Fernandes 1
Josh Fernandes
English Composition II
Miss Curry
24 April 2015
Final Draft Capstone
Politics
George Washington, the most famous man in American history, once said he would not
ever want to see political parties in the country he helped build. He, as well as other founding
fathers, thought they would destroy us and that the country would end up in shambles. This
argument of whether or not political parties are necessary goes all the way back to the birth of
our country, and last year I learned about some of the arguments. James Madison, who went on
to become President of the United States of America later on in his life, and he wrote a piece
called the Federalist 10. In Federalist 10, Madison has a lot of things to say about government
and he openly criticizes the way the current government is set up to be. But his comment about
factions caught my eye. He states that factions are not good and will lead to corruption in the
government in the end and factions will never be a good way to control people. Well here we are
approximately 200 years later and the one thing that has been constant in politics as we know
them is political parties. These parties are the factions that Madison warned us about. I
understand that Madison was worried about these parties because there are some downfalls. But I
believe political parties drive what we know as our government and they are essential to our
nation.
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Political parties were first formed in the very beginning of our nation. According to
scholastic, the two main groups gathered around two main candidates just like they do now, but
they were called the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists. Scholastic says the main man
in the Federalists camp was Alexander Hamilton, and the main guy in the DemocraticRepublicans camp was Thomas Jefferson. Most southerners and west coast people chose to side
with a new president in 1826 by the name of Andrew Jackson. Meanwhile the Federalists
disbanded and formed a new party with mainly northerners, they were called the Whigs or
National Republican party. Once slavery really became an issue the parties changed their names
again. The Whigs fell apart and formed what we know today as the Republicans. The Democrats
kind of split into north and south, and when the south lost the war the southern democrats lost
favor with many people. But when Franklin D. Roosevelt became president everything changed
for them (Scholastic.com). The Democrats came back and stay to this day, not just the south
came back, the whole party came back strong during the recession and became the unified
Democrats again. Although political parties have changed drastically since the beginning of our
nation, they still hold the same purpose and do the same job, run the country. Political parties
were first seen by the founding fathers as something that would destroy our country, but
redefining political parties through competition and the ability of people to participate and
change has shaped our political system to be strong and effective.
As in the old days of politics, competing to see who is going to have control is always a
fight to the end. Most people see this fighting as destructive and it cripples our government
because no one can agree on anything. Well once upon a time there was an election year where
the parties did agree on almost everything. That was until the Populist Party came in and made
the two major parties disagree and fight again. This time of peace between the parties was not
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constructive for the people. The parties controlled everything, they could do what they wanted
when they wanted to because people were essentially voting for the same party no matter what
name was on the ballot. In a book on political perspectives, many authors write about many
different topics in the field. One author caught my eye as he wrote about parties and how the
split was a necessary movement away from the normal. Coppa quotes a known and respected
source for ideas in politics and this man says, “Split partisan control was what this solution
contributed practically. ‘Divided Government’ was what it came to be called, and the era of
divided government has been born” (Coppa 47-48). Coppa is the author of the overall piece but
he quotes another man named Shaffer. Shaffer is talking about how the solution to the problem
of political control was split partisan control, so the parties fought to control the government.
This split is what drives competition and helps the government remain effective to the people.
The Republican Party platform is their main way to show the United States what they
believe in and what they stand for. Their main points include, restoring the American economy
to full potential, keeping the constitution new and revising and drafting amendments for the
people, and keeping our resources stable so we don’t run out of fossil fuels. (Rep. Platform). The
Republican Party believes that if they restore America’s economy to full strength by reducing the
inflation rate and giving back jobs to the American people then the state of the economy of the
nation and the world will increase. The Republicans believe that the constitution today is
something that can be changed and should be changed to fit the needs of the people. The people
should decide the government, not just leaders and people that hold positions of power. Lastly,
Republicans believe that maintaining our natural resources so they don’t decrease so much as to
become fossil fuels or irreplaceable resources is an important part of the environment. The
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Republicans party platform is a written out way to show that Republicans differ from Democrats
in lots of ways.
Democrats think mostly the same things as Republicans and agree on basic general ideas.
