The US Constitution does not contain a mention of political parties, which reflected the negative attitude of many founding fathers towards the role of parties in the political process. Currently, the two leading parties are the Republican Party, founded in 1854, and the Democratic Party, which dates back to 1828.
The United States has a special form of multi-party system, the two-party system, which is characterized by the exceptional stability of its two-party character. For 200 years now, the rivalry has been unfolding between the two national parties, while all the rest, the so-called "third parties", remain on the periphery of the struggle for power. During this time, a special way of interaction between the leading parties has developed, the key elements of which are consensus and alternativeness. The consensus lies in the unity of basic values, the commonality of approaches to the choice of the political agenda and the main ways of the country's development; alternativeness is manifested in different approaches to the method of achieving the stated goals.
The prototype of the two-party system was the tandem of federalists - Jefferson Republicans (late 18th century - mid-1810s). In the 1820s, the formation of the second model of the party system began, the backbone of which was made up of Democrats and Whigs. It lasted until the mid 1850s. The systemic interaction of the Democratic and Republican parties began in the mid-1860s (after the Civil War) and continues to this day, although the nature of their relationship underwent significant adjustments along with the political and socio-economic agenda in the 1930s and 1980s.
The US party system differs in a number of ways from the party systems of other developed countries. The organizational structures of the parties are a kind of confederation of full-time party organizations that unite to fight for power at various levels. The Democratic and Republican parties have a similar structure. They have neither a formal fixed membership, relying instead on party voter registration, nor a program, which is carried out by a platform adopted every four years in the run-up to presidential elections. The existing charter of the party fixes, first of all, technical regulations and procedures. Formally, the main body of the party is the national congress (National Convention), which meets every four years to nominate a candidate for president and adopt an election platform. Coordination of the work of the parties throughout the country lies with the National Committee.
One of the main functions of the parties is to nominate candidates for the highest government posts. Initially, from the end of the 18th century until the 1820s, inclusive, this function was performed by a caucus of party factions in Congress. The most important issue was decided by a narrow, elite grouping from the highest echelon of party functionaries. The rapid democratization of political life, a sharp expansion of the circle of voters, and the growing role of regular party organizations led to the fact that in the 1830s the caucuses ceded the function of nominating candidates for top posts to national party conventions (congresses).
At the end of the 19th century, the Populist Party put forward the idea of holding primaries (primary elections in the states), which would determine the degree of popularity of candidates for the presidency, and the convention would take into account their results in its work. It took a quarter of a century of intense struggle for this idea to be recognized.
The parties also deal with the distribution of appointments to the committees of the Congress. The formation of the government (administration) is also carried out on a party basis. Within each party there is an association of governors. In each chamber of the American Congress there are party associations (congressional factions) - the so-called caucus in the Democratic Party and the conference in the Republican. However, due to the decentralized nature of the parties, congressional factions are distinguished by a low level of party discipline.
The oldest political party in the United States is the Democratic Party, which arose at the turn of the 1820s and 1830s. Its formation is associated with the name of Andrew Jackson, who was elected President of the United States in 1828. Democrats dominated US politics in the 1830s-1850s, 1910s, 1930s-1940s, 1960s, and 1990s. The Democratic Party won 21 head of state elections and gave the country 15 presidents. The Democratic Party relies on the support of various groups and strata of society, among which it is necessary to single out trade unions, ethnic minorities (both African American and Hispanic communities, as well as Asians), along with representatives of non-traditional sexual orientation. Democratic strongholds are the northeastern and Pacific states, as well as major cities. The symbol of the Democratic Party is the donkey.
The Republican Party of the United States was formed in 1854, uniting in its ranks supporters of the restriction of slavery, and 6 years later, Republican Party candidate Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election. The dominance of Republicans in the political life of the country falls on the 1860s-1900s, 1920s, 1950s, 1970s-1980s and 2000s. The Republican Party won 23 presidential elections and gave the United States 18 presidents. Just like the Democrats, the Republican Party focuses on various groups and strata of society, among which it is necessary to single out large corporations, the military, conservative religious groups (especially the so-called Christian fundamentalists). Today, the Republican strongholds are in the southern states and the "mountain states" in the west. The symbol of the Republican Party is the elephant.
