POLITICAL PARTIES TRANSFORMATION IN THE USA
As we wade through the political craziness of this 2016 election cycle, I found myself realizing I didn’t recall much about the actual history of our political parties. Perhaps I learned back in school, but that has been quite a few years ago and obviously I have forgotten the details. I wanted to know where the flip flop of the beliefs in the parties changed as the Republicans of Lincoln would not be the same as Republicans today. In fact, I doubt they would vote for him again! It seems like the parties are morphing again. And after all, maybe it is time for change, or a multi-party system?
Therefore, this blog is my quest to learn more about the past two hundred years and the evolution of our two party systems. The Constitution doesn’t say much about forming parties, in fact at its signing, there were no political parties in 1787. The Founding Fathers never intended for politics to be partisan. In fact, in the Federalist papers, both Alexander Hamilton and James Madison expressed concern about political factions. Ironically, these two became two of the core leaders in the formation of the American two-party system. George Washington, our first President, was not a member of any party and feared that forming them would cause conflict (a smart man proven true).
It appears that historians have divided the forming of the current two-party system into five eras. For most of our U.S. history two parties have predominated, with other lesser parties coming and going from the scene. Currently, the Libertarian party is the 3rd largest. The Democratic Party is the oldest political party in the world. From its beginning until the New Deal it was a classically liberal or libertarian party favoring state’s rights and small government. It was initially the dominant party of white Southerners and defended slavery. After FDR and LBJ, the Democratic Party became more progressive focusing on social justice and losing the South to the Republicans. Until 2014 it was the predominant party of registered voters.
The Republican Party, the second major political party has been coined the GOP or “Grand Old Party” since the 1880’s. Originally it was founded in 1854 by Northern anti-slavery activists and rose to its peak in 1860 with the election of Abraham Lincoln, who used the party machine to win victory in the Civil War. From its inception it has been more corporatist and supports more aggressive defense measures. Currently the conservative platform is composed of many Evangelical Christians, and supports fiscal and social conservatism.
One of the less popular parties currently is the Libertarian Party formed in 1971. Its main mission is to reduce the size, influence and expenditures at all levels of government. It also supports strong civil liberties, drug legalization, separation of church and state, open immigration, free trade, non –interventionism in diplomatic endeavors and a more representative government. Another party, The Green Party has been active since the 1980’s and gained popularity when Ralph Nader ran in 2000 for President. It currently emphasizes environmental issues, participatory democracy, social justice, diversity, peace and non-violence.
The third most influential party is the Constitution Party, founded as the U.S. Taxpayers Party in 1992. The name changed in 1999 and believes in the Founding Father’s original intent of the Constitution and morals from the Bible. Independents, who do not choose a party affiliation, and who cannot vote in many primary or caucus state’s elections, have also grown in numbers.
During the time 1792-1824, the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party (anti-Federalist) took shape with Hamilton as a leader of the latter and Madison and Thomas Jefferson heading the Democratic-Republicans. Hamilton, Federalist, favored ties to Britain and a central government and banking system. They were composed of many elite and also refused to support the War of 1812. The two who opposed the Federalist views formed the second party.
1828-1854. The Democratic-Republican Party split in 1829 into the Jacksonian Democrats led by Andrew Jackson {President 29-37} which eventually became the current Democratic Party and Henry Clay leading the Whig Party. Side note: current Republicans dislike removing Jackson from the 20 dollar bill, but one wonders if they know he originally began the Democratic Party? The basic differences in viewpoint were about who had the most control. The Democrats thought the President should preside over other branches and opposed the Bank of the US. They also felt that programs would build up industry at the expense of taxpayers. The Whigs felt Congress should preside over the executive branch. Most battles were waged over the Banks and the Spoils System (a system favoring hiring friends and family to government jobs after winning office over the best qualified). Hence the phrase was coined “to the victor belong the spoils.”
The Whig party collapsed in the 1850’s largely due to its leaders dying and a split over the slavery issue. It was Whig Senator Clay and Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas who drafted the Compromise of 1850, a package of five separate bills passed in 1850 defusing confrontation between slave and free states in territories acquired during the American-Mexican War (1846-48). {Side note: don’t you wish you could go back to history class in high school as this would all make more sense and mean more now?}
1854-1890’s. The emergence of the Republican Party formed from many of the Whig policies, but was also anti-slavery. Both the Civil War and Reconstruction issues polarized the parties and after the Compromise of 1877, both parties became voting entities. May freed African Americans who just gained the vote joined the Republican Party and white southerners, pro-business, Catholic immigrants, and professionals joined the Democrats. Over one hundred years later, we have seen almost the opposite positions in the parties change over.
1896-1932. This period corresponds to the Progressive Era and was dominated by the Republican Party. During this time issues pertained to the regulation of railroads and large corporations, the role of labor unions and child labor, needs for a new banking systems, immigration control, racial segregation, women’s suffrage, and corruption in politics. Doesn’t sound too unlike our current times?!
1933-present. The last phase began with the New Deal in 1933. After the Great Depression, the Republicans began to lose support and the Democratic President promoted the New Deal and formed coalitions with ethno-religious constituencies, unions, progressive and populist groups. Republicans who opposed these policies split between a conservative faction led by Robert Taft and a more moderate group with northern leaders such as Rockefeller, Javits and Henry Cabot Lodge. The latter group declined after 1964.
Possibly the dawn of a new era actually began with Reagan and the moral majority in the early 1990’s. Nonetheless, minorities have become a larger influence on the two parties since the 1960’s and certainly carry weight in the current elections. With factions of the GOP becoming even more conservative (like the Tea Party) and part of the Democrats forming a more progressive wing, it appears that the two party system is again changing. The growth of non-affiliated ‘independent’ party is also a movement of its own. Perhaps at some point we might remove money from elections and just have individuals run on their own merit and ideas, not beholding to any party.