The Similarities And Differences Of Political Parties In The United States

A political party is a group of voters who come together to support specific public policies. The main goal of the political party is to select officials who will attempt to carry out the party's policies after being elected. Political parties offer candidates for public office to the people. It also sets out positions on issues that can vary from war and taxes to how the education system is ran. When people in a democracy disagree about what the government should do, voters express their opinions by voting for the candidates that most closely reflect their views, and would be more likely to run the government the way they see fit. Political parties provide an easy way for voters to identify a candidate's positions. Political parties can

After a while, these disputes and differences led to the Civil War. Everyone in the country wanted the government to follow a different course of action; this included the slave-holding farmers of the South, the frontier farmers of the West, and the manufacturing and banking industries from the North. In 1828, Andrew Jackson, a Democratic-Republican from the south, was elected president. His party had great support in the southern and western portions of America. Jackson changed the party's name to Democrats. People who had previously been Federalists joined with anti-Jackson Democrats to form the National Republican, or Whig Party. In the years between 1836 and 1852, Whigs and Democrats were very competitive. By 1854 the issue of slavery was the most prominent debate between sections of the states and the political parties. Another issue that was related to the slavery issue was states' rights. The main question was; if a state government was in conflict with the national government, which government had the final authority? The debate over slavery and the states' rights tore the parties apart. Northern Abolitionists, or people who wanted to get rid of slavery, left the Whig party. The Whigs also lost members and voters to the "Know-Nothing" Party, a new party that violently opposed Roman Catholics and foreigners. The Whig Party began to go fall

This was the time the Great Depression was happening. This is when President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat introduced his New Deal programs. The programs involved social security, economic relief measures, helping labor unions, and other bills. For this reason the republicans thought the government was taking too much power and moving the United States toward a welfare state and began fighting against government interference with business. Today both parties agree on many things including, social security, civil rights, unemployment insurance and basic foreign policy. The main differences they have are based on issues involving the well-being of the environment, our national defense, and the best ways to keep the economy growing. Republicans generally don't support government programs as solutions to national problems. The Democrats believe that the government should act for good and for the best interest of the