Counter Realignment: Political Change in the Northeastern United States

In Counter Realignment, Howard L. Reiter and Jeffrey M. Stonecash analyze data from the early 1900s to the early 2000s to explain how the Republican Party lost the northeastern United States as a region of electoral support. Although the story of how the 'Solid South' shifted from the Democratic to the Republican parties has received extensive consideration from political scientists, far less attention has been given to the erosion of support for Republicans in the Northeast. Reiter and Stonecash examine who the Republican Party lost as it repositioned itself, resulting in the shift of power in the Northeast from heavily Republican in 1900 to heavily Democratic in the 2000s.

Table of Contents:
1. Party strategies and transition in the Northeast; 2. Party pursuits and the sources of change; 3. The first Republican losses: Democratic gains in the 1930s; 4. Searching for a majority: the rise of conservatives and second Republican losses; 5. Interpreting the Goldwater election and pursuing the South; 6. Social change, party response, and further Republican losses; 7. National parties and the position of the Northeast; 8. The process of change and the future.

About the Author :
Howard L. Reiter is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Connecticut, where he taught for 35 years. He received his BA from Cornell University and his AM and Ph.D. from Harvard University. He has also taught at the University of Notre Dame, the University of Essex (UK), the University of Tartu (Estonia), and Uppsala University (Sweden). He is the author of Selecting the President (1985) and Parties and Elections in Corporate America (1987, 1993), as well as numerous book chapters and articles in such journals as the American Political Science Review, the British Journal of Political Science, and the Journal of Theoretical Politics, on the subject of political parties and elections. Among his academic honors are a Fulbright Research Fellowship in Western Europe (1987), a Fulbright Distinguished Chair (2001–02) in Uppsala, Sweden, and an Outstanding Academic Book award from Choice magazine (1986–87). He has lectured widely in Europe, Asia and Latin America. In 2010–2011 he will be President of the New England Political Science Association. Jeffrey M. Stonecash is Maxwell Professor in the Maxwell School, Syracuse University. He does research on political parties, changes in their electoral bases, and how these changes affect political polarization and public policy debates. His recent books are Class and Party in American Politics (2000), Diverging Parties (2002), Political Polling (2003), Parties Matter (2005), Split: Class and Cultural Divisions in American Politics (2007), Reassessing the Incumbency Effect (2008), Dynamics of American Political Parties (2009), Understanding American Political Parties (2012) and Party Pursuits and the Presidential-House Election Connection, 1900–2008 (2013). He has done polling and consulting for political candidates for over twenty-five years.

Review :
“In Counter Realignment, Howard Reiter and Jeffrey Stonecash show readers how the once heavily Republican Northeast has become a principal stronghold of the modern Democratic party. Their book is a valuable assessment of a little-studied topic.” —Earl Black, Rice University, co-author of Divided America: The Ferocious Power Struggle in American Politics “Howard L. Reiter and Jeffrey M. Stonecash persuasively explain the hugely diminished appeal of the national Republican Party in the Northeast. When the electoral base of the national Republican Party shifted to the West and South, the GOP’s new emphasis on conservative social issues alienated many moderate Republicans and independents in the Northeast. This valuable book shows how understanding the ‘counter realignment’ of the Northeast helps us better understand the national party battle. —Merle Black, Emory University, co-author of The Rise of Southern Republicans “An authoritative analysis of a much-neglected subject, Counter Realignment tells the engaging story of how the Republicans lost the Northeast. It is a topic that speaks to twentieth-century political history, party politics (and in particular, the strategizing of party elites), and of course the Northeastern region of the United States.” —John Gerring, Boston University “Reiter and Stonecash explore profitably a seldom studied antithesis to the Solid Democratic South trending Republican—the Northeast shedding strong Republican ties over the 20th century to become heavily Democratic in the elections of the 1990s and 2000s. They investigate this historical arc by focusing on social and demographic changes that netted Democratic gains and discussing the strategic choices of Republican elites that worked to erode support in the region. This well-crafted work on partisan trends in the Northeast has much to offer those who seek to understand the dynamics of political change.” —Harold W. Stanley, Southern Methodist University