The measured functioning of the party tandem is periodically influenced by third parties. With rare exceptions, they do not achieve noticeable success at the national level, although their role in the political life of the country cannot be underestimated. As a rule, they arise at turning points in American history, when new problems appear on the agenda that the leading parties prefer to bypass (usually these were issues related either to new steps to democratize public and political life, or to attempts to limit the omnipotence of big business ). The appearance of a mass third party was a signal to the US political elite that it was necessary to correct the program-target settings of at least one of the main parties. Thus, third parties perform a very important socio-political function: they play the role of a kind of safety valve, giving vent to protest moods within the existing political system, and also act as a kind of "incubator" of new ideas for the leading parties. Third parties can influence the results of national elections by stealing votes from a more ideologically aligned party and helping their opponents win. Today, on a national scale, there are three third parties in the United States - one on the left (the Green Party) and two on the right (the Libertarian and Constitutional parties).
The strength of the two-party system is due to a number of factors. First of all, the US political elite has perfectly mastered various ways of integrating the protest electorate into the framework of a two-party system. Such an important feature of the American mentality as pragmatism, which dictates a very specific style, also plays its role. political behavior: it makes no sense to support a notorious outsider, it is better to join a potential winner in the hope that he will take into account in his policy some specific interests of those who supported him social group. Finally, the peculiarities of the legislation governing the rules for conducting election campaigns also act against third parties, which can put serious obstacles in the way of third parties and practically force voters to act in the system of the two main parties.
Conducting election campaigns is becoming more and more expensive every year, so candidates for the highest government positions initially found themselves in a certain dependence on large donors, which naturally affected their political credo. As early as the end of the 19th century, democratic circles of society tried to create barriers that would limit the ability of big business to directly influence the outcome of elections and, consequently, the entire policy of the state. In 1971, as part of party reform, the Federal Election Control Act was passed, which established new rules for reporting campaign contributions and spending. Since 1971, this law has been tightened several times. In 1974, the Federal Election Commission was created to control election spending and, starting in 1976, manage public funding for the presidential campaign. However, all these measures do not prevent big business from finding opportunities to maintain influence on the course of the election race.
In the November 7, 2006, congressional elections (the so-called midterm elections), the Democrats won. In the House of Representatives, they won 233 seats against 202 for the Republicans. Elections to the Senate were held in 33 states (one senator in each of the states in which elections were held) - Democrats won in 24 states, Republicans - in 9; Democrats held 51 seats in the Senate against 49 Republicans in the election.
In the Senate elections held on November 4, 2008 (simultaneously with the presidential election), the Democrats managed to get 17 seats out of 35 submitted for voting (the Senate includes two representatives from the state - a total of one hundred people; a third of the total composition is re-elected every two years; in at the same time, the election of senators to the vacant seats takes place); Republicans won 14 seats. As a result, the Democrats occupied 57 seats in the Senate, the Republicans - only 41 (two seats went to independent candidates who previously supported the Democrats).
Following the results of the 2010 elections to the Senate, against the backdrop of the declining popularity of President Obama, the representation of Republicans increased: Democrats won 51 seats, Republicans won 47 seats, and independent candidates won 2.
In the House of Representatives, where the Democrats managed to gain leadership in 2006 and hold it in the 2008 elections (Democrats occupied 257 seats, Republicans - 178), according to the results of the 2010 midterm elections, the situation changed in favor of the Republicans: they received 242 seats against 193. The rise in popularity of Republicans during the midterm elections is indicative of their rise in popularity in general.
On November 4, 2008, regular presidential elections were held. The official candidates for the presidency were John McCain (Republican) and Barack Obama (Democratic).
Barack Obama won with 69 million votes (52.87%); John McCain received 59.93 million votes (45.62%). Barack Obama received 365 electoral votes, John McCain - 173 electoral votes.
AT recent times the extra-parliamentary opposition, represented by the so-called "umbrella" (English umbrella) parties or movements, is gaining more and more influence, spreading with the help of social networks. The most famous among them are the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street movement. The Tea Party, founded in 2009, brings together representatives of the conservative movement, who criticize the government's economic policy that led to the crisis, calling for fiscal responsibility, restricting the government and ensuring market freedom. In 2010-2012, they actively opposed the policies of President Obama, considering it to be socialist.
Since mid-September 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement has organized a lengthy civic protest against the “criminal” actions of the financial elite, also demanding changes in the economy (however, other than the Tea Party wants) that will prevent the financial crisis from repeating itself.
