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Political parties in the United States |
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This article presents the main political parties in United States politics.
Contents |
Each of five parties shares a degree of national attention by attaining the mathematical possibility of its nominee becoming President of the United States -- i.e., having ballot status for its presidential candidate in states whose collective total is at least half of the Electoral-College votes -- in either the most recent presidential election, in 2008, or the next one, in 2012:
| Name | 2004 electoral votes | 2004 popular votes (millions) | Recent presidential wins | Date founded | Founder(s) | Current party chair(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Party | 0 | 0.12 | -- | 1984/2001 | Howie Hawkins, John Rensenbrink, et al | 7 Co-chairs | |
| Democratic Party | 251 | 49 | 2008, 1996, 1992 | 1792 (historic)/1828 (modern) | Thomas Jefferson/Andrew Jackson | Howard Dean | |
| Libertarian Party | 0 | 0.47 | -- | 1971 | David Nolan | Bill Redpath | |
| Republican Party | 286 | 52 | 2004, 2000 | 1854 | Alvan E. Bovay/Abraham Lincoln | Mike Duncan | |
| Constitution Party | 0 | 0.14 | -- | 1992 | Howard Phillips | Jim Clymer |
The Constitution Party is a conservative United States political party. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers Party in 1992. The party's official name was changed to the Constitution Party in 1999; however, some state affiliate parties are known under different names.
According to ballot access expert Richard Winger, the editor of Ballot Access News, who periodically compiles and analyzes voter registration statistics as reported by state voter agencies, it ranks third nationally amongst all United States political parties in registered voters, with 366,937 registered members as of November 2006.1
The Constitution Party advocates a platform that purports to reflect the Founding Fathers' original intent of the U.S. Constitution, principles found in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and morals taken from the Bible.2
In 2006, Rick Jore of Montana became the first Constitution Party candidate elected to a state-level office34, though the Constitution Party of Montana had disaffiliated itself from the national party a short time before the election.
On April 26, 2008, Chuck Baldwin was nominated as the presidential nominee of the Constitution Party.
The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in the United States and among the oldest in the world.567
The Democratic Party traces its origins to the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other influential opponents of the Federalists in 1792. Since the division of the Republican Party in the election of 1912, it has consistently positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party in economic as well as social matters. The economically left-leaning activist philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which has strongly influenced American liberalism, has shaped much of the party's economic agenda since 1932. Roosevelt's New Deal coalition usually controlled the national government until the 1970s. The civil rights movement of the 1960s has continued to inspire the party's liberal principles,8 despite having lost the more conservative South in the process.
In 2004, it was the largest political party, with 72 million voters (42.6% of 169 million registered) claiming affiliation.9 Since the 2006 midterm elections, the Democratic Party is the majority party for the 110th Congress; the party holds an outright majority in the House of Representatives and the Democratic caucus (including two independents) constitutes a majority in the United States Senate. Democrats also hold a majority of state governorships and control a plurality of state legislatures.
In the United States, the Green Party has been active as a third party since the 1980s. The party first gained widespread public attention during Ralph Nader's presidential runs in 1996 and 2000. Currently, the primary national Green Party organization in the U.S. is the Green Party of the United States, which has eclipsed the earlier Greens/Green Party USA. There are Green Parties in many nations.
The Green Party in the United States has won elected office mostly at the local level; most winners of public office in the United States who are considered Greens have won nonpartisan-ballot elections (that is, the winning Greens won offices in elections in which candidates were not identified on the ballot as affiliated with any political party).10 In 2005, the Party had 305,000 registered members in states that allow party registration, as well as tens of thousands of members and contributors in the rest of the country.11 During the 2006 elections the party had ballot access in 31 states.12
Greens emphasize environmentalism, non-hierarchical participatory democracy, social justice, respect for diversity, peace and nonviolence.
On July 12, 2008 former six term Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney was nominated as the presidential nominee of the Green Party.
