Throughout the nineteenth century, political parties attempted to mediate local, state, and national conflicts to forge a winning electoral coalition. The question here is whether party leaders felt that success depended on offering clear divergent positions to their voters. In other words, to what extent did the parties present alternative programs to the electorate—at any specific time or over time? This study examines the growth of the two-party system in nineteenth-century America by focusing on the interaction of the elites of the Democrats and Whig/Republicans in forging their electoral message. The methodology includes a content analysis of national and state party platforms during presidential election years 1840 through 1896 to show when and where parties emphasized certain issue proposals. Ultimately, this is a story of interparty polarization—over time, the two major parties tended to emphasize the same issues and offer divergent positions in their platforms.

中文翻译：

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共识与冲突：1840-1896 年美国政党纲领的内容分析

在整个 19 世纪，政党试图调解地方、州和国家的冲突，以建立一个获胜的选举联盟。这里的问题是，政党领导人是否认为成功取决于向选民提供明确的不同立场。换句话说，政党在多大程度上向选民提出了替代方案——在任何特定时间或随着时间的推移？本研究通过关注民主党精英和辉格党/共和党精英在塑造他们的选举信息方面的互动，考察了 19 世纪美国两党制的发展。该方法包括对 1840 年至 1896 年总统选举期间的国家和州政党纲领的内容分析，以显示政党何时何地强调某些问题提案。最终，