In Defense of Partisanship

Julian E. Zelizer is the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University and a columnist for Foreign Policy. He also publishes a Substack newsletter called The Long View. Zelizer is the author and editor of numerous books, most recently Myth America and Burning Down the House. He lives in New York City.

“Tracing the Democratic and the Republican Parties from their births through the congressional reforms of the nineteen-seventies, Zelizer dissects what has gone wrong and provides a clear and accessible blueprint for further changes.” —New Yorker“[A] short, but timely, scholarly treatise.” —East Hampton Star“This useful and timely study can serve as a textbook for American government courses and for politically engaged citizens.” —Library Journal“Contravening conventional wisdom, Zelizer offers a spirited defense of parties and partisanship. Rather than futile attempts to reverse polarization, In Defense of Partisanship advocates for political and institutional reforms to channel partisan impulses toward more democratically accountable policymaking.” —Frances Lee, professor of politics and public affairs, Princeton University“Julian Zelizer has long been one of America’s best political historians, and this fascinating little book about the evolution of US parties and the fierce battle between them today contains more wisdom than any other volume on the subject. Anyone who cares about the past and future of our public life should read it—and politicians should take his ideas for how to reform the system to heart.” —Michael Kazin, author of What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party and professor of history, Georgetown University“Julian Zelizer deploys his formidable skills to illuminate what has gone wrong with American democracy and how we might fix it. In Defense of Partisanship is powerful and engaging, and penetrating in its analysis of how well-intentioned Congressional reforms of the 1970s went so awry. Essential reading.” —Gary Gerstle, author of The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era“How did our politics get so bad? How do we get to a better place? In this fresh, important, and wonderfully accessible book, Zelizer answers the big questions with deep historical knowledge and analytical grace. It gives me hope that ‘responsible partisanship’ and real reform of Congress can prevail.” —Jonathan Alter, author of American Reckoning: Inside Trump’s Trial—and My Own“As anyone familiar with Julian Zelizer’s books, articles, and broadcasts about American politics already knows, he is one of our foremost public intellectuals. With this book, he turns his rigorous scholarship, incisive analysis, and lucid prose to the defense of what he aptly calls ‘responsible partisanship.’ Rather than offer a paean to some imaginary Congressional past, or a cri de coeur of hopelessness about the nation’s present polarization, Zelizer sets forth a plausible, achievable agenda for restoring the most productive kind of party loyalty and organization. Think of this book as a manual for democracy.” —Samuel Freedman, author of Into the Bright Sunshine: Young Hubert Humphrey and the Fight for Civil Rights“This book is instantly essential. Too many commentators bewail our hyperpartisan politics. Julian Zelizer does something much better—he explores the long and fascinating history of America’s political parties, explains the current moment, and offers a road map back to sanity.” —Ted Widmer, author of Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington