American Political Parties and Elections

American Political Parties and Elections
This was an excellent introduction to what is, to many immigrants and outsiders, a very confusing system. There is a short historical introduction and a more complex analysis of the elections of the last 20 years. It covers elections at all levels and discusses (sometimes with multiple repetition) why there are no European style political parties in the US, managing to finally explain how a Reagan Democrat, a concept foreign to an Englishman, could exist. It does not pull punches on the failings of the system. The lack of voter interest, the lack of discussion of real issues and  the fairly strange system of picking candidates for the Presidential elections which is often over months before some of us get to vote in the primaries. If the book has a failing it is that it seems to have been written in separate chapters and there is a fair amount of repetition. Overall a great read and an excellent short introduction.