The United States at the national, regional, local levels of government is dominated by two parties:
Democrats
Republicans
These parties belong to decentralized organizations, since there is no large party apparatus and there is no direct binding of their members to work in a particular party organization. their purpose and raison d'être is the struggle to win power in Congress
There are no special laws on parties in the USA, although some external aspects of the activities of political organizations participating in elections are regulated. Therefore, they do not have clear party programs. Their role is partially fulfilled by election manifestos and slogans
While parties enjoy voter confidence and broad public support, some differences can be drawn between them.
1. In relation to the limits of state intervention in the regulation of socio-economic processes. Traditionally, Democrats advocate a more active role for the state in this area than their competitors.
2. They also differ in the representation of socio-economic interests. In the eyes of the public, the party of "big business" is the Republicans, although the Democratic Party also enjoys the support of rich people, including big businessmen. The Democrats have long and extensive ties with trade unions, environmental organizations, the Catholic Church.
In accordance with the US Constitution, all powers of the legislative power belong to the body of popular representation - the US Congress, which consists of two chambers:
the House of Representatives.
It is believed that the House of Representatives will represent the interests of the entire American people, and the upper house of Congress - the Senate - the interests of the states.
Both chambers are elected on the basis of universal, direct, equal suffrage by secret ballot. The term of office of senators is six years, members of the House of Representatives - two years. The Congress works in sessions - one session annually with breaks for vacations.
House of Representatives consists of 435 deputies elected on the basis of a majority system of a relative majority without a quorum requirement. As the main electoral qualifications, one should name age (candidates over 25 years old), citizenship qualification (status in American citizenship for at least seven years), residency qualification (residence in the state in which the constituency is located).
The chamber is headed by a speaker elected by the chamber itself (by a se-party majority). He leads meetings, sends bills to committees, has the right to vote, etc.
Member of the Senate consists of 100 members elected regardless of population, two from each staff on the basis of the same electoral system. Every two years, 1/3 of the senators are elected. Any US citizen residing within the respective state may be elected as a senator, provided that he has been a citizen for at least nine years and reaches the age of 30. The Senate includes the Vice President of the United States, who is its chairman, who has the right to sign bills passed by the House. However, he does not have the right to vote in an ordinary situation.
The members of each party in the chambers form a faction that elects leaders who practically run their chambers, while the minority party organizes the opposition.
Competence is divided into general, exercised by both chambers for the adoption of laws and resolutions in accordance with the subjects of jurisdiction established by the Basic Law, and special, belonging to each chamber separately.
Its general powers include: adoption of laws and resolutions in the financial and budgetary sphere (the right to impose and levy taxes, duties, excises, mint coins, loans, regulate bankruptcies, adopt the federal budget); in the field of defense and foreign relations - the exclusive right to declare war, to decide on the formation of the armed forces, to announce the call of the police to repel the invasion of the country; in the field of organizing domestic policy - the establishment of federal courts, the regulation of the procedure for acquiring citizenship, patent and copyright law, the regulation of trade with foreign state media, the establishment of uniform weights and measures, etc.
Special powers include the power of each of the chambers to organize impeachment proceedings, the election of a president and vice president if the electors fail to choose them.
This country.
Historical digression
in Hebrew New Year 1787 The US Constitution was adopted in Philadelphia. At that time there were no political parties in the country. Hamilton and Madison, who were the founders of this state, initially opposed the creation of such. The first American president, George Washington, was not a member of, and did not attempt to form, any political party system in the United States. But the need to enlist the support of the electorate led already 2.5 years after the adoption of the Constitution to the emergence of the first political parties, the beginning of which was given by the founding fathers of the republic.
Political parties and features of the US party system from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 20th centuries.
In its development, the party system went through 5 stages.
The first system included:
- The Federalist Party, which existed from 1792 to 1816, its representative J. Adams became the country's first party president.
- Democratic-Republican Party. Surprisingly, there was such a united party, the split in which in 1828 served as the beginning of the second party system.
The latter was characterized by the presence of:
- National Republican Party.
- Democratic Party.
In 1832, representatives of the first entered into a coalition with the Anti-Masonic Party and some others, forming the Whig Party. Democrats dominated during this system. At the turn of the 40-50s. 19th century the issue of slavery in the new territories arose with renewed vigor, as a result, the Whig Party split into two factions: Cotton and Conscience. The Cotton Whigs later joined the Democrats, and the Northern Whigs joined the new Republican Party in 1854. The remaining out of work Whigs in 1856 moved to the American Party.
