Development of Political Parties - Research Paper Example

? Political Parties Introduction The current superpower of the world is the world oldest surviving federation (Nivola & Brady, pp. 78-79) with its system of constitutional republic and representative democracy. The two major political parties of United States are the Democratic Party and Republican Party. These parities, their ideologies, power struggles, mandates and others have had a strong influence on the country’s history and current political system (Nivola & Brady, pp. 78-79). This paper is an attempt to present a bird eye’s view of the history of the political parties in the United States of America. Discussion Surprisingly, the constitution of United States, unlike other constitutions of the nations does not present any guidelines about the political parties of the country. In fact, the First President of United States and the Father of the Nation, George Washington was strongly against political parities because he viewed political party system as something, which would bring conflicts, inefficiency, and stagnation to the system (Eldersveld & Walton, pp. 123-125). However, as soon as United States gained independence, disagreements and discrepancies surfaced out in the views of the founding fathers of America (Cohen, Fleisher & Kantor, pp. 513-516). The First Part System came into being when differences between the Treasury of the State Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson regarding the role and strength of the federal government (Nivola & Brady, pp. 78-79). Hamilton and its supporters wanted a strong central government to control ad look after the matters; however, Jefferson and his disciples feared that a strong central government like that of Britain would invite the states to stand up against the Federation someday. This was the era of 1792-1824 (Maisel, pp. 98-99). This tug of war between the Federalist Party of Hamilton and Jefferson’s Democratic Republican Party went on to include various foreign policy issues as well (Eldersveld & Walton, pp. 123-125). Towards the end of the 1820’s the era of good feelings started and these personal and policy differences were settled. However, important here is to note is that Democratic Republic Party was the clear winner and survivor (Sabato & Ernst, pp. 269-278). However, it was not until the Second Party System that foundation of the modern American Political Party system came into existence. During this era of 1828 to 1854, the Democratic Party led by Andrew Jackson and the Whig Party in the leadership of Henry clay were facing each other (Eldersveld & Walton, pp. 123-125; Ritchie, pp. 367-373). Towards the end of this era, many of the democratic leaders accepted Whiggish ideas; however, many other economic and social issues were forcing the Democratic Party itself to divide into two thus giving birth to the third political party system in the United States (Wilson & DiIulio, pp. 193-197). This was during the third political party system when the Republican and Democratic Parities emerged which continue to be the dominant force in American politics (Stonecash, pp. 59-67). Many experts believe that the newly born Republican Party emerged as a national party, which was bold enough to take strong economic and social decisions such as creation of banks, rail roods, abolishment of slavery and others (Bibby & Schaffner, pp. 112-113; Maisel, pp. 98-99). In fact, slavery was the major issue during this period. The Democratic Party, which had a strong alliance with the farmers of the South and the West were unable to continue this alliance due to the issue of slavery. Furthermore, the Democratic Party finally was divided into two fractions with for and against slavery (Maisel, pp. 26-28). On the other hand, Republicans believed on the concept of free soil and thus wanted the abolishment of slavery (Cohen, Fleisher & Kantor, pp. 513-516). As mentioned earlier that Republicans remained in the spotlight during this era and after the civil war, they were able to exercise their control over the presidency for more than 20 years (Sabato & Ernst, pp. 269-278). The Fourth Party System, which existed during 1890s to 1930s, was the era when the Republicans and the Democrats were facing each other but this time there were some strong names emerging from the third parties (Cohen, Fleisher & Kantor, pp. 513-516; Stonecash, pp. 59-67). Populist Party ad Progressive Party were determined to make a strong impact on the two party political system of United States and in fact, their impact is still visible on the ideologies, mandates and approaches of the Democrats and Republicans of that era. In fact, many experts have preferred to call this as the progressive era (Maisel & Berry, pp. 167-169). Like the Third Party System, the republicans were incharge of the presidency except for the two terms of 1912-1916 and 1916-1918. The era took birth during the great depression of 1893, which changed the entire scenario of politics and made the 1896 elections were intense (Maisel & Buckley, pp. 41-45). Domestic issues like regulation of banks, trusts, and corporations, rights of workers and labors, efficiency of governments, racial segregation, direct elections, corruption, and others were the focal point of election campaigns (Lowi & Romance, pp. 14-19). The great depression of 1930s is greatly responsible for disturbing the republican dominance from the American National politics. “Herbert Hoover, a republican elected in 1928 was the last president of the Fourth Party System” (Maisel, pp. 26-28). His policies to cope up with the depression of 1930s failed and thus the optimism of the nation collapsed (Wilson & DiIulio, pp. 193-197; Nivola & Brady, pp. 78-79). This forced people to vote for the democratic candidate ‘Franklin D. Roosevelt’ who became one of the greatest and most powerful presidents in the history of United States. It was the New Deal Coalition of Roosevelt in 1932, which marked the beginning of the Fifth Party System in the United States (Sabato & Ernst, pp. 269-278). Unlike the preceding couple of party system eras, the Fifth Party system was the period when democrats ruled the scene for most of the times, with the exception of the period of 1952-1960. This era extends from 1932 to 1960s (Herrnson & Green, pp. 259). The main idea behind the New Deal Coalition was to sign a deal with various interest groups and influential blocs such as labor unions, trade unions, minorities, intellectuals, farmers and others to vote for the Democratic Party candidates until the 1960s (Nivola & Brady, pp. 78-79). During this time, the words of liberal and conservative were widely used in the political scene for the supporters of the deal and the opponents of the deal respectively (Bibby & Schaffner, pp. 112-113). Since the inception of the New Deal, political experts were sure that this will not bring a permanent shift in the voting patterns of the Americans and this arrangement would be temporary since nothing in politics is permanent (Stonecash, pp. 59-67). However, there were many other reasons as well. First, after the departure of Roosevelt, republicans remained in such of such an influential figure who could lead the New Deal (Cohen, Fleisher & Kantor, pp. 513-516). Second, new issues such as civil rights, Vietnam War and others emerged, which changed the thoughts of these people (Schaffner, pp. 223-225). Third, labor unions decreased in size and power. Fourth, with the passage of time, many ethnic groups started seeing the Democrats as the party of the working class and Republicans as the party for the upper class people (Maisel & Buckley, pp. 41-45). Despite the fact that since the independence of the country it has been dominated by a two party system, some prominent and influential third political parities have also emerged which have had a significant influence on American Politics. Examples include “Populist Party, Progressive Party, Socialist Labor Party of America, Green Party, Constitution Party, Libertarian Party, and others” (Eldersveld & Walton, pp. 123-125; Ritchie, pp. 367-373). Today, Democratic Party is usually seen as the center left party, which is liberal. However, the Republican has the image of a conservative party, which has a great deal of support and backing from the people from the South and the West (Lowi & Romance, pp. 14-19). Due to the liberal principles of Democratic Party, it has supported same sex marriages, universal health care, progressive taxation, civilian gun control, and other such issues. However, republicans have opposed all such measures (Cohen, Fleisher & Kantor, pp. 513-516; Ritchie, pp. 367-373). However, there are many big issues where these parties, over the period, have been able to develop a consensus. These issues include strengthening of the immigration laws, drug liberalization, ending of capital punishment and others (Maisel & Berry, pp. 167-169). As of the statistics of 2004, the Democratic Party has more than 72 million supporters, there are 55 million hardcore Republicans, and 42 million identify themselves as independents (Schaffner, pp. 223-225). Currently, “the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama is a Democrat” (Lowi & Romance, pp. 14-19). Barack Obama became the first Black President of the country. He replaced President George W. Bush who was a two-time elected Republican President (Lowi & Romance, pp. 14-19). Currently, the Democratic Party holds majority in the house of United States Senate, on the other hand, with the recent mid term elections, Republicans have been able to gain majority in United States House of Representatives (Sabato & Ernst, pp. 269-278). Conclusion In order to understand the political parties and political system of United States, it is imperative to have an understanding about the history of these political groups because their history has shaped their current outlook and approaches to a great deal. Furthermore, these parities are still in the process of evolving and learning from their past mistakes (Wilson & DiIulio, pp. 193-197). However, over the past few decades, the rivalry between these parties has become less intense and consensus is more evident on national issues. Furthermore, it is also evident that there is not a great probability that any third party in the near future could came and revolutionize the system (Brewer & Stonecash, pp. 512-516). Works Cited Bibby, John F., & Schaffner, Brian F. Politics, Parties, and Elections in America. Cengage Learning, 2007 Brewer, Mark D., & Stonecash, Jeffrey M. Dynamics of American political parties. Cambridge University Press, 2009 Cohen, Jeffrey E., Fleisher, Richard., & Kantor, Paul. American political parties: decline or resurgence. CQ Press, 2001 Eldersveld, Samuel James., & Walton, Hanes. Political parties in American society. Palgrave Macmillan, 2000 Herrnson, Paul S., & Green, John Clifford. Multiparty politics in America: prospects and performance. Rowman & Littlefield, 2002 Lowi, Theodore J., & Romance, Joseph. A republic of parties: debating the two-party system. Rowman & Littlefield, 1998 Maisel, Louis Sandy, & Berry, Jeffrey M. The Oxford handbook of American political parties and interest groups. Oxford University Press, 2010 Maisel, Louis Sandy, & Buckley, Kara Z. Parties and elections in America: the electoral process. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005 Maisel, Louis Sandy. American political parties and elections: a very short introduction. Oxford University Press, 2007. Nivola, Pietro S., & Brady, David W. Red and Blue Nation: Consequences and Correction of America's Polarized Politics. Brookings Institution Press, 2007 Ritchie, Donald. The U.S. Congress: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2010 Sabato, Larry, & Ernst, Howard R. Encyclopedia of American political parties and elections. Infobase Publishing, 2006 Schaffner, Brian F. Politics, Parties, and Elections in America. Wadsworth, 2011 Stonecash, Jeffrey M. New Directions in American Political Parties. 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