I have said the same thing regarding the branding- the D or the R or the L or G provide information to the voter. There have been some (usually Republicans) who actually advocated eliminating party affiliation from ballots because of the branding.
As someone involved in the progressive side of the Democratic Party, progressives outside the party use party affiliation as an insult to denigrate Democrats because they don't get enough power under the coalition aspect of the parties. Since our Founders didn't create a parliamentary system, evolution to parties seems to have been inevitable. Parliamentary systems often rely on coalitions- we have ours within each party.
But there has been, IMO, one negative trend- the whole "I vote for the person not the party" twinned with the rise of "personality" candidates. In the past, as Mr Brands points out, the parties dictated a lot of the process for candidates on ballots. Now candidates for various positions cannibalize each other for volunteers and funds. I saw this first hand as a candidate for Congress in 2016.
I have said the same thing regarding the branding- the D or the R or the L or G provide information to the voter. There have been some (usually Republicans) who actually advocated eliminating party affiliation from ballots because of the branding.
As someone involved in the progressive side of the Democratic Party, progressives outside the party use party affiliation as an insult to denigrate Democrats because they don't get enough power under the coalition aspect of the parties. Since our Founders didn't create a parliamentary system, evolution to parties seems to have been inevitable. Parliamentary systems often rely on coalitions- we have ours within each party.
But there has been, IMO, one negative trend- the whole "I vote for the person not the party" twinned with the rise of "personality" candidates. In the past, as Mr Brands points out, the parties dictated a lot of the process for candidates on ballots. Now candidates for various positions cannibalize each other for volunteers and funds. I saw this first hand as a candidate for Congress in 2016.