10. Parties in us.

Today the United States has two major political parties. One is the Democratic Party, whose origins go back to the nation's third president, Thomas Jefferson and which formed before 1800 The other is the republican Party, which was formed in the 1850s, by people in the states of the North and West, such as Abraham Lincoln, who wanted the government to prevent the expansion of slavery into new states then being admitted to the union. Party membership in any American party is rarely formal. Members of the Democratic and Republican parties are not registered, they do not have cards and do not pay membership dues. There are no official formalities for admission. Any voter during elections may become a Republican or a Democrat by a simple declaration, that he is a member of this or that party. He takes no responsibilities when he makes that declaration. Associating with a party is strictly and exclusively a. matter of individual self-expression.

One explanation for the long life of the Republican and Democratic parties is that they are not strong ideological organizations, but loose alliances of state and local parties that unite every four years for the presidential election. Most Americans today consider the Democratic Party the more liberal party. As they understand it the Democrats believe that the federal government and the state governments should be active in providing social and economic programs for those who need them, During the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt the government under the Democratic Party established the Social Security program, which ensures that those who are retired or disabled receive monthly payments from the government.

Republicans are not vividly opposed-to -such programs. However, they believe that many social programs are too costly to the taxpayers and that when taxes are raised to pay for such programs, everyone is hurt. They place more emphasis on private enterprise and often accuse the Democrats of making the government too expensive. For that reason, Americans tend to think of the Republican Party as more conservative.

Party Platform of the Democratic Party

The Democratic Party has a long history of claiming to represent and protect the interests of working Americans and guaranteeing personal liberties for all. One of the places they articulate the beliefs is in the Party's National Platform, adopted every four years by the Delegates at the National Convention.

The National Platform is an official statement of the Party's position on a wide vari­ety of issues. Each issue category included in the Platform is a "plank." A new Platform is adopted every four years by the Democratic National Convention. For example, the 2000 National Platform emphasized three key Democratic Party ideals:

(1)Prosperity — sustaining and strengthening the economic growth that brought opportunities to many Americans in the 1990s;

(2)Progress — paying attention to the aspects of the lives that cannot be measured in economic terms but which have a deep impact on the everyday existence;

(3) Peace — more than just the absence of war it means protecting America's security wherever it is allegedly [ə'leʤɪdlɪ] endangered and promoting so-called demo­cratic values around the world.

Republicans' Principles and Beliefs

Republicans believe:

• the strength of the nation lies with the individual and that each person's dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honoured.

• equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed вероисповедание, sex, age or disability must be strictly observed.

• free enterprise and increasing individual initiative have brought the nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity.

• that the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those criti­cal functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations, and that the best government is that which governs least.

• that the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people.

• that Americans must retain the principles that have made the nation strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times.

• that Americans value and should preserve the national strength and pride while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world.

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