Collins-1
Ciara Collins
PS 122: American Politics: Issues and Institutions
Essay One
9/21/2014
How can we make sense of political parties in the United States? Are they coalitions of politicians designed to enable the latter’s re-election, leadership organizations aiding effective governance, mass movements of people, or strategic alliances of activists and interests? Using the reading from the semester, analyze and compare these competing understanding and offer your own analysis as to which is the most convincing characterization. In your answer you should consider the manner in which political parties operate in Congress.
The United States of America originally began with no political parties. However, as differences in opinion on certain matters pertaining to the
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On the other hand, it makes things a lot easier for us, as voters, as Americans and as someday maybe as candidates. Are class discussions have showed me that everyone has different viewpoints on every topic we talk about, even the discussions we had on political parties is a different idea to what a political party is and how do we make sense of them. It is just like Democracy, we all have a different idea on the terms of Democracy. Michael Saward the author of The Terms of Democracy says for common approaches to defining democracy, one being “ruled by the people” but people love to argue the meaning and come up with a new one. It all comes down to the way we make sense of it.
Political parties are to create organization in government; it allows people to classify in a group, which is what I believe a political party is and how I make sense out of it. People might agree to what I believe a political party is but always has more to say about it. Although I believe that are political parties are corrupt, I also think are Congress would fall apart with political
Political party systems were dead after the Federalists crashed and burned due to a series of mishaps. However, the detrimental institute of political parties was revived as a result of the Jacksonian era. This is due to contributions of a combination of major political personalities and economic issues. Therefore, the disagreements between various men over a vast amount of issues lead to the separation of the Demo-Repubs into two different parties - the Democrats and the Republicans. Political parties had been around for decades, even though George Washington left a specific warning not to form them.
The first political parties where the Federalist and the Democratic-Republican. Both parties had different ideas and believes for what America should be like. These parties all started because of Thomas Jefferson's and Alexander Hamilton's rival between each other. The two where some of the nation's founders and they began to grow farther apart as the two ended up having different political views. This would ultimately lead to the formation of the first American political parties.
Political parties began in America when two of George Washington’s advisors, Alexander Hamilton, leader of the Federalist and Thomas Jefferson, leader of the Democratic Republicans disagreed on political issues. Newspapers also influenced political parties. The Federalists and the Democratic Republicans were political parties that were created when an agreement could not be made for what would be best for the country. Hamilton was influenced by Britain to encourage trade and manufacturing, while Jefferson favored farming. Hamilton also favored a strong federal government, while Jefferson believed it would take the state’s power.
1. Discuss the origins and evolution of the Second American Party System from the 1820s to the election of 1840. In particular, review two major issues that created controversy among American political leaders and their followers. The Transformation of America, 1815-1848," provides valuable insights into the origins and evolution of this political era. The first-party system in the United States revolved around the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans, but by the 1820s, this system began to crumble.
One strength of a political party is that they are “essential institutions for the operation of the American government” (Barker, 2016, p. 1, para. 1). One of the functions of the political party is to be the middle person between citizens and “their elected government” (Barker, 2016, p. 4, para. 2) so that the people can feel as if their voices will be heard and the issues will be resolved. Although political parties should be for the people, one of the weaknesses is that “many believe that the major parties do not do an adequate job of
Political parties, Democratic Republicans and Federalists, started in the U.S. because of differing views of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, and the influence of newspapers. Jefferson’s and Hamilton’s different ways of thinking(mostly on issues that was beneficial for the country) played a huge part in the start of political parties. They fought about economy. Jefferson liked farming while Hamilton preferred manufacturing and trade. Interpretation of the Constitution was another thing they fought upon.
The first example of formation of political parties was how to interpret the constitution. Various parties held different interpretations regarding the Constitution. For example, Jefferson created the Democratic Republicans. The Democratic Republicans is the name used primarily by modern political scientists for the first "Republican Party" (as it called itself at the time.) Jefferson interpreted the Constitution strictly (If the Constitution says one can not do it, you can).
Thomas Jefferson once said. “There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties”. The reason he said this was because he feared a strong central government. Then for some Americans, fears of a strong central government taking advantage came true. This is when the two political parties split.
Party polarization is the process where political factions spatially align themselves ideologically in reference to other factions. In simpler terms, it is when parties pick sides on the current issues. Most if not all of the polarization effects occur when it is paired with other trends such as partisanship and fractionalization. While polarization can manifest itself in many ways in different political systems, the party polarization in the U.S. is what will be discussed here. Although polarization usually creates negative effects, in certain situations it can be very beneficial, but in the U.S.’s case specifically polarization is becoming a burden on the democratic process.
Unfortunately, the country still till this day have political parties. Many say the era where divided government began before
Throughout the history of the United States, there has been a total of six distinctive party systems. As the years went by, the political parties have experienced downturns and realignments. The first distinctive party emerged around the 1790s. The political parties were the Federalists and the Jeffersonian (Democratic) Republicans. The federalists formed in 1791 led by Alexander Hamilton, who were mainly New England merchants.
Despite being the only major political party the Democrats experienced a lot of conflict among themselves Eventfully a party known as the Whigs developed. Both the Democrats and Whigs wanted to expand the numbers of voters. They accomplished this by eliminating several voting restrictions put on white males. Like the Federalist the Whigs supported northern merchants. Besides supporting merchants, the only thing members of the Whig party really had in common was there opposition to the Democratic party.
These divisions formed the first ever political parties who were not formally organized like the later parties. Most people at that time were anticipating the parties to be dissolved once the national government defined its stand on those issues, but they just gained a more proper form. These two parties were the Federalist Party and the republicans.
Americans strive to fight for what is right. Americans who vote will vote for the candidate who shares the same political views as the voter. It is fascinating how unconsciously Americans, as voters, oftentimes forget to take the time to contemplate why the candidate that shares the same views as us is right. Political parties have led us as a nation through dark times, such as the Great Depression, they serve as a vital lifeline for our government. Without any political parties there would be not representation, voting would become exceedingly complicated than it should be, our government would change entirely.
Political parties are politically recognized organizations of citizens who form to defend their interests. Having a political system that allows the freedom to form a new political parties or to declare membership in already existing ones, promotes democracy. As such, political parties are an indispensable part of the democratic process. However, there are also negative consequences to having political parties. Political parties saw their origins in the 17th and 18th centuries in the UK, evolving from previous political organizations called factions.