The Political Party Matrix

Monroe contends that the growth of political staff allows the incumbent to attract and retain a stable core of workers who can handle the tasks vital to the maintenance of the incumbent's personal political apparatus. Working together, these personal political apparatuses create intricate structures for electoral coordination. Using interviews and state and national data, Monroe provides evidence that office holders and their organizations coordinate their efforts to help other candidates in the electoral arena; they have a complex grooming and recruitment apparatus; and they cooperate in government to satisfy their supporters. The result is an elaborate party network based on the interaction and collaboration of these local units.