Fifth Party System

The Fifth Party System, also called the New Deal Party System, refers to the system of politics in the United States that began in 1933 with a realignment caused by the Great Depression in the U.S.. The New Deal Coalition was forged by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and kept his Democratic Party in power most of the time until 1968.. It followed the Fourth Party System, (usually called the Progressive Era by historians). Experts debate whether it ended in the mid-1960s and was replaced by the Sixth Party System, or continues to the present. Paulson (2006) argues that a decisive realignment took place in the late 1960s.

Partisanship

The System was heavily Democratic through 1964 and heavily Republican at the presidential level since 1968, with the Senate switching back and forth after 1980. The Democrats usually controlled the House except that the Republicans won in 1946, 1952, and 1994 through 2004 elections. Both Houses went Democratic in 2006. Of the nineteen presidential elections since 1932, the Democrats won 7 of the first 9 (through 1964), while the GOP won 7 of the 10 since 1968. Down to 1964 Democratic control of Congress was the norm, but the Conservative coalition had effective veto power; since 1966 divided government has been the norm.

With Republican promises of prosperity discredited by the Great Depression, the four consecutive elections, 1932-36-40-44 of Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the Democrats dominance, though in domestic issues the Conservative coalition generally controlled Congress from 1938 to 1964. The activist New Deal promoted American liberalism, anchored in a New Deal Coalition that dominated the Democratic party. The party was dominated by liberal groups, especially ethno-religious minorities (Catholics, Jews, African Americans), white Southerners, well-organized labor unions, big city machines, intellectuals, and liberal farm groups. Opposition Republicans were split between a conservative wing, led by Senator Robert A. Taft, and a more successful moderate wing led by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

New rules

New rules took effect that changed the political universe. The most important was the enfranchisement of the blacks in the South, thanks to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In addition, poll taxes were abolished, 18 year old were given the right to vote, and the role of women was informally expanded inside both parties. At the same time the old big city machines, with their neighborhood structures, collapsed in nearly every city. Communications media changes with the rise of television after 1960 as the dominant medium for political discourse and campaign advertising.

Collapse of 5th Party System

The period climaxed with Lyndon B. Johnson's smashing electoral defeat of conservative Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964; in no other election since 1944 has the Democratic party received more than 50.1% of the popular vote for President. The Democratic coalition divided in 1948 and 1968, in the latter election allowing the Republican candidate Richard Nixon to take the White House. Democrats kept control of the House until the 1994 election. For the next twelve years the GOP was in control with small majorities, until the Democrats recaptured the House in 2006. The Democrats held the Senate until 1980; since then the two parties have traded control of the Senate back and forth with small majorities.

Sixth Party System

The Sixth Party System is variously dated by scholars, usually from 1968 or 1980. Shafer (2007) calls it the "Late New Deal System." The 6th System was characterized by a Republican dominance, with the GOP winning 7 of 10 presidential elections from 1968 through 2004. Control of Congress was split. The dominant leader of the 6th Party System was Ronald Reagan, with Republicans using his as their standard of proper politics into the late 21st century.

New voter coalitions included the emergence of the "religious right" -- a combination of Catholics and fundamentalist Protestants united on opposition to abortion and gay rights. On the left, to a lesser degree, Democrats augmented their coalition with well educated voters, gays, and non-religious seculars. The Hispanic population grew very rapidly, reaching 15% of the population, but turnout was so low they were not a major factor in voting, except in California. Although George W. Bush made a special effort to reach Hispanics, their negative reaction to Republican nativism on the issue of immigration strengthened the Democratic affiliations of those Hispanics who voted.

New rules changes involved campaign financing, as very large sums were raised and candidates spent much of their energy focused on raising money behind the scenes. New campaign technologies involved the Internet, but television advertising continued to grow in importance, overshadowing the Internet as a campaign tool. Howard Dean in 2004 demonstrated that the Internet could be used to organize and finance a crusade, and this model was followed by most of the candidates for the 2008 election, with Barak Obama and Ron Paul the most successful.

New Deal Coalition: voting %D 1948-1964

% Democratic vote in major groups, presidency 1948-1964
	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964
all voters	50	45	42	50	61
White	50	43	41	49	59
Black	50	79	61	68	94
College	22	34	31	39	52
High School	51	45	42	52	62
Grade School	64	52	50	55	66
Professional & Business	19	36	32	42	54
White Collar	47	40	37	48	57
Manual worker	66	55	50	60	71
Farmer	60	33	46	48	53
Union member	76		51	62	77
Not union	42		35	44	56
Protestant	43	37	37	38	55
Catholic	62	56	51	78	76
Republican		8	4	5	20
Independent		35	30	43	56
Democrat		77	85	84	87
East	48	45	40	53	68
Midwest	50	42	41	48	61
West	49	42	43	49	60
South	53	51	49	51	52

Source: Gallup Polls in Gallup (1972)