<p>What role do state party organizations play in twenty-first century American politics? What is the nature of the relationship between the state and national party organizations in contemporary elections? These questions frame the three studies presented in this dissertation. More specifically, I examine the organizational development of the state party organizations and the strategic interactions and connections between the state and national party organizations in contemporary elections. </p><p>In the first empirical chapter, I argue that the Internet Age represents a significant transitional period for state party organizations. Using data collected from surveys of state party leaders, this chapter reevaluates and updates existing theories of party organizational strength and demonstrates the importance of new indicators of party technological capacity to our understanding of party organizational development in the early twenty-first century. In the second chapter, I ask whether the national parties utilize different strategies in deciding how to allocate resources to state parties through fund transfers and through the 50-state-strategy party-building programs that both the Democratic and Republican National Committees advertised during the 2010 elections. Analyzing data collected from my 2011 state party survey and party-fund-transfer data collected from the Federal Election Commission, I find that the national parties considered a combination of state and national electoral concerns in directing assistance to the state parties through their 50-state strategies, as opposed to the strict battleground-state strategy that explains party fund transfers. In my last chapter, I examine the relationships between platforms issued by Democratic and Republican state and national parties and the strategic considerations that explain why state platforms vary in their degree of similarity to the national platform. I analyze an extensive platform dataset, using cluster analysis and document similarity measures to compare platform content across the 1952 to 2014 period. The analysis shows that, as a group, Democratic and Republican state platforms exhibit greater intra-party homogeneity and inter-party heterogeneity starting in the early 1990s, and state-national platform similarity is higher in states that are key players in presidential elections, among other factors. Together, these three studies demonstrate the significance of the state party organizations and the state-national party partnership in contemporary politics.</p> / Dissertation

I contribute to research pertaining to young voters by comparing the 2016 agenda of young people (based on existing polling) with Republican and Democratic Party platforms. By analyzing party platforms in the context of Millennial voters, this thesis attempts to determine the effectiveness to which the Democratic and Republican platforms reflect young people’s interests on three key topics: education, terrorism and homeland security, and racism. I argue that the Democratic Party’s progressive platform offers more substantial solutions to Millennial concerns than the GOP. By catering to young voter’s progressive, pro-big government, anti-racist agenda, the Democratic Party may one day bolster a formidable coalition of support for future elections.

This thesis examines the handling of racial issues in United States political party platforms from 1964 to 2016. The primary objective of this study is to analyze how the two major political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, have approached issues of race in their platforms. To accomplish this, a content analysis was conducted on the platforms of both parties during this time period. Each reference to race in the platforms was categorized as either "acclaim," "defend," or "attack." "Acclaim" refers to statements that praise racial progress or advocate for policies that benefit marginalized communities. "Defend" refers to statements that seek to justify the party's position on race or defend racial issues, while "attack" refers to statements that criticize the other party's position or policies related to race. The study reveals that the parties have used different strategies to address race. This research is important because it sheds light on the ways in which the two major political parties have addressed one of the most significant issues facing the United States. The findings provide insight into the ideological differences between the parties and offer a historical perspective on the evolution of racial politics in the United States. This research is relevant for scholars and policymakers interested in understanding the role of race in American politics, as well as for activists and advocates seeking to influence policy outcomes related to racial justice.

Bibliography: leaves 369-402 / viii, 402 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, 1987

This thesis examines the measurable effects of changing cultural values on American presidential election year issues from 1972 to 2000. Topics discussed: the long-term shift in cultural values and their impact on political parties, party support, and political priorities. There is congruence between the content of the two major political party platforms from 1972-2000 and the cultural priorities of party supporters as defined by their presidential vote. This relationship also holds true for the 'most significant issue facing the nation' variable in the National Election Studies and presidential vote choice. These results are reproduced in a completely different data set of active political participants (follow the news closely, participate in political campaigns, vote consistently) assembled by Sydney Verba. Both political parties must contend with the tensions that arise from differing cultural priorities of their supporters. This applies both within the parties as they must assemble winning electoral coalitions and between the parties which have taken on the cultural and political priorities of their strongest supporters. As the cultural priorities of major political party supporters shift, so have their quadrennial party platforms. / Master of Arts

Bibliography: leaves 369-402.

Despite not being a federation Spain is deeply decentralized country. The present-day system of political and territorial organization was outlined during the process of transition to democracy, which took place between 1975 and 1982. The so-called State of Autonomies was based on consensus and will to find a general agreement among the main political actors. Hence, to some extent, it has an ambivalent nature and nowadays is short of full acceptance and finality. This fact alongside the age- old heterogeneity of Spanish population results in a cleavage mirrored in the different views on desirable power and territorial configuration of the country. Today, Spain is divided into seventeen autonomous communities. These units are endowed with both executive and legislative functions and they constitute distinctive political arenas. In some of them the political competition resembles that of the national level. Nevertheless, in the majority of the communities the regional political parties have got an important, sometimes even pivotal role. Right these actors of regional politics are in the focus of this research. In its scope we defined two aims. Firstly, we want to find out what attitudes the regional political parties take towards the autonomous state and its nature, and, respectively, if and to what...

This case study focuses on wind power development in Norrköping using a multi-level governance approach. The aim is to examine the wind power decision-making process from the state to Norrköping municipality and to identify other factors that impact wind power development in the area. A textual analysis comparing national political party platforms and local parties' official stances and interviews has been used to achieve this study's goal. The study shows that the decision-making in vertical multi-level governance is both bottom-up and top-down. It also sheds light on a significant role the Swedish Armed Forces play in this process as an external actor. The study concludes that vertical multi-level governance, including municipal veto, although an important factor, needs to be complemented with external factors to see how it affects wind power development in Norrköping.