The United States, as one of the super powers in the world is the home of two of the oldest most influential political parties. The Democratic Party and the Republican Party shaped how the United States plays its politics both in the domestic and international arena. Both parties represent the different ideologies which dominated the American citizens and formulated the laws which constitute power-play in the American society. Only the democrats and the republicans rule in the American political system and the campaigns of these parties extend beyond the political sphere. The ideologies and the advocacies of the parties are derived from the very lives of the American populace.
The two-party system of the American government certainly remained to be the only political structure that reigns. It can be said that this entails a lack of diversity when it comes to the political dynamics of the United States. Though there might be some attempts within the history to contend the powers of these major parties, either the Democrats or the Republicans eventually find its way to the position of power.
One of the persistent qualities of the American two-party system is the way in which one of the major parties moves almost instinctively to absorb… In any case it is a notable fact that no third party in America has ever risen to become a major party, and that no major party has ever fallen to become a third party. (Rossiter, 1960, p. 5-6)
These two parties apparently gained political monopoly over the past centuries governing the American people in accordance with their respective ideologies.
The Democratic Party was formed ahead of the Republican Party. It originated from the Democratic-Republican Party, a political faction that was established by Jefferson and Madison which is a counterpart of another major party, The Federalists, during the early 1800s (Colby, Bartle & White, 1989, p. 63). It stands as the oldest political party in the world having survived centuries of political and social turmoil (Rossiter, 1960, p. 70). The original party under Madison and Jefferson was organized to oppose the Federalist Party that Alexander Hamilton has established. The Democratic-Republican Party supported and upheld the “states’ rights and agrarian views” of its founders (Colby, et al., 1989, p. 64) and greatly expressed a strong disapproval to Hamilton’s proposed laws of further industrializing the US which is believed to impede the rights of the people (Milkis, 1993, p. 21). It has been formed to contradict one faction despite having its own internal differences. As Clinton Rossiter further described (1960):
The most remarkable thing about the birth of Democratic Republicans was the way in which a party was put together out of discordant interests that were prepared to submerge their differences for the sake of victory over an enemy whom they all disliked even more intensely than they dislike each other. (p. 72)
The differences that united them apparently became the reason for the party’s collapse. The Democratic-Republican Party lasted until 1824, decades after the War of 1812. The party eventually became divided and different groups formed within it as their political views shifted and differed from each other (Colby,et al., 1989, p. 65). The party fell apart and the groups decided to officially form separately to be able to reach the majority in the government as election approaches. There are two major factions that are derived from the defunct Democratic-Republican Party, the Democrats under the leadership of Andrew Jackson and the Whig Party under John Quincy Adams (Jones, 1864, p. 54).
It is the group of Andrew Jackson who established the Democratic Party and continued to become a major player in the field of American politics. The Democratic Party came into full ascendancy when Andrew Jackson became elected on 1829, thus earning him the position of the first United States President from the Democratic Party. After his election, the party began its official operation. Most of its policies still follow the Jefferson line of advocacy. It leans towards promoting the rights of the people rather than focusing on state advancement. The laws are pursued to provide livelihood programs for the citizens, lesser spending on state defense, and restricted commercialism (Jones, 1864, p.73). The Democrat Party became known as the “party of the common man” (Porterfield, 2004, p. 4) and has prioritized individual rights more than anything else.
They continued to become a dominant party as Andrew Jackson served his second term and up until the Whig party has been dissolved after the Civil War (Katz & Crotty, 2006, p. 197). However, another issue challenged the strength of the Democratic Party which tackled the issue of slavery. The senate has created the Kansas-Nebraska Bill which gives the state the power to abolish slavery or to sustain it. It is for the intent “to leave the people free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way” (Jones, 1864, p. 186). The issue of slavery has been a debate between the North as anti-slavery and the South favoring slave commerce for the cotton industry and this seeped within the Party. When the bill is passed on 1854, the Northerner Democrats abandoned the party (Porterfield, 2004, p. 5). Thus, this event triggered the formation of another faction that will challenge the Democrats up until the present time.
The abolition of slavery is the aim for the establishment of the Republican Party. As the Democratic Party is seen as a sole dominant party, the founders of the Republican Party thought that its time for something new.
The Democratic Party was old, in it things had tended to find their place, and to embrace reform in a convincing way was beyond its power. The opportunity lay with an opposition party. Out of the situation came an advantage of being reformers. Republicans and Know-Nothings were both to make use of it. When the Republicans finally emerged as the dominant party, they came as a party of reform. (Crandall & Badger, 1930, p. 16)
The long reign of the Democratic Party in the American government gave an impression that reforms should be made to resolve issues that are not being addressed during that time. The resonating issue of slavery prompted the old Democrats together with anti-slavery advocates to create a new opposition.
