The Fifth Party System, also known as the New Deal Party System, is the era of
American national politics that began with the election of
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
to
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
in
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
. Roosevelt's implementation of his popular
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...
expanded the size and power of the
federal government
A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
to an extent unprecedented in American history, and marked the beginning of political dominance by the
Democratic Party that would remain largely unbroken except
1952
Events January–February
* January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
* February 6
** Princess Elizabeth, ...
. This period also began the ideological swapping of Democrats and Republicans into their modern versions. This was largely due to traditionally
Republican Black voters switching to the Democratic Party, while conservative, White, and southern Democrats shifted to the Republican Party. This occurred as Democrats began increasingly prioritizing
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
, a process that accelerated into the 1960s. The Fifth Party System followed the
Fourth Party System, also known as the
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) was a period in the United States characterized by multiple social and political reform efforts. Reformers during this era, known as progressivism in the United States, Progressives, sought to address iss ...
, and was succeeded by the
Sixth Party System.
The New Deal coalition that cemented the Fifth Party System and allowed Democrats to dominate the White House for 40-some years arose from the realignment of two similar third party factions into the Democratic Party: the Progressives in the Western Coast and the greater Rust Belt region (which includes New York, Massachusetts, Baltimore and New Jersey), and the Socialists in the Western Coast and Sun Belt. Realigning these two factions after the 1932 and 1936 elections allowed the Democratic Party to make inroads in the North for the first time since the Second Party System and made other non-South regions competitive.
History
The onset of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
undermined the confidence of business in Republican promises of prosperity. The four consecutive elections of Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the Democrats virtually uncontested dominance. By the time of their sweeping victory in
1936
Events January–February
* January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House.
* January 28 – Death and state funer ...
, the Party had become dominated by the
New Deal Coalition, remaining unchallenged until
Dwight D. Eisenhower led Republicans to victory in 1952.
Despite the power of the New Dealers, the
conservative coalition, comprising northern Republicans and southern Democrats, generally controlled Congress from 1938 to 1964. Nevertheless, the New Deal Coalition quickly grew to include a range of politicians unusual at the time for its diversity. Although still broadly consisting of the
White Anglo-Saxon Protestants who dominated the conservative coalition as well, New Dealers also grew to include new ethno-religious constituencies, such as Catholics and Jews, in addition to liberal White southerners,
trade unionists
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
, urban
machinists, progressive intellectuals, populist farm groups, and even some ex-Republicans from the
Northeast. These groups all became primary voting blocs of the Democratic Party that are still dominant in the modern era.
The Republican Party underwent a dramatic ideological change of its own during this period, consisting of a conservative wing led by Senator
Robert A. Taft and then
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...
, and a moderate to liberal wing led by
Thomas Dewey,
Nelson Rockefeller,
Earl Warren,
Jacob Javits,
George W. Romney,
William Scranton
William Warren Scranton (July 19, 1917 – July 28, 2013) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician and diplomat. Scranton served as the 38th governor of Pennsylvania from 1963 to 1967, and as United States Am ...
,
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., and
Prescott Bush
Prescott Sheldon Bush Sr. (May 15, 1895 – October 8, 1972) was an American banker and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician. as a Wall Street executive investment banker, he represented Connecticut in the from 1952 ...
. The liberal wing experienced more electoral victories than the conservatives until the election of
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
in
1968, marking conservative Republicans' first major victory, as Eisenhower had been more aligned with the Party's liberal wing. Despite his rhetoric, Nixon continued and expanded on liberal policies stating in 1971 "
We are all Keynesians now". However, Nixon's implication in the
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...
ruined him and badly damaged public perception of the Republican Party nationwide until
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
, when
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
was elected president and successfully revitalized the party. With his ascension, Reagan effectively swept away the last remnants of the party's liberal wing, who had all switched to the Democratic Party by this time. For this reason, Reagan's election is widely regarded as marking the end of the Fifth Party System and the beginning of the Sixth Party System that arguably continues today.
