Political Parties
Chapter 5
Section 2
THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM IN
AMERICAN HISTORY
The First Party System: 1776 – 1818
The Federalists v. The Jeffersonian Republicans
The Federalist Party
• Commercial Republic
that encouraged
financial and industrial
growth
• Broad Construction of
the Constitution
• Creation of a standing
army and imperial
conquest
The Republican Party
• Agrarian Republic that
fostered the growth of
yeoman farmers and
agrarian outlook
• Strict Construction of
the Constitution and
States’ rights
• Reliance on militia for
defensive purpose only
The Election of 1800
• Jefferson narrowly defeats Adams in the
election.
• First time in American history that power
shifts from one party to another (Federalists
to the Jeffersonian Republicans
• The tie between Jefferson and Burr
demonstrates the defects with the electoral
system.
• The passage of the 12th Amendment.
1818 - 1828
The National Republican Consensus
• In the aftermath of the War of 1812 a wave of
nationalism creates a short-lived era of political
cooperation and compromise that combines the ideas
of the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists.
• James Madison and John Quincy Adams create political
coalitions that include members of different political
backgrounds and seek to govern through consensus.
• By the 1830s the nation becomes increasingly divided
along regional lines over the issues of slavery and
imperialism.
The Second Party System: 1828 – 1860
The Jacksonian Democrats v. The Whigs
Jacksonian Democrats
• Oppose tariffs
• Oppose federal support
of internal
improvements “The
American System”
• Oppose Bank of the
United States
• Favor Indian Removal
• Favor States’ rights
The Whigs
• Favor tariffs
• Favor federal support for
internal improvements “The
American System”
• Support the Bank of the
United States
• Oppose Indian Removal
• Support a strong central
government
The Civil War and its Impact on
American Politics
• In the second two-party system, the
democratic party was largely a regional party
based predominantly in the South.
• The loss experienced by the Southern states
and the era of Reconstruction ushered in a
new political era characterized by the political
domination of the Republicans.
The Third Party System:1860 – 1896
The Republicans v. The Democrats
The Republican Party
The Democratic Party
• Embraced modernization:
national bank, high tariffs,
imperialism and western
settlement, railroads, landgrant colleges, social issues
(prohibition and ending
slavery), and social spending
• Supported by business and
financial interests, commercial
farmers, laborers, and the
freed African Americans.
• Supported agrarianism, low
tariffs, strict construction,
states rights, and coinage of
silver.
• Opposed big businesses, high
tariffs, imperialism, and
prohibition.
• Supported by copperheads,
southern redeemers, catholic
immigrants, unskilled
laborers, and poor farmers.
The Progressive Era and Republican
Realignment
• Economic depression and the rise of western
states challenged Republican domination in
national politics.
• The Republican party split over the issues of
party machines and the relationship between
politicians and big business.
• The progressive wing of the Republicans split
off into the “Bull Moose” Progressive Party,
precipitating a political realignment.
The Fourth Party System: 1896-1932
The Republicans v. The Democrats
The Republicans
The Democrats
• Favored overseas imperialism
and intervention in foreign
affairs.
• Attacked political corruption
(party bosses and corporate
finance of elections) and sought
consumer protections
• Initially opposed to trusts and
monopolies; after progressive
split became the party of big
business.
• Support from business interests,
commercial farmers, and African
Americans
• Generally opposed overseas
imperialism and intervention in
foreign affairs.
• Gained support from rural
farmers because of the support
for free coinage of silver.
• Embrace of some elements of
progressivism began to attract
support from laborers.
• Gained most of their political
support from southern
redeemers, lower-class farmers,
western farmers, and urban
immigrants
The Great Depression and the
Collapse of the Republican Era
• The economic collapse in 1929 led many
former supporters of the Republican party to
turn their support to the Democrats, leading
to the formation of the New Deal coalition
and an era of Democratic domination.
• Republican support for business interests led
to a new coalition of less-affluent members of
society in both urban and rural areas.
The Fifth Party System: 1932-1968?
The Democrats v. The Republicans
The Democrats
The Republicans
• Increased power of the federal
government and increased its
size, advocated looseconstruction, bottom-up
(Keynesian) economic policies,
social welfare and
infrastructure investment, and
civil rights for minorities.
• Supported by union workers,
immigrants, southerners,
Catholics, Jews, intellectuals,
urbanites, and (eventually)
African Americans.
• Opposed new deal programs
and large-scale government
spending, opposed increased
power of the federal
government, and opposed civil
rights movement.
• Advocated smaller
government and capitalist
values.
• Supported mainly by business
interests, the wealthy, and
western and mid-western
farmers.
The Collapse of the New Deal Coalition
and the Regan Era
• The New Deal coalition collapses at the end of the
1960’s as a result of Vietnam War and social
liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s.
• Ronald Regan is able to form a new conservative
coalition as southern whites and other social
conservatives join Republicans after the civil rights
movement.
– Regan Republicans advocated top-down economic theory
(Reganomics), social conservatism (“moral majority”), and
more aggressive foreign policy.
– Coalition has been unable to gain a decisive grip on the
governing system, however.
The Sixth Party System Or Political Consensus?:
1968 – Present, an era of Divided Government
• Both Republicans and Democrats have come to the
center, ideologically.
– Fiscally Responsible Liberalism of Clinton or the Compassionate
Conservatism of Bush
• Political Scientists call it an era of Divided
Government
– Increasing number of independents
– Usually Congress is controlled by one party and the Presidency
controlled by the other or the chambers of Congress are divided.
– Both political parties align near the center of the political
spectrum with neither gaining an upper hand.
• 2008: (D) 38%, (R) 28%, (I) 34%
• 2009: (D) 36%, (R) 26%, (I) 37%
• 2010: (D) 34%, (R) 29%, (I) 37%