6 REALITIES ABOUT
AMERICAN PARTIES
1.
Parties began as
soon as people
started taking sides in
the debate over
ratifying the U.S.
Constitution.
• (Federalist and
Anti-Federalist)
2.
Political
parties, and
especially our
two party
system, have
persisted over
the course of
our history.
Federalists 1789-1828
Federalists
* Favored centralize power
* Economically active government
* More elite control
* Industrialization
Democratic Republicans
*
*
*
*
Favored farm interests
Decentralized government
Less government in economy
Turned into the modern Democratic Party
Jacksonian Democrats 1828-1860
• Dominated by Democratic-Republican
Party that represented average person
(farmers)
Civil War Republicans 1860-1896
• Rough balance between parties after
Reconstruction
Progressive Republicans 1896-1932
• Dominated by “Progressive”
Republicans
• Democrats influenced by Populists
New Deal Democrats 1932-??
• Great Depression triggers
realignment bringing minorities,
workers and the South into the
Democratic coalition
3. Ours has
almost always
been a two party
system,
differentiating us
from most
nations , which
have a oneparty or
multiparty
Click to see why Germany
system.
loves a Party
•
4. Since 1830 we have
witnessed reasonably
effective competition in our
national party system.
(No Blow Outs)
1904
• Theodore Roosevelt, Rep.
7,628,831
Alton B. Parker, Democrat
5,084,533
• Eugene Debs, Socialist...
336
140
402,714
•1908
• William H. Taft, Republican
7,679,114
William J. Bryan, Democrat
6,410,665
321
162
•1912
• Woodrow Wilson, Democrat
6,301,254
Theodore Roosevelt, Progressive
4,127,788
William H. Taft, Republican
3,485,831
• Eugene Debs, Socialist...
435
901,255
88
8
•1916
• Woodrow Wilson, Democrat 277
Charles E. Hughes, Republican
8,548,935
9,131,511
254
• Allan Benson, Socialist
585,974
...
•1920
• Warren G. Harding, Republican 404
16,153,785
James M. Cox, Democrat
1
27
9,147,353
• Eugene Debs, Socialist...
919,801
•1924
• Calvin Coolidge, Republican
15,725,016
John W. Davis, Democrat
8,386,624
382
136
• Robert M. LaFollette, Progressive 13
4,831,470
•1928
• Herbert C. Hoover, Republican
21,430,743
Alfred E. Smith, Democrat
• 15,016,443
444
87
•1932
• Franklin D. Roosevelt, Democrat 472
22,821,857
Herbert C. Hoover, Republican
59
15,761,841
• Norman Thomas, Socialist
...
884,781
•1936
• Franklin D. Roosevelt, Democrat 523
27,751,841
Alfred M. Landon, Republican
8
16,679,491
• William Lemke, Union...
892,390
•1940
• Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dem.
27,243,466
Wendell L. Willkie, Republican
22,334,413
449
82
•1944
• Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dem.
25,612,474
Thomas E. Dewey, Republican
22,017,570
432
99
•1948
• Harry S. Truman, Democrat303
Thomas E. Dewey, Republican
21,971,004
Strom Thurmond, States' Rights
1,169,032
24,104,030
189
• Henry Wallace, Progressive ...
1,157,063
39
•1952
• Dwight D. Eisenhower, Rep.442
Adlai E. Stevenson, Democrat
27,314,992
33,937,252
89
•1956
• Dwight D. Eisenhower, Rep.457
Adlai E. Stevenson, Democrat
26,035,504
• Walter B. Jones, Democrat
1
35,589,477
73
•1960
• John F. Kennedy, Democrat
34,221,349
Richard M. Nixon, Republican
34,108,647
• Harry F. Byrd, Democrat
15
303
219
•1964
• Lyndon B. Johnson, Democrat
43,129,484
Barry M. Goldwater, Rep.
27,178,188
486
52
•1968
Richard M. Nixon, Republican
31,785,480
Hubert H. Humphrey, Democrat
31,275,165
301
191
• George C. Wallace, American Independent
46
9,906,473
•1972
• Richard M. Nixon, Republican
47,167,319
George McGovern, Democrat
29,168,509
520
• John G. Schmitz, American ...
1,080,670
17
•1976
• James E. Carter, Jr., Democrat
40,827,394
Gerald R. Ford, Republican 240
• 39,145,977
• Ronald Reagan, Republican 1
297
•1980
• Ronald Reagan, Republican
43,267,489
James E. Carter, Jr., Democrat
34,964,583
489
• John B. Anderson, Independent
5,588,014
...
49
•1984
• Ronald Reagan, Republican
53,428,357
Walter F. Mondale, Democrat13
525
36,930,923
•1988
• George H. W. Bush, Republican
48,881,278
Michael S. Dukakis, Democrat
41,805,374
426
• Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., Democrat
1
111
•1992
• William J. Clinton, Democrat
44,908,233
George H. W. Bush, Republican
39,102,282
370
• H. Ross Perot, Independent . . .
19,741,048
168
•1996
• William J. Clinton, Democrat
47,401,185
Robert Dole, Republican
39,197,469
• H. Ross Perot, Reform . . .
379
159
8,085,294
•2000
• George W. Bush, Republican
50,456,169
Al Gore, Democrat
50,996,116
• Ralph Nader, Green
...
271
266
5. Our parties have historically
been decentralized and
fragmented.
Parties are organized around units
of competition, which in our
governmental structure make
state parties the most important
units. State parties can be quite
different from one another.
6.
U.S. parties primary goal
is to WIN! (pragmatic
politics)
Winning office and power have
been more important to party
leaders than specific issues or
platforms. Our parties can be
characterized as moderate,
pragmatic and only modest
ideological, especially when
compared to European political
parties.