Analysis

The
party system
A party system is a concept in comparative political science concerning the system of government by political parties in a democratic country. The idea is that political parties have basic similarities: they control the government, have a stable ...
model with its numbering and demarcation of the historical systems was introduced in 1967 by Chambers and Burnham. Much of the work published on the subject has been by political scientists explaining the events of their time as either the imminent breakup of the Fifth Party System, and the installation of a new one, or suggesting that this transition had already taken place some time ago. The notion of an end to the Fifth Party system was particularly popular in the 1970s, with some specifying a culminating date as early as 1960.
[Aldrich (1999).]
In ''Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process'' (2011), authors
L. Sandy Maisel and Mark D. Brewer argue that the consensus among experts is that the Sixth System is underway based on American electoral politics since the 1960s:
Opinions on when the Fifth Party System ended include the following: The elections of 1966 to 1968; the election of 1972; the 1980s, when both parties began to become more unified and partisan; and the 1990s, due to cultural divisions.
[Stephen C. Craig, ''Broken Contract? Changing Relationships between Americans and Their Government'' (1996) p. 105]
Stephen Craig argues for the
1972 elections when
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
won a 49-state landslide. He notes that, "There seems to be consensus on the appropriate name for the sixth party system... Changes that occurred during the 1960s were so great and so pervasive that they cry out to be called a critical-election period. The new system of candidate-centered parties is so distinct and so portentous that one can no longer deny its existence or its character."
''The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History'' dates the start of the Sixth Party system in 1980, with the election of Reagan and a Republican Senate. Arthur Paulson argues, "Whether electoral change since the 1960s is called 'realignment' or not, the 'sixth party system' emerged between 1964 and 1972."
[Arthur Paulson, "Party change and the shifting dynamics in presidential nominations: The Lessons of 2008." ''Polity'' 41.3 (2009): 312-330, quoting page 314.]
See also
*
Civil rights movement (1896–1954)
*
Conservative coalition
*
New Deal coalition
*
Party systems in the United States
*
Politics of the Southern United States
*
Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, first and second terms
*
Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, third and fourth terms
*
Presidency of Harry S. Truman
*
Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower
*
Presidency of John F. Kennedy
*
Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson
*
Presidency of Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 37th president of the United States began with First inauguration of Richard Nixon, his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 19 ...
*
Presidency of Gerald Ford
*
Presidency of Jimmy Carter
*
Reagan era
*
Southern Strategy
References
Further reading
* Allswang, John M. ''New Deal and American Politics'' (1978), statistical analysis of votes
*
Andersen, Kristi. ''The Creation of a Democratic Majority, 1928–1936'' (1979), statistical analysis of polls
* Bibby, John F. "Party Organizations, 1946–1996", in Byron E. Shafer, ed. ''Partisan Approaches to Postwar American Politics'', (1998)
* Cantril, Hadley and Mildred Strunk, eds. ''Public Opinion, 1935–1946'' (1951). (A massive compilation of public opinion polls
online)
* Caraley, Demetrios James, "Three Trends Over Eight Presidential Elections, 1980–2008: Toward the Emergence of a Democratic Majority Realignment?", ''Political Science Quarterly'', 124 (Fall 2009), 423–42
* Fraser, Steve, and Gary Gerstle, eds. ''The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order, 1930–1980'' (1990); essays on broad topics.
* Gallup, George. ''The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1935–1971'' (3 vol 1972)
* Geer, John G. "New Deal Issues and the American Electorate, 1952–1988", ''Political Behavior'', 14#1 (March 1992), pp. 45–65 .
* Gershtenson, Joseph. "Mobilization Strategies of the Democrats and Republicans, 1956–2000", ''Political Research Quarterly'' Vol. 56, No. 3 (Sep. 2003), pp. 293–308. .
