Chapter 8 Collateral Reading

American Government, Readings and Cases, by Peter Woll

1. Divided We Govern, David R. Mayhew


Critics of divided government have proposed more disciplined political parties to unify the president and the congress, thereby helping to overcome the effects of separation of powers. However, the divided government that the separation of powers helps to create works as well as the unified government that party discipline would establish.

2. A Theory of Critical Elections, V.O. Key, Jr.


Critical elections begin a long-term realignment from the previously dominant party to a new majority group.


3. Politics By Other Means, Benjamin Ginsberg and Martin Shefter


Political parties and elections play a central role in the democratic process. Party decline and electoral decay have intensified institutional conflict and politics by other means.

Chief Justice Richard Barajas
Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics
Cathedral High School, El Paso, Texas
Last updated: November, 2001