If political parties were previously not very ideologically based then what drove one to become a republican or a democrat?

by Boopy_Doopy

I’ve read that previously in the mid 20th century political parties were much less ideologically based than they are now, so what differentiated the parties and what would drive a person to join one or the other?

ethangonzales52

I’d love to answer your question, but I’m a bit confused: what period are you referring to? As far as I’m concerned, parties have been ideological since the first party system, between the Hamiltonian Federalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans. “Republican” and “Democrat” appear to refer to political history beyond the formation of the Republican Party in the 1850s. What party system or period are you referring to?