Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Evolution of the Two-Party System in America
Most of the founding fathers of the United States were opposed to the formation of political parties considering them as "quarreling factions" that would foster corruption and hinder the public from freely judging issues on merit. Hence no provision was made in the U.S. Constitution for political parties. Yet a two-party has come to dominate the country's politics, with the Democratic and the Republican parties becoming the two dominant political parties in the U.S. since the mid-19th century.
As early as the 1790s, people with deferring vision of the country's future had started to band together in order to win support for their ideas. The faction that was identified with Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and Vice President John Adams became known as the "Federalists" while those who supported Thomas Jefferson and James Madison came to be known as the "Democratic-Republicans." (Burke) The Federalists favored a strong central government that supported the interests of commerce and industry while the Republicans preferred a decentralized agrarian republic in which the federal government had limited powers. ("Political Parties" Wickepedia) This was the beginning of the two-party system in the country that has evolved over time into the present system.
The structure of the U.S. government with its elaborate system of checks and balances and division of power among the state and federal governments makes the formation of permanent political organizations (parties) necessary. It is the political parties, having representation in the federal and state legislatures as well as the Presidency, that make the whole complex system workable. A two-party rather than a multi-party system has evolved in the U.S. due to the "winner takes all" rather than a "proportional representation" electoral process in which a vote for a third party is usually a "lost vote."
Works Cited
Burke, Robert E. "Political Parties in the United States." Article in Encyclopedia Encarta. CD-ROM Version, 2003
Politics of the United States" Para on Political Parties. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2004. March 31, 2004. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_United_States
James Madison argued in his "Federalist Papers" against a system in which "factions" (parties) could seize control of the government
The present Democratic Party traces its roots to the Jeffersonian Republicans.
Perhaps some of the drama that will play itself out inside of the convention hall, will be spotted by the watchful eye of the media transmitting the party's doings into American living rooms -- and raise ratings as a result. Works Cited Crawford, Darlisa. "Memorable Moments in Political Convention History: The Evolution of National Party Conventions." Election Focus 2004. U.S. Department of State. Jul 14, 2008. 1.14. http://usinfo.state.gov/dhr/img/assets/5796/elections07_15_04.pdf Cresswell, Stephen." The Mississippi
American Red Cross services provided by a community agency and it's challenges in servicing a certain health issue within the community The American Red Cross This research paper looks at the services provided by a community agency and its challenges in servicing certain health issues within the community. The research will mainly dwell on the American Red Cross which is a community agency based in the U.S. that provides public health services not
So far, I have tried to made a short historical review of the first years of the existence of the Republican party, identifying a few ideological main trends that defined the activity and the platform of the party. Namely, I have talked about the anti-slavery position (proved, among others, by the importance given to the Northern branches), somehow moderate in order to keep the votes of the nativist Americans, who
Delphi Study: Influence of Environmental Sustainability Initiatives on Information Systems Table of Contents (first draft) Green IT Current Methods and Solutions Green IT and energy costs Green It and Email Systems Green IT and ICT Green IT and ESS Green IT and TPS Green IT and DSS Green IT and other support systems Green IT and GHG reduction Green IT and the Government Sector Green IT and the Corporate Sector Future Prospects of Green IT in the software industry The paper focuses on how the
Third Parties The founding fathers of the United States were initially opposed to the formation of political parties considering them as "quarreling factions" that would hinder the public from freely judging issues on merit. The complex structure of the U.S. government with its elaborate system of checks and balances and division of power among the state and federal governments, however, makes the formation of permanent political organizations necessary for effective functioning
Board of Education of Topeka. This case represented a watershed for Civil Rights and helped to signal an end to segregation because it determined that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" (Warren, 1954). It is essential to note that federal support on this particular issue was only earned after African-Americans decided to use the legislative system to their advantage by taking the segregationist school system of Topeka, Kansas to