Political Parties Dbq

A political party is an organized group that elects their members to office in hopes to influence government. Organizing and simplifying the political world and policy debates, provides guidance for both politicians and citizens, making political parties a very important aspect in regards to the American political system. The government is forced by political parties to be concerned with its citizen’s needs, therefore, parties play a significant role in making sure that the public voice is heard in decision/policy making, and getting citizens to vote. Identifying oneself with or supporting a specific party is known as partisanship. Therefore, when an individual chooses one political party, they are being partisan. Individuals usually become

partisan around age 8, due to or relating to their first political memory. Although parties have been accused of showing “selfish partisan” concerns into national policy and public debates, without parties, a democracy would not function the way it should. Because of parties, there is increase in political participation, a central voting use for individuals to cast their educated votes, and citizens and government can influence each other.
Political parties generally form in one of two ways. The first way is through internal mobilization. This occurs when there is political conflict and the government officials and competing factions seek to mobilize popular support. Internal mobilization is how the US received its first parties: the Jeffersonians, whose primary base was in the south, and the Federalists, whose strength was greatest in the New England states. This occurred in the early years of the American Republic when there was competition in the Congress between northeasterners and southerners attempted to organize their supporters due to competition in the congress between northeastern merchants and southern agricultural factions. The second way parties are formed is through external mobilization. This happens when a group of politicians outside government organizes popular support to win governmental power. An examples of this would be in the 1850s, a group of state politicians who opposed slavery, especially the expansion of slavery in America’s territorial possessions, built what became the Republican Party by constructing party organization and mobilizing popular support in the Northeast and West.
A “party system” is what historians refer to as the set of parties at any given time. An apparent feature of a party system is the number of major parties that are battling for power. The United States generally has a two-party system, which means that only two parties have a chance of winning national elections. However, we have not always had the same two parties, and as we see that even the minor parties have candidates. The party system also includes the organization of the parties, the balance of power between and within party coalitions, the parties; social and institutional bases, and the issues and policies around which party competition is organized. Even when the same two parties are competing for power, we can still see a nation’s party system character can change. This can occur even when the number of parties remains the same. There can be severe consequences on the character of nation’s party system depending on what kinds of policies and issues hit the nation’s political agenda. This can include issues involving wealth distribution and economic inequality. Over the last 50 years, the American party system has greatly changed. However, we see that Republicans and Democrats are still the two major competing forces.
There are four party systems that have existed in the United States since its founding. The first party system emerged in the 1790s. There were federalist and anti-federalists. The federalists wanted a strong central government, represented New England merchants, supported protective tariffs to encourage manufacturing, assumption of the states Revolutionary War debts, reassumption of commercial ties with Britain, and supported the creation of a national bank. The anti-federalists, otherwise known as the Jeffersonians, led by southern agricultural interests, had a friendship with France, wanted a weak central government, represented southern farmers, and supported free trade.
The second party system consists of the Democrats and the Whigs.

During the 1830s, groups that were opposing Jackson united to form a new political force called the Whig Party. The Democrats were supporters of Thomas Jefferson, favored rural farmers, and favored free trade against tariffs. The Whigs were strong in the Northeast and among merchants, and the emphasized candidates’ personal qualities. Support for the Whig party was stronger in the Northeast than in the SOuth and West and stronger among merchants than among small farmers. In some measure, the Whigs were the successors of the Federalists. Conflicts between the two parts revolved more around personalities than policies. The Whigs were a diverse group united more by opposition to the Democrats than by agreement on programs. Their campaign carefully avoided issues - since they could agree on almost none - and emphasized the personal qualities and heroism of the can didateds. THey las invested heavily in campaign rallies and entertainment to win the hearts, if not exactly the minds, of the voters. Both the Democrats and the Whigs build party organizations throughout the nation, and both south to enlarge their bases of support by expanding the right to vote. They increased the number of eligible voters through the elimination of property restrictions and other barriers to voting - at least voting by white

males.
The third party system consists of the Republicans and Democrats. This party system emerged during the late 1840s and early 1850s. Many Whig politicians and voters, along with anti-slavery democrats, joined the new Republican Party, which pledged to ban slavery from the western territories. In 1860, the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln for the presidency, and won. Lincoln’s victory strengthened southern calls for secession from the Union and, soon thereafter, for all-out civil war. During the war, Lincoln relied on Republican governors and state legislatures to raise troops, provide funding, and maintain popular support for a long and bloody military conflict. The Democrats remained competitive even with secession of the South. After Reconstruction, the Democrats were the party of the South. The post-Civil War South was solidly Democratic in its political affiliation, and with a firm southern base, the national Democratic Party was able to confront the Republicans on a more or less equal basis. From the end of the Civil War to the 1890s, the Republican Party remained the party of the North, with strong business and middle-class support, while the Democrats were the party of the South, with support also from working-class and immigrant groups.
The fourth party system also consists of the Republicans and Democrats and emerged in 1932. The Republican presidential candidate Herbert Hoover won the 1982 presidential election. He was in the White House when the Great Depression began. The blame for not doing enough to promote economic recovery was placed on Hoover and the Republicans. In 1932, Americans elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt developed a program for economic recovery that he dubbed the “New Deal.” This favored a larger role for national government to combat the Depression. Because of the New Deal, Democrats were the nation’s majority party for the next 36 years. They became the party of immigrants, southerners, and urban low/middle class voters.