Transcript Document

Political parties in the United
States
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Throughout most of its history, American
politics have been dominated by a twoparty system. However, the United
States Constitution has always been
silent on the issue of political parties; at
the time it was signed in 1787, there
were no parties in the nation. Indeed, no
nation in the world had voter-based
political parties. The need to win popular
support in a republic led to the American
invention of political parties in the
1790s.
Political scientists and historians have
divided the development of America's
two-party system into five eras. The
modern two-party system consists of
theDemocratic Party and the Republican
Party. In general, since the 1930s the
Democratic Party positions itself left-ofcenter in American politics while the
Republican Party positions itself
as right-of-center. Several third
parties also operate in the United
States, and from time to time elect
someone to local office.
Modern U.S. political party system
 The modern political party system in the
United States is a two-party
system dominated by the Democratic
Party and the Republican Party. These two
parties have won every United States
presidential election since 1852 and have
controlled the United States Congress since
at least 1856.
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The Democratic Party is one
of two major contemporary political
parties in the United States along
with the Republican Party. The party
supports asocial liberal, social
democratic and progressive platform
and its Congressional caucus is
composed of progressives,
liberals, centrists, andleftlibertarians. The party has the
lengthiest record of continuous
operation in the United States and is
one of the oldest political parties in
the world.
Current President of the United
States Barack Obama is the 15th
Democrat to hold that office. As of
the 112th Congress following
the 2010 elections, the Democratic
Party currently holds a minority of
seats in the House of
Representatives and a majority of
seats in the Senate, as well as a
minority of state governorships and
control of a minority of state
legislatures.
Democratic
Party
Republican Party
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The Republican Party is one of
the two major political parties in the United
States, along with the Democratic Party.
Founded by anti-slavery activists in 1854, it
dominated politics nationally for most of the
period 1860-1932. 18 presidents have been
Republicans. The most recent Republican
president was George W Bush.
Currently the party's platform generally
reflects American conservatism in the U.S.
political spectrum. American conservatism of
the Republican Party is not wholly based
upon rejection of the political ideology
of liberalism, as many principles of American
conservatism are based upon classical
liberalism. Rather the Republican Party's
conservatism is largely based upon its
support of classical principles against
the modern liberalism of theDemocratic
Party that is considered American
liberalism in contemporary American political
discourse.
In the 112th Congress, elected in 2010, the
Republican Party holds a majority of seats in
the House of Representatives and a minority
of seats in theSenate. The party currently
holds the majority of governorships as well
as the majority of state legislatures.
Major third parties
Libertarian Party
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The Libertarian Party was founded on
December 11, 1971. It is one of the
largest continuing third parties in the
United States, claiming more than
200,000 registered voters and more
than 600 people in public
office, including mayors, county
executives, county-council members,
school-board members, and other
local officials. It has more people in
office than all other minor parties
combined.
The political platform of the Libertarian
Party reflects that group's particular
brand of libertarianism, favoring
minimally regulated, laissezfaire markets, strong civil liberties,
minimally regulatedmigration across
borders, and non-interventionism in
foreign policy that respects freedom of
trade and travel to all foreign countries.
The 2012 Libertarian Party nominee
for United States President is former
New Mexico governor, Gary Johnson.
Constitution Party
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The Constitution Party is a conservative United
States political party. It was founded as the U.S.
Taxpayers Party in 1992. The party's official
name was changed to the Constitution Party in
1999; however, some state affiliate parties are
known under different names.
According to ballot access expert Richard
Winger, the editor of Ballot Access News, who
periodically compiles and analyzes voter
registration statistics as reported by state voter
agencies, it ranks third nationally amongst all
United States political parties in registered
voters, with 438,222 registered members as of
October 2008. This makes it currently the
largest third party in the United States.
The Constitution Party advocates a platform
that they believe reflects the Founding
Fathers' original intent of the U.S. Constitution,
principles found in the U.S. Declaration of
Independence, and morals taken from the Bible.
In 2006, Rick Jore of Montana became the first
Constitution Party candidate elected to a statelevel office, though the Constitution Party of
Montana had disaffiliated itself from the national
party a short time before the election.
The Constitution Party's 2012 presidential
nominee is Virgil Goode.
Green Party of the United States
 The Green Party of the United
States (GPUS) is a
national American political party
founded in 1991 as a voluntary
association of state green
parties. With its founding, the
Green Party of the United States
became the primary national
Green organization in the United
States, eclipsing
theGreens/Green Party USA,
which emphasized non-electoral
movement building.
The Association of State Green
Parties (ASGP), a forerunner
organization, first gained
widespread public attention
during Ralph Nader's United
States presidential
campaigns in 1996 and 2000.
Thanks for attention