They are huge players in the American political system, but political parties do not exist by design in the United States. The U.S. Constitution does not mention political parties at all, yet they dominate political conversations and activities.
Shawn Patterson, political scientist at Southern Oregon University, takes up the issue of parties, who influences them, and who they influence in turn, in the latest installment of SOU's Democracy Project.
JPR is a partner on the project; we spend a preview session with Shawn Patterson before he leads an online discussion on the evening of February 4th.