Governors Go National

"""Partisanship and polarization have been the key drivers of modern American politics, touching all areas of public life. In this important study, Anthony Sparacino traces in detail the evolution of national governors' organizations as they became significant actors in American national politics. The Republicans led the way in the 1970s and 1980s, but as with any 'arms race, ' the Democrats reciprocated. While individual governors have long intervened in national campaigns, Sparacino demonstrates how these organizations emerged as potent new political forces on the national scene."" --Andrew Polsky, Hunter College, City University of New York ""Seldom viewed as consequential, Sparacino refutes the common wisdom to show how governors' national organizations shape and alter party competition. With careful attention to the incentives governors face to simultaneously nationalize political conflict and guard their state-level prerogatives, this is the definitive book on how governors have built the modern American party system and continue to shape it through today."" --Nicholas Jacobs, Colby College ""This book provides a rigorous an innovative account of how governors, acting together through associations, have impacted the nationalization of American political parties. The origin, tactics, and influence the RGA and DGA at the national level can only be fully explained through a developmental analysis. In this well researched study, Anthony Sparacino teaches us a great deal about the interplay of presidential politics and gubernatorial political and policy interests, differences between the parties, and the evolution of federalism amidst the integration of national and state-level party organizations."" --Daniel Palazzolo, University of Richmond"