Explain how party coalitions in the U.S. reflect the nature of party competition. Does coalition formation tend to moderate or radicalize parties? Explain.

What will be an ideal response?

The overriding goal of a major American political party is to gain control of government by getting its candidates elected to office, which means that political compromise is essential. The major parties must appeal to different groups that may disagree on some issues; a reasonable amount of compromise is therefore necessary. The parties must also appeal to many of the same groups. The result is, in most circumstances though not all, a moderate form of political conflict in which the parties' coalitions overlap substantially in terms of the groups that comprise them. The median voter theorem encapsulates this idea by suggesting that the further a party drifts from the center, the more vulnerable it makes itself to losing voters to the other major party.