Party Games

by Mark Wahlgren Summers

Much of late-nineteenth-century American politics was parade and pageant. Voters crowded the polls, and their votes made a real difference on policy. In Party Games , Mark Wahlgren Summers tells the full story and admires much of the political carnival, but he adds a cautionary note about the dark vote-buying, election-rigging, blackguarding, news suppression, and violence.
Summers also points out that hardball politics and third-party challenges helped make the parties more responsive. Ballyhoo did not replace government action. In order to maintain power, major parties not only rigged the system but also gave dissidents part of what they wanted. The persistence of a two-party system, Summers concludes, resulted from its adaptability, as well as its ruthlessness. Even the reform of political abuses was shaped to fit the needs of the real owners of the political system--the politicians themselves.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics

368 pages, Paperback

First published April 19, 2004

About the author

Mark Wahlgren Summers is Thomas D. Clark Professor of History at the University of Kentucky, Lexington.

Reviews

[Frank Stein · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is basically a review of election and electioneering tactics in the Gilded Age. The quick take-away? Elections were a lot more corrupt, a lot more intense, and a hell of a lot more interesting.

First, the slander was much more outrageous. In one Ohio state election, Republicans claimed that inmates in public institutions were killed and skinned by Democrats and their skin turned into the casing for walking sticks. Opponents in the 1892 election not only claimed, falsely, that former President Grover Cleveland was a drunk, they also claimed he regularly beat and raped his newly-wed wife.

Also, contentions to the contrary, the influence of money was much more blatant than today. Candidates for office, even Presidents, were assessed thousands of dollars based on their expected salary. Auctions for votes were conducted openly outside of the polls. And all this lawlesslness led to an understandable results. Militia battles and brawls at the voting booths were not uncommon.

As one would expect with this kind of skulduggery, there arose a whole campaign lingo that this book hepped me to. Soap, barrel politicians, frying the fat, repeaters, floaters, striking, colonizer resurrectionist were all new terms to me.

What ended all this fascinating chaos? Registration laws that were enacted between 1860 and 1880 started to limit fraudulent voting. The secret "Australian" ballot instituted between 1888 and 1892 in most states made it more difficult to pay off voters. Women's entry in politics civilized some of the electioneering and cut back on the mass brawls and parades. Newspapers received more money from advertising and less from political contracts, which had previously demanded partisan raillery.

The book told all these interesting stories and more. The main problem? Organization, or the lack of it. Most of the book is just an endless series of anecdotes about different local elections and scandals, with few generalizations and fewer statistics to back any of them up. A little more cut and paste and a few section headings could have made this a much more worthwhile read.

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

One can easily get immersed in the details, and thus the thrust of the book is sometimes lost, but the events described are a riot. Summers despises the corruption, but he obviously loves a good story and larger than life figures. He also correctly points out that politicians of this era were not yet bought by the corporations and many were actually leading the charge in regulation. Trouble is, he does not fully explain the very real limits of the political system. This is best if read with Building a New American State by Skowronek.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have to write a book about politics, this should be what you write. Summers is a fantastic writer, infusing this history with energy, humor, and snark. The detailed following of individual political campaigns did get tedious, but overall an informative and entertaining read.

[Ameenah]

According to Mark Summers' book, Party Games, reviews a perspective on America's political system including the two party system. Summers discussion occurs in the Gilded Age of an American Political system. According to Summers’ the type of partisanship campaign and elections promoted for bad governance in American politics.# The book emphasizes the role of the media at galvanizing the partisanship battles and promoting sensationalism while marginalizing alternatives. By ignoring other candidates from third parties and their platform Editors rule the roost.

The effects of gerrymandering in many states caused a one-party influence and domination in certain regions of the country. According to Summers the influence of corporations in campaigns supported political advantages to promote their political agendas. The railroad companies promoted their political agenda by financial support of campaigns. The rise and fall of Populism during the Glided age and the efforts of the two-party system machine to maintain control. The only evidence of a revival of a third party was the Presidential campaign of Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996. Summers review concludes it is the politicians that control our political landscape developed by party elites.

Just a thought,
Ameenah Fuller