But little things like the way the economy should be treated and how you should handle people
like the idea of abortion, the Republicans and Democrats differ on them a lot. Democrats also
have a platform in which they present their ideas and views to the world and want to convey
what they believe is the right thing to do. Their main points include strengthening the middle
class by taxing the rich and helping the poor as well, ensuring the quality of life stays the same,
and protecting Americans and America from foreign threats (Dem. Platform). These ideas look
similar to the ideas of the Republicans but they have different motives behind them and different
meanings to them. Democrats want to grow domestically first and seek out help from the rich to
the middle class. They want to grow home products and this would give people jobs, which in
turn would grow the middle class. Democrats want to ensure that people live the best life
possible so they say, “We are committed to supporting and revitalizing these communities
around the country” (Dem. Platform sec 10). They want to revive communities in cities and
urban areas where most of America lives. They want to help the cities like Chicago and Detroit
get back on their feet and grow and prosper. Lastly, they want to make sure that Americans are
helped at home by our military. They want to end the war in Iraq and bring home troops so that
the war slowly dies down for us. Democrats have lots of points that are similar to Republicans
but the main points they differ on drive competition and help the political system function and
continue to survive and thrive.
Competition is good for lots of reasons, many affect the way people live their lives.
People thrive on competition; they compete for jobs, in school, in life to gain resources and
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mates. People compete against each other, so why should political parties act differently. They
should compete but it should be for the people, the parties should compete for what the people
desire and not what the party thinks it needs. People are the force that makes the country go, they
work, they sweat, and they play, and then do it all over again. So the people should have a say in
what goes into political views and what the government does. People need to have a voice in
government so that the government doesn’t progress to rely on the parties to make the choices,
the people should have a say. This should also count for something; a say with no power is not
worth a say at all. Having a way to influence the government should be a right of the people and
having a way to make sure change happens is something that is necessary for the government to
function. This way of influence is the political party. People can vote for their candidate and
make change happen by voting for the person they believe will change the country. First is the
primary election where the two parties send up candidates and people vote to see who is going to
represent the parties for president, then it is the presidential election. Both people and
government have a say as to who wins but the people get to choose who they want. People can
influence government through the use of voting in political parties and that’s how they make
change. This change helps keep the political parties strong and efficient to keep up with the
constant demands of the people.
Opponents to my argument might say that political parties are actually just run by interest
groups, or PAC’s. But these PAC’s, political action committees, are just a way for the party to
get money. Campaigning takes a lot of work and money and these PAC’s and interest groups
help fund the trips and dinners. Now I agree that in return they might ask for a couple favors or
tell the party maybe to help their interest group out after getting elected. But this is politics,
people want to have influence, the rich have influence with money, the poor have influence with
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their voice and the middle class have influence through both things equally. So really these
interest groups or PAC’s are just like people, they strive to make change in the government in
their favor. Another argument might be that these parties are just factions and don’t do much in
the overall scheme of the government. Madison once said this but he was careful about the way
he said it, “These must be chiefly, if not wholly, effects of the unsteadiness and injustice with
which a factious spirit has tainted our public administrations” (Federalist 10). Madison writes
earlier that factions have caused a great deal of strife among the people and that these factions,
known today as parties, have been controlling the government and the majority of the people are
not heard. Mr. Madison is right in the sense that factions are controlling the government but they
do this by listening to the people. These parties as we now know them are the foundation that
people file complaints with. They must hear so many complaints about this and that, whether it
be the economy or a law or military power. They have to accommodate some of these wishes so
that the people don’t revolt against them and change the way the government is set up. So yes
factions do control government, but the people control the factions, and thus the people control
the government.
In general, political parties are just another means for people to say what they want out of
the government. Parties differ in what they believe by a slight amount but this amount is crucial
to the survival of the government. If the parties didn’t differ the people would be voting for the
same candidate and same party, so they would not really get a say. People also should have a say
in what happens in the government. This can be something significant like rewrite a law, or
something simple like change this road so there is not a huge pothole in the middle. Parties are
sometimes at fault for the choices they make and can be blamed for maybe taking money for a
cause of another group. But they aren’t perfect, they are run by people and people are not perfect.
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Parties are the most effective and efficient way to make sure control stays in the hands of the
people and that government continues to function as one whole body.
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Annotated Bibliograhpy
Coppa, Frank J. "United States Politics and Public Policy." Perspectives on Political Science. 1st
ed. Vol. 33. Washington D.C: Heldref Publications, 2004. 47-48. Print.
Flanders, Stephen. "Political Parties." The New Book of Knowledge®. 2007. Grolier Online. 25
July 2007.
Madison, James. Federalist 10. 1787. PDF file.
“The Democratic Party Platform.” Democrats.org. The Democratic Party of America, n.d. Web.
12 Apr. 2015.
“The Republican Party Platform.” GOP.org. Republican Party of America, n.d. Web. 12 Apr.
2015.