<P> Opposition Republicans were split between a conservative wing, led by Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft, and a more successful moderate wing exemplified by the politics of Northeastern leaders such as Nelson Rockefeller, Jacob Javits, and Henry Cabot Lodge . The latter steadily lost influence inside the GOP after 1964 . </P> <P> Experts debate whether this era ended (and a Sixth Party System subsequently emerged) in the mid-1960s when the New Deal coalition died, the early 1980s when the Moral Majority and the Reagan coalition were formed, the early 1990s when Third Way emerged among Democrats, the mid-1990s during the Republican Revolution, or if the Fifth system continues in some form to the present . </P> <P> Since the 1930s, the Democrats positioned themselves more towards liberalism while the conservatives increasingly dominated the GOP . However, new voter coalitions emerged during the latter half of the 20th century, with conservatives and the Republicans becoming dominant in the South, rural areas, and suburbs; while liberals and the Democrats increasingly started to rely on a coalition of African - Americans, Hispanics and white urban progressives . </P> <P> Although American politics have been dominated by the two - party system, several other political parties have also emerged throughout the country's history . The oldest third party was the Anti-Masonic Party and was formed in upstate New York in 1828; the party's creators feared the Freemasons, believing they were a powerful secret society that was trying to rule the country in defiance of republican principles . </P>

How many party systems have there been in america