The major political parties

The popularity of George Washington, who wanted the country to stay a one-party political system, and the good effects of the Constitution on trade prevented the organization of opposing parties until the end of Washington’s second term. Then the question of who should be the new President began to divide the people into political organizations backing opposing candidates. Thus the one-party Revolutionary government of the United States split up into a two-party system.

The present-day Democratic Party was founded in 1828, representing Southern planters — slave owners and part of Northern bourgeoisie, as well as groups of petty bourgeoisie and farmers. The Republican Party was founded in 1854. It united industrial and trade bourgeoisie from North-East, farmers, workers, craftsmen who were interested in destroying the political power of the South. During Lincoln’s Administration, Republicans supported the agricultural reforms and the abolishment of slavery. Yet after the Civil War of 1861–1865 the party lost its progressive character and the differences between the two parties disappeared. The parties chose their own names. Republican and Democratic, but not their party emblems. The cartoonist Thomas Nast invented the

Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey in the early 1870s and they soon became fixed types. The parties are not divided by any doctrinal gulf. It is hard to say what the “Republican Party view” or the “Democratic Party view” of any political issue is. Outsiders often complain that they find it difficult to distinguish between the two major political parties of the US, which appear to support such similar policies. The main task of the parties is to win elections. Every four years the American parties come together as national bodies in Presidential nominating conventions and make up the party programs. But once a President is chosen, the parties again become amorphous bodies. This traditional two-party system is favoured by big business, for it creates an illusion that voters are free to choose between candidates from two parties whereas both of them faithfully serve big business interest. What distinguishes the two parties is not so much opinion as position. In 1887 James Russell Lowell said, “No thoughtful man has been able to see any other difference between the two great parties ... than that the one was in and wished to stay there and the other was out and didn’t wish to stay there.” It is also true today. One of the reasons of the stability of the two-party system is family tradition. Each new generation of Americans inherits its politics and party loyalty from their fathers. National origin plays a role, too. Descendants of northern Europeans tend to the Republican party while those of southern and eastern Europeans prefer the Democratic party.

Exercise 12. Discussion. Look through the lists of general ideas and supporting details. Find the details to support each of the general ideas.

General Ideas

1. Both the Republican and the Democratic parties emerged to reflect the interests of different social groups.

2. The parties are not divided by any contradictions or differences in the political outlook.

3. The parties become most active during the presidential elections.

4. The two-party system retains its stability as never before.

Supporting Details

a) The Republican Party was led by the industrial bourgeoisie of the North and supported by workers and farmers.

b) The area in which one lives is still an important factor determining one’s vote.

c) The slave owners and farmers of the southern states showed a strong tendency to vote Democratic.

d) Both the biggest parties of the country are financed by big business.