Political
Parties
Political Party: a group
of people organized to
influence government
through winning
elections and setting
public policy.
The USA has had a twoparty system throughout
its history: third parties
occasionally emerge, but
usually, most elected
officials come from one
of the two major parties.
Political
Party
History in
the USA . . .
The First Party
System:
1796 - 1828
Federalists &
DemocraticRepublicans
The argument over the
ratification of the
Constitution set the stage
for the first two-party
system: the
Federalists/AntiFederalists became the
Federalists/Democratic
Republicans.
Jacksonian
Democrats Emerge:
1828 - 1860
Democrats v. Whigs
After three consecutive
presidents from the
Democratic-Republican Party,
the Federalist dissolved -- their
successor was the Whig Party.
Meanwhile, under Andrew
Jackson, the Democrats
(dropping the Republican
name) continued in the White
House.
The Republican Era:
1860 - 1932
Democrats v. Republicans
The Whigs divided over
the issue of slavery; a
third party, the
Republicans, nominated
Abraham Lincoln, and he
was elected President;
the Civil War resulted . . .
Democratic Reemergence
1932 - 1968
The New Deal
Democrats
After a series of
Republican
Presidents, and the
Stock Market Crash,
FDR is elected for
four terms.
The Era of Divided
Government:
1968 - Present
Democrats v. Republicans
Beginning in the 50s, the issue of
civil rights began to crack the New
Deal Democratic Party. Southern
whites who had been loyal
Democrats since the Civil War,
did not approve of the Democratic
pro-civil rights policies; they
began to defect to the Republican
Party.
The Vietnam War further split the
Democrats in the 1960s. The result
of these two incidents has been a
period without a dominating party.
For most of this time, one party
has controlled the Presidency and
one has controlled Congress.
Currently, we have a Democratic
President, but a Republicancontrolled Congress.
Role of
Political
Parties:
•Run Candidates for office.
•Create a platform.
•Inform voters of the issues.
•Organize the voters.
•Staff the polls on election
days.
The political party is organized
from the bottom up:
National Party
State Party
Local Party
Grassroots
Democrats tend to be
liberal, while Republicans
tend to be conservative :
Liberal: favor the use of governmental
power to promote individual liberties
and social progress.
Conservative: favors the traditional;
the status quo, and the idea that the
government should stay out of the
affairs of its citizens.
So, what are you?
Liberal,
Conservative, or
Moderate?
Take this
test to find
out . . .
http://www.self-gov.org/quiz.html