In general, after you finish reading and studying this chapter, you should understand the following:

• the definition and importance of a political party
• the history and evolution of American political parties
• the roles of American parties in our political system
• single party dominance or one–partyism
• the rise and fall of third parties
• the basic structure of the two major American political parties: the Republicans and Democrats
• the party in government
• how parties have changed, particularly with the advent of modern technology
• the party-in-the-electorate
• changing partisan alignments

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