Voter Coordination and the Rise of the Republican Party: Evidence from New England. Issue 3 (17th June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chamberlain, Adam
• Is Part Of: Social science history. Volume 39:Issue 3/4(2014)
• Page Start: 311
• Page End: 332
• Publication Date: 2015-06-17
• Subjects: Social sciences -- Periodicals; Social sciences; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 300.9
• DOI: 10.1017/ssh.2015.27
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0145-5532

Abstract

Abstract : The development of the Republican Party is a significant event in American political history. While scholars describe its formation as a realignment caused by the slavery issue, this article reinterprets this perspective. Focusing on gubernatorial elections in New England from 1840 to the mid-1850s, I present evidence that the rise of the Republican Party in the region was due to a lack of strategic voting coupled with third-party, antislavery voting that did not consistently affect the Whigs across states. A counterfactual argument suggests that Whig elites would have sought to change the nature of party politics and, had the distribution of third-party voting affected the Whigs similarly across states, then the Republicans may not have formed. Thus, the distribution of antislavery, third-party voting was more important than the presence of antislavery sentiment. This finding is important for understanding American party development and how strategic voting fits into the study of US elections.