In the wake of the election, we’ve taken the Republican Party to task. Genuine conservatism is a good thing, and we want the GOP to be better. The health of the republic demands it, because right now only one team is showing up to the game.

Had this election happened several decades ago, rather than hearing the now-familiar phrase “I’m Mitt Romney, and I’m running for president,” or something similar from President Barack Obama, instead we’d have heard something closer to “I’m Mitt Romney, and I’m a Republican running for president.”

The difference is subtle but nonetheless critical, and the change over time tracks with the increasing impotence of government. Political parties in American politics have declined since the Progressive Era and, in place of party, we’ve seen the rise of individual politics, which increasingly mingles with and gives way to media politics.

Most people might say, “So what? The parties suck!” or at least condemn the two party system. That would be completely accurate, but for the wrong reasons. Our political parties suck indeed, but for the very reasons that they’ve changed, not because they’re inherently bad.

One hundred years ago, because of parties, politics was a lot more local in nature, and citizens were more aware of issues and got involved in the process more readily. Parties promoted discourse far better than today, and they represented legitimate opposition in government.

Parties took the hyper-plurality and discord of society and distilled the wants and needs of a nation into a party platform, and provided money and support for candidates that endured even long after the campaign was over and the candidate was in office. Parties established a consistent and strong, loyal following between diverse citizens from sea to shining sea, and provided a durable struggle between all of them.

Now national candidates raise much of their own money and campaign directly to the people, as the campaign is more about the individual candidate than supporting and advancing the ideas of a party. Elections become a matter of personal taste rather than principle and vision. Under this system, when a politician does something displeasing, public opinion repudiates him.

When the party system weakens, it creates gridlock and the hyper-plurality the party was intended to solve. Regardless of what theory one subscribes to, there’s no argument that we’ve achieved congressional gridlock and a Republican party riddled with enough radical dissent that its leaders can’t control the caucus.

In order to survive its defeats after growing radicalism and obstructionist ways, the GOP must not only ostracize the fake conservatives within and amplify sane voices, but it must return to the focus on county and state party politics — the kind of system that endures from election to election, engenders participation and co-opts candidates rather than candidates co-opting it for short-term gain.