⇒ Partisanship is the term used to describe the support that a party gets from its supporters in opposition to the parties political opponents.

⇒ Ideological division between parties typified by high levels of party discipline (e.g. not a single Rep senator voting in favour of Affordable Care Act). There are frequent occurrences of party-line voting and little if any compromise/cooperation between the Republicans and Democrats

⇒ Core beliefs of the two parties are very different: Big government vs. Limited government and socially liberal vs socially conservative

⇒ Policies - Obama issued executive order demanding federal government to cut gas emissions, but Trump rolled back Obama era rules on curbing climate change via another Executive Order

⇒ Parties used to be more alike and moderates were more plentiful (e.g. in 2004, 28 Republicans were more liberal than the most Conservative Democrats. By 2010 the centrists had effectively disappeared)

⇒ Break-up of the Solid South - the South of the USA used to be democratic territory, but over 50 years their hold decreased and eventually collapsed in the mid 1990s

• This breakup led to the two big parties becoming more ideologically distant (i.e. significant group of conservative voters left the Democrats for the Republicans)

⇒ 50/50 nation - only 6 states changed hands from 2012 to 2016

⇒ Red vs Blue 'Red' individuals are more male than female, white, and Conservative. 'Blue' individuals are more female, and consist of a rainbow coalition.

⇒ Partisan Presidency- Presidents have become increasingly divisive (which splits the parties further apart). Presidents used to be unifying figures, but this is no longer the case; they now adopt divisive policies which highlight the ideological differences between the 2 parties (e.g. Obama brought in Obamacare, which Trump is now repealing)

⇒ Redistricting had resulted in fewer competitive seats, meaning that House members do not have to 'reach to the middle'. In 2014, there were only 90/435 swing seats

⇒ End of Cold War - both parties had accepted foreign policy consensus due to needing to face the threat from the Soviet Union. Now this threat is no longer present, such unification is not necessary.

⇒ Separation of powers and federalism leads to fragmented parties.

⇒ Weak party leadership arises from a limited inability to bestow patronage (i.e. make appointments) and split mandates (i.e. there are separate elections for every member of Congress and the President)

• This may be why the republicans criticised Trump over his immigration policies and plans to build a wall along the Southern border
• It is the reason why Obama could not persuade Democrats in Congress to close Guantanamo Bay by transferring inmates to the mainland

⇒ Factions between both parties are still markedly similar and share many aspects

⇒ Now check out our notes on the Democratic party and the Republican party

⇒ Also check out our notes on partisanship and party organisation