Political Parties Don’t Stand Still: A Case Study

The modern American political landscape is characterised by division. The two major parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, maintain firmly polarised stances on most domestic social issues, including diversity and inclusion, gun control, abortion rights, and more. The Democrats, in particular former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama, preach equality and acceptance on social issues. Their voter base tends to exist mostly in Northern urban areas, and includes high percentages of Black- and Asian-origin voters. The Republican Party, including current President Donald Trump, attracts higher percentages of white voters, men, and those who possess more conservative values. Their voter base tends to exist in rural Southern areas. (Hartig et al., 2025)

 

The North-South divide in voting stretches back to the American Civil War, where Northern states (the Union) fought against Southern states (the Confederacy) over the issue of emancipation. However, it might surprise some that the famously anti-slavery president, often known as ‘The Great Emancipator’, was a member of the Republican party. So how did the formerly progressive, pro-emancipation party transform into the right wing party it is today?

 

In the 1930s, the Democrats were the dominant party across the country, and especially in the South. The Republicans had a reputation intrinsically tied to Reconstruction and the growing civil rights movement. However, in the 1930s, the Democrats began to break into two main factions over two main issues: civil rights and segregation, and the authority of the state versus the federal government. This culminated in the dramatic events of the 1948 Democratic Convention, where delegates from the Deep South walked out in protest of Northern delegates who supported the end of segregation. The party was forced to accept that if they continued to pursue an anti-segregationist policy, they would lose the support of Southern voters. (Ladd Jr. et al., 1971)

 

At the same time, Republicans from the west of America had shifted towards more conservative, racially-biased views. Western and Southern Republicans shared similar views; both had a desire to remove immigrants, as demonstrated by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This branch of the party gained support after the surge in population after WWII. (Baugh & Carson, 2025)

 

These trends continued into the 1960s, into the height of the Civil Rights movement. All the major civil rights legislation of the 1960s (the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965) were sponsored by the Democratic Party, though it was not sanctioned by all members of the Party. In particular, it angered Southern Democrats. The frustration and disillusionment of Southern voters and their representatives was exploited by the Republican Party, in what has been coined the ‘Southern Strategy’. 

 

This strategy has been credited by many to former President Richard Nixon and his advisor, Kevin P. Phillips. They realised that there was an entire demographic of voters available to win over. However, due to the political climate of the time, they could no longer speak openly about race without alienating white moderate voters. They therefore began to use terms such as ‘law and order’, and ‘silent majority’ because this allowed them to implicitly refer to the consequences of race riots or civil rights protests, while not angering any of their existing supporters, as well as appealing to more conservative voters. In theory, Nixon showed “neglect towards the aspirations of Black Americans” with their newly established voting rights, as put by George B. Tindall. In reality, he diminished the commitment the federal government and the Supreme Court had made to Black voters, in favor of courting the votes of Southern white conservatives. (Tindall, 1971, 126-141)

 

The Southern Strategy proved extremely effective. Nixon was voted in as president in 1968 and again in 1972. In 1968, only one of the Southern states voted for Nixon; in 1972, all of them did. In fact, Nixon was so popular as president that in 1972, he won the election by 502 electoral college votes to the Democratic nominee’s 17. (270 To Win, n.d.) As a result of it, Black voters began shifting their allegiances to the Democratic party. President Reagan used it again after his wins in the 1980 and 1984 presidential elections. In fact, the Southern Strategy was so effective that it resulted in almost complete Republican control of the South by 2016. 

 

The split between the Democratic and Republican parties has widened considerably since Nixon’s time, encouraged by other turning points in American politics. However, the foundations for this polarization were laid in the 60s and early 70s by Nixon’s strategy to appeal to white conservative voters, shifting the Republican reputation from one aligned with desegregation to very much the opposite. Such party fluidity seems unfathomable in today’s climate; however, it is important to understand that allegiance to a party is not a pillar of identity; rather, a response to the ever-changing political context of the world. 

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Glossary

Emancipation: the process of giving a group of people social or political rights or freedoms (in this case referring to the granting of freedom to enslaved people in 1863)

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Reconstruction: the period after the American Civil War (1865-77) where attempts were made to address the legacy and lasting implications of slavery.

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Faction: a group within a political party, often with their own aims and ideas which differ slightly from the main party.

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Democratic Convention: a conference held every four years by the Democratic Party, in order to officially nominate a presidential and vice-presidential candidate, and to unify the party stance prior to an election.

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Electoral College Votes: each state is granted a certain number of votes, and the winning candidate in that state is awarded that number of electoral college votes. A majority of 270 electoral college votes is needed to win the presidency.

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References

Baugh, S., & Carson, C. (2025, September 13). Southern strategy | Definition, The South, History, Republican Party, Democratic Party, & Facts. Britannica. Retrieved October 17, 2025, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Southern-strategy 

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Feathers, E. (2020). Nixon's Southern Strategy: An Examination of the Role of Race in the 1968 and 1972 Presidential Campaigns. Retrieved October 17, 2025, from https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1205&context=younghistorians 

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Hartig, H., Keeter, S., Daniller, A., & Van Green, T. (2025, June 26). How voting patterns changed in the 2024 election: A detailed analysis. Pew Research Center. Retrieved October 17, 2025, from https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/06/26/voting-patterns-in-the-2024-election/ 

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Ladd Jr., E. C., King, L., & Hadley, C. (1971). A new political realignment? National Affairs. Retrieved October 17, 2025, from https://www.nationalaffairs.com/public_interest/detail/a-new-political-realignment

 

Lazenby, E. (2023, April 24). The Southern Strategy. In Confluence. Retrieved October 17, 2025, from https://confluence.gallatin.nyu.edu/context/interdisciplinary-seminar/the-southern-strategy 

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Miller, J., & Farishta, K. (2020). RECLAIMING THE “SOUTHERN STRATEGY” How Democrats Win Back the South in the 2020s. Retrieved October 17, 2025, from https://ash.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/harvard_report_2020_april_dems_in_the_south.pdf 

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Strauss, D. (2020, September 5). 'The politics of racial division': Trump borrows Nixon's 'southern strategy'. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/05/donald-trump-richard-nixon-southern-strategy 

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Tindall, G. B. (1971, April). Southern Strategy: A Historical Perspective. The North Carolina Historical Review, 48(2), 126-141. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23518391 

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270 To Win. (n.d.). 1972 Presidential Election. 270 to win. Retrieved October 17, 2025, from https://www.270towin.com/1972-election