Question

Explain the two changes that rauch describes that weakened parties

Answer 1

 

A drop in voters willing to id selves as rep. or dem. A big increase in split ticket voting.  Structural changes and reforms. Changes in the technology of campaigning for office. Can be seen as a weakness because it often may lead to instability in government, it might be seen as a strength because it gives voters a much more true choice among candidates and policy alternatives then the present two-party system.

Answer 2

Two ideas that Rauch presents as having caused significant harm to the political parties have a co-dependent relationship with each other. The first element Rauch identifies is the idea that what precisely defines the parties is no looser and "without boundaries". The other part that depends on this vagueness or larger gray areas of political representation, is the then ability within the parties themselves to select or elect the party leaders. As the increase in varied beliefs occurs within a party, the inability to select leadership increases, along with a growing lack of consensus on any idea.