Abstract

The political coalitions behind the Democratic and Republican parties have undergone a complete transformation since the advent of the fifth party system in the 1930s. This shift in the political allegiances of the electorate, called realignment, comes as the result of reactions by voters to multiple factors, including the messaging of the parties, major events in American society, and policies implemented by incumbent administrations. This project uses an interdisciplinary approach to try to connect major events of realignment with visual representations of elections through mapping county electoral data, specifically of the crucial bellwether state of Ohio. While certain events, such as the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 greatly contributed to realignment, this analysis shows that realignment is a process which occurs over multiple elections as certain regional and demographic interests move towards one party. It also shows that the fifth party system ended in the 1980s as domestic politics realigned from an economic to a social axis, which created the coalitions of our contemporary political environment.

Advisor

Biro-Walters, Jordan

Second Advisor

van Doorn, Bas

Department

History; Political Science

Disciplines

American Politics | Geography | Political History | Social History

Keywords

American Politics, Realignment, Mapping, History, Presidential Elections, Voting

Publication Date

2022

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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