A third party system took shape in 1854 after the formation of the Republican Party. She began to express the interests of the North, as opposed to the Democratic, expressing the interests of the South. In 1860, the last party split into 2 factions, part of the Democrats formed the Constitutional Union Party. After the Civil War, the Republican Party dominated.
The fourth party system lasted from 1856 to 1932. The main parties were the same, the Republicans prevailed. There was an increase in the role of "third parties", although it remained small. From 1890 to 1920 the role of the progressive movement was noted, which made it possible to reform local government, to carry out the necessary reforms in medicine, education and many other spheres of life. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Democrats were a conservative force, and the Republicans were progressives, and from 1910 the situation began to change.
The Fifth Party System was formed after the Great Depression in 1933. Since the 1930s, the term "liberal" began to refer to supporters of the Roosevelt course, and "conservative" to his opponents. Roosevelt formed the New Deal Coalition, which collapsed in 1968 due to the Vietnam War.
Modern US party system
Currently, two parties dominate in this country: the Democratic and the Republican. Under their control are the US Congress, as well as the Legislative Assemblies of all the territorial units of the state in question. Representatives of these two parties hold the office of president in some order, and also become governors of states and mayors of their respective cities. Other parties do not have real levers of influence on politics, not only at the federal, but also at the local levels. Thus, the question of what kind of party system is in the United States suggests an unequivocal answer: "Bipartisan".
Characteristics of the Democratic Party
Let's start our consideration of the party system and political parties in the United States with the Democratic Party.
She is one of the oldest in the world. At the same time, it positions itself as adhering to more liberal points of view in socio-economic issues compared to the Republican Party. Thus, the Democrats are located slightly to the left of center in the US party system.
The party's president, Johnson, proposed the idea of creating a "Great Society" in which poverty was to be eradicated. State medical insurance was created, programs of "model cities", "teachers' buildings", housing subsidies for the needy, the construction of modern highways, and measures were proposed to combat pollution of the atmosphere and hydrospheres. Payments have been increased social insurance, improved vocational and medical rehabilitation.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the party-political system of the United States has undergone a number of changes. This was due to the fact that the Democrats advocated racial separation, which aroused the sympathy of the white population of the southern part of the country. However, in the 40s, Truman began to implement a policy of desegregation in the area. Johnson outlawed it in the 1960s. The Republicans, led by R. Reagan, R. Nixon, B. Goldwater, began to pursue a "new southern strategy", which led to the formation of "Democrats blue dog", who began to vote the way the Republicans vote.
Currently, due to the peculiarities of the party system in the United States, this party includes 30-40% of the registered electorate, which is determined by the election results. Democrats enjoy support from residents of metropolitan areas, coastal states, people with higher education those with an above-average income. They are supported by trade unions of workers of large organizations, human rights organizations, feminists, sexual and racial minorities. They say that it is necessary to raise taxes for the rich, provide assistance to developing high-tech industries, increase social spending of the state budget, abandon economic protectionism, fight pollution, protect various minorities, oppose the fight against emigrants. At the same time, they are against the use of the death penalty, for the limited use and use of firearms, and the same state intervention in the economy.
Republican Party
The US party system consists of the Republican Party, in addition to the one discussed above. It was founded in the middle of the 19th century by opponents of the advancement of the slave system to new spaces and in defense of the North, in contrast to the democrats, who mainly defended the interests of the South.
She has held a central position in the US party system and political parties since Lincoln became President of America. Until 1932, the Republicans gave the presidency only four times to representatives from the opposite political camp.
The monopoly on power did not bring the party to the good. Endless scandals related to nepotism and corruption began to occur, as well as struggles within it. Until these moments, the party was considered more liberal and progressive compared to the Democratic Party, but since the 20s of the 20th century, it began to move to the right and become more conservative.
Today, the ideas of this party are based on American, social conservatism, as well as economic liberalism.
