| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 91.3

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to JAH online. About 200 words from this article are provided below; about 447 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the Organization of American Historians, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a member of the Organization of American Historians, you can:: • Join the OAH and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the Journal of American History.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two-hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the Journal of American History (86.1-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the Journal of American History.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 91.3 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Realignment: The Theory That Changed the Way We Think about American Politics. By Theodore Rosenof. (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. xvi, 231 pp. Cloth, $75.00, ISBN 0-7425-3104-X. Paper, $26.95, ISBN 0-7425-3105-8.)
In this informative work, Theodore Rosenof provides the most comprehensive recounting to date of the history of the realignment perspective on American political history. Realignment theory posits that American electoral history follows a regular pattern of discontinuous change. Long periods of stable political alignments are disrupted periodically by dramatic realignments that alter the balance of party power, reshuffle voter coalitions, and introduce policy initiatives that respond to unmet needs.	1
Rosenof locates the origins of realignment theory in the behavioral revolution that made the study of politics more scientific in the 1920s and in efforts by political analysts to understand the Democratic breakthrough of 1932 and its surprising ratification in 1948, when Harry S. Truman upset Thomas Dewey and when the Democrats regained unified control of Congress after surrendering both houses in 1946. Especially important for Rosenof are the works of the journalist Samuel Lubell, the political scientist V. O. Key, and the social psychologist Angus Campbell and his Michigan school of political analysis.	. . .

There are about 447 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.