Political realignment

Political realignment is a durable shift in the coalitions of voters and groups that support political parties, often changing which issues and regions define party competition.

Party system: The pattern of competition and cooperation among political parties in a political system. Realignment changes which parties compete and how their coalitions are organized.
New Deal coalition: The diverse Democratic electoral coalition formed during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. Its formation is a major example of a durable coalition shift in U.S. politics.
V. O. Key Jr.: An American political scientist known for influential studies of elections, parties, and Southern politics. Key developed the concept of critical elections that shaped realignment scholarship.
Political dealignment: A decline in stable voter attachment to political parties and partisan identities. It describes eroding loyalties rather than a settled transfer between party coalitions.
Party identification: A person's enduring psychological attachment to a political party. Changing party attachments can turn temporary vote shifts into durable coalition change.
Fifth Party System: The U.S. party era commonly dated from the New Deal election of 1932 through the mid-twentieth century. It names the party arrangement associated with the New Deal coalition.
The Responsible Electorate: V. O. Key Jr.'s 1966 book arguing that voters make meaningful choices among political alternatives. Key's account of voter judgment informs explanations of durable electoral change.
Retrospective voting: Voting based on judgments of an incumbent's past performance. It can explain an election result without implying a durable coalition transformation.
Issue ownership: The belief that one political party handles a particular issue more effectively than its rivals. Parties can gain new voters when issues become central and their perceived competence shifts.
Southern realignment: The long shift of white Southern voters from Democratic to Republican support. It illustrates a gradual regional transformation rather than a single-election switch.

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