After reading this chapter, you should be able to understand:

• how political parties and interest groups differ
• the role of political parties at the state level
• regional and demographic variation in support of political parties
• the responsible party model
• the pros and cons of political machines
• the role of primary elections and the different types of primaries
• how the role of state and local political parties has changed
• the regulations concerning campaign finance
• why third parties have had relatively little electoral success in the United States
• the role of interest groups, which interest groups are the most influential, and the different types of interest groups