The concept of a critical realignment, electoral behavior, and political change.

The loss of popularity of the 'alignment perspective' concept, otherwise known as the 'democratic' theory of political change, is unfortunate since it can be employed as a tool for investigating 'electoral behavior' and studying US political changes. According to a study of presidential election data from 1828 to 1984, critical realignments are inherent to national elections and may be manifested in different forms. Electoral bursts of 40-50 points lasting indefinitely were also observed.

In his seminal article on critical elections, V. O. Key (1955) attempted to formulate a partial theory of ...

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