The basis of the members of this party are white men of small settlements, businessmen, managers and specialists with higher education, fundamentalists who are members of the Protestant group. They believe that taxes should be reduced, illegal migration should be banned, and legal migration should be significantly limited, and all illegal immigrants should be expelled from the country. They support family values and morality, oppose abortion, same-sex marriage. They want to limit the activity of trade unions, they support economic protectionism, the death penalty, the carrying of firearms. They also believe that US military spending should be increased in order to strengthen the country's security. At the same time, the state should not interfere in the private life of citizens and the economy.
Constitution Party
It was formed in 1992 under the name "Party of American Taxpayers", but after 7 years it began to be called exactly as it is called today - Constitutional.
Its adherents are characterized by those based on the ideology of "paleoconservatism", in which religious values are mixed with conservative political principles. On social issues, they are close to the position of the religious conservatives of the Republican Party. On the range of issues of politics and economics, they are closer to libertarians.
The number of its voters is insignificant compared to the first considered representatives of the US political system and is about 0.4% of the electorate. However, even such a modest result makes this party the third political force in the country.
In 2008, their candidate C. Baldwin participated in the presidential elections, but he could not even get the votes of his fellow party members.
Green Party
With this name, the party was created in the United States back in 1980. In 2000, its representative, R. Neider, won 2.7% of the vote in the presidential elections. After this, his supporters from various "green" movements merged to form the Green Party.
They took their name because of the basic ideas for the protection of nature. The main views are center-left. They stand for social justice, equality of rights for different genders and sexual groups, adhere to the principles of pacifism in foreign policy, believe that firearms are necessary for citizens, but state control should be exercised over them. Authorities, in their opinion, should be decentralized, and the economy should receive social development.
About a quarter of a percent of the electorate is registered in its members. They hold elected office in local governments, but mostly vote as non-partisans. This is the peculiarity of the US party system.
Libertarian Party
It is one of the oldest parties in the United States since it was founded in 1971. Her ideas boil down to individual freedom, which implies the same market economy and international trade. Representatives of this party believe that the United States should not interfere in the affairs of other states. They believe that citizens should be independent, the power of the government should be limited. At the same time, members of this party oppose the ban on abortion and drugs, while making some reservations about same-sex marriages, and believe that migration should be minimally regulated. From their point of view, taxes and government spending should be cut.
Dissidents often crossed over to this formation of the US political system.
The number of members of this party roughly coincides with that of the Green Party. She enjoys a sufficiently large support of voters, which allowed her to put her people into various elected local positions in an amount exceeding that of the total of all small parties.
Other US parties
The party with the growth rate is considered to be the Natural Law Party, which was founded in 1992 by businessmen, lawyers and scientists who believe that the main problems of the country are due to the influence of lobbyists on power. Their ideology is the direction of bringing scientific ideas to the authorities. She proposes educational and medical reforms, reforming the country's electoral system, against GMOs, and reforming the legislature to make coalitions impossible. enjoys the support of left-wing, intellectually minded citizens.
The reformist party was formed by supporters of R. Perrault, who, running for President as an independent candidate, in 1992 won 12% of the vote. They oppose free trade, the 2-party system in the US, the renewal of democracy, government spending cuts, medical and educational reforms, and encouraging Americans to participate in politics.
The Socialist Party is one of America's oldest political forces. It was founded in 1898 by trade union members who organized mass strikes and strikes. They believe that change should be radical, but gradual, evolutionary. People should be at the forefront, not profit. Party members generally adhere to pacifist views and support the implementation of education reform. At the same time, the rules of the game in relation to big businessmen should be tightened, the influence of trade unions and public organizations should be increased.
The role of parties in political life
They are not enshrined in the Constitution of the country. Nevertheless, the powers of parties and party systems in the United States are quite large. They participate in elections, offer voters various programs, acting as intermediaries between the authorities and citizens.
As a rule, parties have several confederations of party organizations that unite to achieve the goal of electing their representatives to Congress or to the position of President or other elected positions. In view of the developed system of federalism in the United States, the strengthening of small parties is observed on the ground.
The delimitation of the interests of the two main parties was observed only during the Civil War. Within both parties, there are different points of view, which may be directly opposite to those declared by the party. In this regard, when forming a program, party members make compromises. The outcome of the election is largely determined by the attitude towards the candidate, rather than his program.
Members of parties in America are recognized as persons who voted for candidates from this party in the elections, they do not have party cards. Every similar political education has an apparatus that ensures its activity and stability of existence.
Finally
Thus, when answering the question of what type of party system is being implemented in the United States, one can safely answer: "Bipartisan". Since the rest of the parties in this country have no real influence on the political situation in the country.