* Green, John C. and Paul S. Herrnson
"Party Development in the Twentieth Century: Laying the Foundations for Responsible Party Government?"(2000)
*
Hamby, Alonzo. ''Liberalism and Its Challengers: From F.D.R. to Bush'' (1992).
* Jensen, Richard. "The Last Party System: Decay of Consensus, 1932–1980", in ''The Evolution of American Electoral Systems'' (Paul Kleppner et al. eds.) (1981) pp. 219–225.
* Kazin, Michael. ''What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party'' (202
excerpt* Ladd, Everett Carll Jr., with Charles D. Hadley. ''Transformations of the American Party System: Political Coalitions from the New Deal to the 1970s'' 2nd ed. (1978).
* Leuchtenburg, William E. ''In the Shadow of FDR: From Harry Truman to George W. Bush'' (2001)
* Levine, Jeffrey; Carmines, Edward G.; and Huckfeldt, Robert. "The Rise of Ideology in the Post-New Deal Party System, 1972–1992". ''American Politics Quarterly'' (1997) 25(1): 19–34. . Argues that the social basis of the New Deal party system has weakened. The result is ideology shapes partisan support.
* Manza, Jeff and Clem Brooks; ''Social Cleavages and Political Change: Voter Alignments and U.S. Party Coalitions''. Oxford University Press, 1999.
* Manza, Jeff; "Political Sociological Models of the U.S. New Deal". ''Annual Review of Sociology'', 2000. pp. 297+
* Milkis, Sidney M. and Jerome M. Mileur, eds. ''The New Deal and the Triumph of Liberalism'' (2002)
* Milkis, Sidney M. ''The President and the Parties: The Transformation of the American Party System Since the New Deal'' (1993)
* Murphy, Paul L. ed. "The New Deal Realignment and the Fifth-Party System, 1928-1948" in Paul L. Murphy, ed., ''Political Parties in American History: 1890-present'' (vol 3. 1974) pp. 1109-1246.
* Paulson, Arthur. ''Electoral Realignment and the Outlook for American Democracy'' (2006)
* Pederson, William D. ed. ''A Companion to Franklin D. Roosevelt'' (Blackwell Companions to American History) (2011)
* Riccards, Michael P., and Cheryl A. Flagg eds. ''Party Politics in the Age of Roosevelt: The Making of Modern America'' (2022
excerpt* Robinson, Edgar Eugene. ''They Voted for Roosevelt: The Presidential Vote, 1932–1944'' (1947). Statistical tables of votes by county.
* Schlesinger, Arthur Jr., ed. ''History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2008'' (2011). 3 vol and 11 vol editions; detailed analysis of each election, with primary documents
online v. 1. 1789–1824 – v. 2. 1824–1844 – v. 3. 1848–1868 – v. 4. 1872–1888 – v. 5. 1892–1908 – v. 6. 1912–1924 – v. 7. 1928–1940 – v. 8. 1944–1956 – v. 9. 1960–1968 – v. 10. 1972–1984 – v. 11. 1988–001* Shafer, Byron E. and Anthony J. Badger, eds. ''Contesting Democracy: Substance and Structure in American Political History, 1775–2000'' (2001)
* Sternsher, Bernard. "The New Deal Party System: A Reappraisal". ''Journal of Interdisciplinary History'' v.15#1 (Summer 1984), pp. 53–81. .
* Sternsher, Bernard. "The Emergence of the New Deal Party System: A Problem in Historical Analysis of Voter Behavior". ''Journal of Interdisciplinary History'', v.6#1 (Summer 1975), pp. 127–49. .
* Sitkoff, Harvard. "Harry Truman and the Election of 1948: The Coming of Age of Civil Rights in American Politics". ''Journal of Southern History'' Vol. 37, No. 4 (Nov. 1971), pp. 597–616 .
* Sundquist, James L. ''Dynamics of the Party System: Alignment and Realignment of Political Parties in the United States'', (1983)
{{Democratic Party (United States)
5th system
20th century in American politics
History of the Democratic Party (United States)
History of the Republican Party (United States)