The Libertarian Party is an American political party founded on December 11, 1971.13 It is one of the largest continuing Third parties in the United States, claiming more than 200,000 registered voters and more than 600 people in public office,14 including mayors, county executives, county-council members, school-board members, a congressman, and other local officials. It has more people in office than all other third parties combined.14
The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects that group's particular brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration across borders, and non-interventionism in foreign policy that respects freedom of trade and travel to all foreign countries.
On May 25, 2008 former four term Congressman Bob Barr was nominated as the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party.
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States of America, along with the Democratic Party. It is often referred to as the Grand Old Party or the GOP.
Founded in 1854 by anti-slavery expansion activists and modernizers, Republican Party rose to prominence with the election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president. The party presided over the American Civil War and Reconstruction and was harried by internal factions and scandals toward the end of the 19th century. Today, the Republican Party supports a conservative platform (as far as American politics are concerned), with further foundations in economic liberalism, fiscal conservatism, and social conservatism.
George W. Bush, is the 19th Republican to hold that office. Republicans currently fill a minority of seats in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, hold a minority of state governorships, and control a minority of state legislatures. The party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 presidential election was Senator John McCain of Arizona. It is currently the second largest party with 55 million registered members, encompassing roughly one third of the electorate.9
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| Issue | Green Party | Democratic Party | Libertarian Party | Republican Party | Constitution Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main ideologies | ||||||
| Political spectrum | Left-Right | Center-left | Center-left | (Rejects left-right political spectrum) | Center-right | Right-wing |
| Communitarianism vs. Individualism Economic Issues |
Communitarian | Mixed | Individualist | Mixed15 | Individualist | |
| Communitarianism vs. Individualism Cultural Issues |
Individualist | Individualist | Individualist | Communitarian | Communitarian | |
| Pacifism vs. Militarianism | Pacifism | Mixed | Non-interventionist | Mixed | Non-interventionist1617 | |
| Free trade vs. Fair trade | Fair trade | Mixed | Free trade (Unilateral)18 | "Free and fair trade" (Multilateral)19 | Semi-protectionist20 | |
| Progressivism vs. Conservatism | Progressivism | Progressivism | Libertarianism | Conservatism | Conservatism | |
| Specific issues | Legal Abortion | Strongly Favor | Favor 21 | Favor 22 | Oppose 23 | Strongly Oppose24 |
| Same-sex marriage | Strongly Favor | Mixed support for full marriage, support Civil Unions | Strongly Favor 25 | Oppose26 | Strongly Oppose27 | |
| Universal healthcare | Favor single payer system | Mixed | Strongly Oppose | Oppose | Oppose28 | |
| Increased taxation | Favor progressive taxation | Oppose for incomes under $250,00029 | Strongly Oppose | More Opposed | Oppose30 | |
| Deficit spending | Favors reduction31 | Mixed | Favors reduction | Mixed | Favors reduction | |
| Illegal immigration | Amnesty | Amnesty and guest workers | Guest workers, support for amnesty mixed | Guest workers, support for amnesty mixed | Oppose amnesty and guest workers32 | |
| Continue Iraq war | Strongly Oppose33 | Oppose | Strongly Oppose34 | Support | Strongly Oppose35 | |
| Capital punishment | Oppose | Generally Oppose | (no position) | Favor | Strongly Favor 36 | |
| Drug decriminalization | Favor37 | Generally Opposed | Strongly Favor (Legalization)38 | Oppose | Strongly Oppose39 | |
| Gun control | Favor | More in Favor | Strongly Oppose | More Opposed 40 | Oppose41 | |
| State Sanctioned School prayer | Strongly Oppose | Oppose | (Favors privatization of schools) | Favor | Strongly Favor | |
| Taxpayer funding of private schools | Strongly Oppose | Oppose | Strongly Oppose 25 | Favor | Strongly Favor42 | |
There is a vast number of other political parties, both historically as well as in the present.
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