Member)
178 p.
Political Science
issue co-optation; minor political parties; minor parties; major parties; major political parties

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Russell, E. D. (2008). Issue Co-optation: A Historical Account of the Agenda-Setting Role of Minor Parties in the American Two-Party System [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1218704282

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Russell, Eric. Issue Co-optation: A Historical Account of the Agenda-Setting Role of Minor Parties in the American Two-Party System. 2008. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1218704282.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Russell, Eric. "Issue Co-optation: A Historical Account of the Agenda-Setting Role of Minor Parties in the American Two-Party System." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1218704282

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1218704282
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© 2008, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.