The institution of political parties in the United States of America is not provided for by written documents, but at the same time it is one of the main elements of the American political structure.
As in most countries of the world, political parties in the United States, they are groups of citizens organized along the lines of specific views on how the country should be run. The efforts of party structures are aimed at achieving the election of their candidates for leading government posts.
There are currently two main political parties in the United States of America. The Democratic Party traces its lineage to the party organization founded in 1828 by Thomas Jefferson and his associates. The Republican Party appeared in 1854, mainly in the western and northern states, whose inhabitants made active appeals to the government to limit the penetration of slavery into all the new states entering the union.
Modern Americans count positions Democratic Party of the USA more liberal. Democrats are actively demanding federal government and governments in each individual state more focused on social policy, helping students, the unemployed and the poor. This does not mean that members of the Republican Party are opposed to such programs. However, there are widespread opinions among Republicans that many social programs are too costly for taxpayers, and raising taxes to implement them negatively affects the interests of all citizens of the country. Members Republican Party USA they rely on private enterprise and often accuse their Democratic opponents of spending too much on the maintenance of the state apparatus and passing an excessive number of laws that impose restrictions on private initiative. For these reasons, Americans consider the Republican Party to be more conservative.
The two main US political parties have their own recognizable, albeit unofficial, symbols. The Democratic Party has an unofficial symbol of the donkey, which shows stubbornness in overcoming obstacles. The unofficial color of the Democrats is Blue colour. Members of the Republican Party as their unofficial symbol recognized the elephant, showing power. Red is used as the unofficial color.
A citizen of the United States can be elected to a leadership position without belonging to any political party. However, it is almost impossible to conduct an election campaign without the resources of party organizations, so there are almost no non-partisans among representatives of government bodies in the United States.
In addition to the two main ones, there are other political parties in the United States., although none of them enjoys broad enough support to be able to win the presidential election. At the same time, at the level of cities and even individual states, these parties can hold their candidates for elective office. They can also manipulate their resource to help one of the two main parties, thus determining the winner or loser in their struggle.
The US has a two-party system. It took shape shortly after the declaration of independence. The formation of the party system was influenced by two main factors:
- 1) the Constitution does not directly talk about political parties, but its institutional structure determines the existence of a two-party system. Most of all, this is facilitated by the existence of a presidential republic in the United States (the position of the President is one, so there is no point in a coalition);
- 2) The Constitution provides that the Congress consists of two chambers, which are relatively independent institutions. The proportional system is not used in their elections, which also contributes to the emergence of a two-party system.
The formation of a two-party system was also facilitated by federalism, namely the fact that in the United States there are actually no national elections. The regulation of the election process is within the competence of the states - after all, the US Constitution only provides for the date of their holding and outlines the circle of persons vested with passive suffrage, and also contains the main provisions on active suffrage. Other issues, such as ballot design, holding primaries, use of voting machines, etc., are fixed at the state level.
Thus, the revision of the party system actually requires changes to the US Constitution.
The main political parties, which constantly replace each other as ruling ones, are the Republican and Democratic.
With the election of US President B. Obama, the Democratic Party has more influence, while the Republicans are in opposition.
Democratic Party of the USA founded in 1828 and is one of the oldest political parties in the world. Its party program has been repeatedly revised and significantly changed. This allows some researchers to argue that by the end of the 20th century. Democrats and Republicans have almost swapped electorate. Currently, the Democratic Party belongs to the left-wing centrist parties. The priorities of the Democrats are: regulating state intervention in the economy, increasing tax rates in order to raise social standards, state support for high-tech industries and combating environmental problems. Special attention Democrats devote to the development and support of the "third sector", creating special programs for members of territorial communities (for example, social "inclusion" in society of representatives of various minorities, migrants, etc.). Interestingly, on a number of topical and discussed issues, the Democratic Party does not have a common policy, allowing its members to take one side or another at their discretion. The presidents of the United States - representatives of the Democratic Party were F. Roosevelt, G. Truman, J. Kennedy, B. Clinton and others.
Republican Party of the USA was founded in 1854 as an alternative to the Democratic Party, which initially supported the slave system in the southern states of the country. The Republican Party gave priority to protecting the interests of industrialists in the industrial north of the country.