The official Republican Party has been established on 1854 at Jackson, Michigan (Kleeberg, 1970, p. 138). As the new election approaches, the Democratic Party suffered internal division with regards to their Presidential nominees and this showed an apparent weakness of the party (Kleeberg, 1970, p. 55). The year 1860 became the mark of the Republicans as the opposition party to the Democrats when Abraham Lincoln was elected. The first president of the Republican Party faced the challenges of the Civil War and the growing pressure for the emancipation of the slaves. The party concentrated on policies concerning the abolition of slavery, ending the Civil War to preserve the Federation, and the civil rights of the freed slaves (Belz, 1976, p. 3).
The early ideology that reigned when the Republican Party has been formed is encapsulated in the concept of “free labor” (Foner, 1995, p. ix). Carl Schurz, one of the Party’s orators, described the Republican’s aim of not just “anti-slavery party, but empathically as the party of free labor” (Foner, 1995, p. 11). It revolves around the principle of labor, for everyone to work with honor so the whole country can prosper. This became the main drive of the party’s campaign and as the party’s oppositional attribute to the Democrats.
The Democratic and the Republican Party have changed over the past centuries to adapt to the changes that occur within the American society. No matter what change has occurred, there are still contradicting ideologies wherein their laws are shaped and formed from. These conflicting ideologies became a basis on social patterns concerning the lifestyle and the beliefs of the American citizens. The Democrats leaning heavily more in the liberal thought while the Republicans are more into conservatism. The political parties serve as a reflection of the American thinking.
Liberalism became the over-all context of the Democratic Party. It goes hand in hand with the party’s advocacies. The consistent quest for change of liberalism always sought for an alternative way to strengthen or to completely change the status quo. The fact that it mostly revolves around an ideology which welcomes the perspective of change; it attracts voters who share the same principle as well. The working class remained to be the largest make-up of the Democrat’s voters. Though the Republicans initiated the emancipation of the slaves, the Democrats received huge support from the African-American community as its laws evolved and its continuous advocacy to the minorities. The most notable of this is the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which earned large votes from the Black people and eventually, some of them even gaining seats within in the party (Schneider, 2002, p. 86). Other minorities comprising of Asians, Latinos, and Native Americans also have notable number of voting population.
On the other hand, The Republicans started from the emancipation of the slaves until it leans more into conservatism. It can be noted that unlike Democrats who pursued equality, The Republicans emphasized more on equity (Polsby, Wildavsky, & Hopkins, 2008, p. 36). The conservatives, though navigated the Republican Party to prioritize national defense such as the War in Iraq, also has a position on the social views on the basis of moral grounds such as being pro-life in response to pro-choice abortion stance of the Democratic Party. The majority of the voters of the Republican Party consist of White Americans, most probably an evidence of the aftermath from the 1965 Voting Rights Act. People of major religious factions such as Protestants and Catholics also vote for the Republican Party 5-10 percent more than the Democrats (Polsby, et. al., 2008, p. 32).
These two parties that have dominated the American political arena have been influential in shaping and forming the differing identities to its citizens. The Republican and the Democratic Party both cater to the various interests that the American society represents. They may have contradicting ideologies and advocacies; however, they all work for the same aim of upholding the United States. Both of them struggled and continued to pursue their goals in the name of American democracy.
References
Belz,H. (1976). A New Birth of Freedom: The Republican Party and Freedmen’s Rights, 1861 to 1866. Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
Colby, P.W., White, J.K. & Bartle, F. (1989). New York State Today. New York: State University of New York Press.
Crandall, A.W. & Badger, R.G. (1930). The Early History of the Republican Party. Boston: The Gorham Press.
Foner, E. (1995). Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press.
Jones, W.D. (1864). Mirror of Modern Democracy: A History of the Democratic Party. New
York: N.C. Miller.
Katz, R.S. & Crotty, W. (2006). Handbook of Party Politics. London: Sage Publications.
Kleeberg, G.S. (1970). The Formation of the Republican Party as a National Political Organization. New York: Ayer Publishing.
Milkis, S. (1993). The President and the Parties. New York: Oxford University Press.
Polsby, N. W., Wildavsky, A.B. & Hopkins, D.A. (2008). Presidential Elections. USA: Rowman & Littlefield.
Porterfield, J. (2004). Problems and Progress in American Politics: The Growth of the Democratic Party in the late 1800s. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group.
Rossiter, C.L. (1960). Parties and Politics in America. New York: Cornell University Press.
Schneider, J.E. (2002). Campaign Finance Reform and the Future of the Democratic Party. New York: Routledge
