Political parties of the United States

     Content  
 

      Introduction 

     The United States is commonly classified as a representative democracy. What is that?

     In a literal sense, democracy means government by the people. The word democracy originated in two Greek roots—demos, meaning "the populace" or "the common people"; and kratia, meaning "rule." Of course, in large, populous nations, government by all the people is impractical at the national level. It would be impossible for the more than 246 million Americans to vote on every important issue that comes before Congress. Consequently, democracies are generally maintained through a mode of participation known as representative democracy, in which certain individuals are selected to speak for the people.

     The United States is commonly classified as a representative democracy, since Americans elect members of Congress and state legislatures to handle the task of writing laws.

     Unlike monarchies, oligarchies, and dictatorships, the democratic form of government implies an opposition which is tolerated or, indeed, encouraged to exist. In the United States, there are two major political parties—the Democrats and Republicans—as well as various minor parties. Sociologists use the term political party to refer to an organization whose purposes are to promote candidates for elected office, advance an ideology as reflected in positions on political issues, win elections, and exercise power.

     So in my report I would like to tell you history of American donkey and elephant. Also I used to think that there are no politic parties in the USA except Democrats and Republicans but that was mistake I changed due to that report.

      Political parties of the United States 

     The modern political party system in the United States is a two-party system dominated by the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. These two parties have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and have controlled the United States Congress since at least 1856. Several other third parties from time to time achieve relatively minor representation at the national and state levels.

     The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States. It is the oldest political party in the United States and among the oldest in the world.

     The Democratic Party, since the division of the Republican Party in the election of 1912, has consistently positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party in economic as well as social matters. The economically left-leaning philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which has strongly influenced American liberalism, has shaped much of the party's economic agenda since 1932. Roosevelt's New Deal coalition usually controlled the national government until the 1970s. The civil rights movement of the 1960s has continued to inspire the party's liberal principles, despite having lost the more conservative South in the process.

     In 2004, it was the largest political party, with 72 million voters (42.6% of 169 million registered) claiming affiliation. The president of the United States, Barack Obama, is a Democrat, and since the 2006 midterm elections, the Democratic Party is the majority party for the 110th Congress. The party holds an outright majority in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate. Democrats also hold a majority of state governorships and control a plurality of state legislatures.

     - The Republican Party (RNC) today

     The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States of America. It is often referred to as the Grand Old Party, GOP, and "Gallant Old Party" .

     Founded in 1854 by anti-slavery expansion activists and modernizers, the Republican Party rose to prominence with the election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president. The party presided over the American Civil War and Reconstruction and was harried by internal factions and scandals toward the end of the 19th century. Today, the Republican Party supports a conservative platform (as far as American politics are concerned), with further foundations in economic liberalism, fiscal conservatism, and social conservatism.

     Former President George W. Bush is the 19th Republican to hold that office. Republicans currently fill a minority of seats in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, hold a minority of state governorships, and control a minority of state legislatures. The party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 presidential election was Senator John McCain of Arizona. It is currently the second largest party with 55 million registered members, encompassing roughly one third of the electorate.

     Major Third Parties

     - Constitution Party

     The Constitution Party is a conservative United States political party. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers Party in 1992. The party's official name was changed to the Constitution Party in 1999; however, some state affiliate parties are known under different names.

     According to ballot access expert Richard Winger, the editor of Ballot Access News, who periodically compiles and analyzes voter registration statistics as reported by state voter agencies, it ranks third nationally amongst all United States political parties in registered voters, with 366,937 registered members as of November 2006. This makes it currently the largest third party in the United States.

     The Constitution Party advocates a platform that claims to reflect the Founding Fathers' original intent of the U.S. Constitution, principles found in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and morals taken from the Bible.

     In 2006, Rick Jore of Montana became the first Constitution Party candidate elected to a state-level office, though the Constitution Party of Montana had disaffiliated itself from the national party a short time before the election.

     The Constitution Party's 2008 presidential nominee was Chuck Baldwin.

     - Green Party

     In the United States, the Green Party has been active as a third party since the 1980s. The party first gained widespread public attention during Ralph Nader's presidential runs in 1996 and 2000. Currently, the primary national Green Party organization in the U.S. is the Green Party of the United States, which has eclipsed the earlier Greens/Green Party USA. There are Green Parties in many nations.

     The Green Party in the United States has won elected office mostly at the local level; most winners of public office in the United States who are considered Greens have won nonpartisan-ballot elections (that is, the winning Greens won offices in elections in which candidates were not identified on the ballot as affiliated with any political party). In 2005, the Party had 305,000 registered members in states that allow party registration. During the 2006 elections the party had ballot access in 31 states.

     Greens emphasize environmentalism, non-hierarchical participatory democracy, social justice, respect for diversity, peace and nonviolence.

     The 2008 Green Party presidential nominee was Cynthia McKinney.

     - Libertarian Party

     The Libertarian Party was founded on December 11, 1971. It is one of the largest continuing Third parties in the United States, claiming more than 200,000 registered voters and more than 600 people in public office, including mayors, county executives, county-council members, school-board members, and other local officials. It has more people in office than all other third parties combined.

     The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects that group's particular brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration across borders, and non-interventionism in foreign policy that respects freedom of trade and travel to all foreign countries.

     The most recent Libertarian Party nominee for United States President was Bob Barr. 
 

      Conclusion 

     The most important and interesting thing to understand about American is probably their devotion to individualism. They have been trained since very early in their lives to consider themselves as separate individuals who are responsible for their own situations in life and their own destinies. They have not been trained to see themselves as members of a close-knit, tightly interdependent family, religious group, tribe, nation, or other collectivity. But  the USA has only 2 major parties, of cause they are not the only ones, and there are parties even more smaller and unpopular then secondary parties (like parties named “Green Terror” or “Beer lovers” the same as we have in RF). Americans are generally less concerned about history and traditions than are people from older societies. "History doesn't matter," many of them will say. "It's the future that counts."  They look ahead. But every political institute and party in the USA has its own traditions, which are sometimes funny sometimes very principal. I suppose that this paradox of American nation is build on values. Money is the most powerful God and the most spread value in the USA, so everything that can bring money or can help earn them should be stable! As well as political system and parties themselves, that is why there are only 2 major parties.

     The aim of my report was to show the variety of  political parties in the USA. It is up to you to judge was it done good or less good in your opinion but I’ve got real pleasure wile have been researching this topic.    

      Sources 

1. Democratic Party, Encyclopædia Britannica Online, Accessed August 21, 2007.
2. William Safire's New Language of Politics, Revised edition, Collier Books, New York, 1972
3. Witcover, Jules (2003). "1". Party of the People: A History of the Democrats. p. 3. // "The Democratic Party of the United States, the oldest existing in the world, was in a sense an illegitimate child, unwanted by the founding fathers of the American Republic."