The Republican Party of the United States belongs to the center parties of the right wing. Currently, its representatives are in favor of lowering rates and reducing the number of taxes, liberalizing the economy, reducing social benefits, spending on environmental programs and, conversely, increasing the cost of maintaining the army and special services engaged in the fight against terrorism.
A. Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, R. Nixon, R. Reagan, George W. Bush and others were the Presidents of the United States - representatives of the Republican Party. last elections in Congress, the Republicans won a majority in the House of Representatives, and the balance of power between the parties in the Senate is almost equal (53 members of the Democratic Party, 45 representatives of the Republican Party, 2 independent senators).
The most important issues on which Republicans and Democrats disagree in their positions are:
- - taxation issues: Democrats insist on "fair taxation" while Republicans object to imposing new taxes and raising existing tax rates;
- - abortion: Republicans are in favor of their ban, while Democrats have a more loyal point of view;
- - the death penalty: Democrats propose to ban it, and Republicans note the inexpediency of making such a decision;
- - euthanasia: Democrats do not object to euthanasia, and Republicans - on the contrary;
- - immigration policy: Democrats are in favor of more loyal conditions for immigration and for easing sanctions for violating the law in this area, while Republicans are lobbying for restrictions on immigration and insisting on tougher penalties for illegal immigrants;
- - firearms: Democrats oppose the relatively easy obtaining of permission to acquire it in the property and, accordingly, against its wide distribution, while the Republicans do not;
- Same-sex marriage is supported by Democrats and rejected by Republicans.
As you can see, Republican conservatives tend to respect traditional relationships, religion, and family, while Democrats have broader views on problematic issues in public life. As a rule, conservatives are or are supported by businessmen and wealthy segments of the population. Accordingly, the issues that interest them are tax cuts, business deregulation, privatization (parks, police at the local level, schools, etc.).
In order to attract representatives of other segments of the population as supporters, conservatives (not only them, but more often just them) use the so-called "code words". For example, on rare occasions, conservative leaders have explicitly stated that they do not support same-sex marriage. However, they talk about adherence to "traditional families." Representatives of this party are also conservative in terms of religion, which occupies an important place in the party program of modern conservatives. Religion determines their position on issues such as abortion and homosexuality, stem cell research.
However, individual representatives of each of the parties may express a different opinion on the above issues. After all, conservatives, like democrats, are heterogeneous in their midst. For example, they may gravitate towards centrist views or be so-called "aggressive conservatives" or "liberal democrats."
Americans began to notice that the two-party system severely limited them in choosing a political party that would reflect their point of view and protect their interests. Thus, Republicans are economically conservative and socially conservative, while Democrats are economically liberal and socially liberal. But at the national level there are no parties that are, for example, economically liberal and socially conservative. So-called "third" parties exist, but they do not have great influence in presidential and parliamentary elections.
The Tea Party Movement Is Gaining Popularity (tea party), whose name comes from the famous historical event- The Boston Tea Party. It is precisely the liberal-conservative. In addition, in the United States there are political parties of the Greens, the Constitutional, Centrist, Communist, Socialist Workers, Free Socialist, Independent, Labor parties, the Populist Party, the reformist Radical Women Party, etc.
A characteristic feature of US political parties is their lack of organizational formality: there are no officially legalized local party bodies, formal membership, permanent party programs - they are replaced by programs that are created at the beginning of election campaigns.
The Republican and Democratic parties for election campaigns form the National Party Committee (election of the President), with which the Party Committee for the election of members of the House of Representatives and the Party Committee for the election of senators coordinate their actions.
United States government system It is based on the principle of separation of state power into legislative, executive and judicial branches. The United States was the first state to put into practice the ideas of J. Locke on the need for organizational division of state power into branches in order to prevent its usurpation.
The authors of the text of the US Constitution, the "founding fathers" (A. Hamilton, J. Jay, J. Madison) consistently consolidated in its text the "classical" version of the theory of separation of powers. the three highest federal authorities The state authorities in the United States are the Congress (legislature), the President (heads the executive branch of government) and the Supreme Court (heads the judicial branch).
The effectiveness of the application of the theory of separation of powers in the United States is enhanced by the fact that the "founding fathers" combined it with:
- - a system of checks and balances (the presence of legislative, executive and judicial powers of control over each other);
- - the division of powers "along the vertical" - that is, between the federation and its subjects-states.
