Test Your Knowledge of American Political Parties and the Two-Party System

Overview of the American Two-Party System

• The two dominant political parties in the United States are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, which have controlled the presidency and Congress since the mid-19th century.

• While third parties exist, they have not been successful in winning national elections and most people identify as either Democrats or Republicans.

• The two parties have evolved in terms of ideologies, positions, and support bases over time, with the Democratic Party being left-of-center and the Republican Party being right-of-center.

• The history of the two-party system can be divided into six eras or "party systems", starting with the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party in the late 18th century.

• The Constitution is silent on political parties, and the Founding Fathers did not intend for American politics to be partisan.

• The parties have changed their ideologies and bases of support considerably over time, with the Democratic Party now being strongly pro-civil rights and disproportionately composed of women, LGBT, union members, and urban, educated, younger, non-white voters, and the Republican Party being disproportionately composed of family businesses, less educated, older, rural, southern, religious, and white working-class voters.

• The third party system emerged with the anti-slavery Republican Party in 1854, which became the dominant party after the Civil War and was associated with the successful military defense of the Union.

• The fourth party system began in 1896 with the Progressive Era and saw a shift in central domestic issues to government regulation of railroads and large corporations, the protective tariff, labor unions, child labor, and control of immigration.

• The fifth party system began in 1932 with the Great Depression and the New Deal programs of Democrat president Franklin D. Roosevelt, which created a dramatic political shift toward liberalism.

• The sixth party system emerged in the 1980s and was characterized by increased political polarization, with the Republican Party becoming the base of rural and working-class whites and the Democratic Party being increasingly made up of a coalition of African Americans, Latinos, and white urban progressives.Overview of American Political Parties

• American political parties are loosely organized and lack a central ideology.

• The two major parties are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

• The Democratic Party positions itself as the liberal party on domestic issues and has been associated with civil rights.

• The Republican Party is more market-oriented and supports economic liberalism, fiscal conservatism, and social conservatism.

• Minor parties include the Libertarian, Green, and Constitution parties.

• The Libertarian Party is the largest third party and supports minimally regulated markets and a less powerful federal government.

• The seventh party system may have begun with Donald Trump's campaign for president, which emphasized cultural conservatism, opposition to economic globalization and immigration from non-European countries, and loyalty to Trump.

• American politics has become overly focused on national issues and nationalized.

• Both major parties have a national committee, but they have weak central organizations and little central ideology except by consensus.

• Political parties in America have become more like labels to mobilize voters than political organizations.

• Third parties have appeared from time to time in American history but seldom lasted more than a decade.

• Elections are usually portrayed as national races between the political parties, with presidential candidates becoming the de facto leader of their respective party.Overview of Political Parties in the United States

• There are two major political parties in the United States, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

• The Libertarian Party is a third party in the United States that promotes liberalization, open immigration, non-interventionism, and neutrality in diplomatic relations, free trade, and free movement to all foreign countries, and a more representative republic.

• The Green Party is another third party that emphasizes environmentalism, non-hierarchical participatory democracy, social justice, respect for diversity, peace, and nonviolence.

• The Constitution Party is a national conservative political party in the United States that focuses on constitutionalism and conservative values.

• The Alliance Party is a centrist American political party that was formed in 2018 and registered in 2019, gaining affiliation status with multiple other parties.

• Multiple individuals from various stances have proposed an end to the two-party system, arguing mostly that the Democratic and Republican parties don't accurately represent much of the national electorate.

• NBC News' Dante Chinni and Washington Post columnist Perry Bacon, Jr. have both suggested that the United States' political system is that of four parties grouped into a two-party system.

• Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, political theorist Carl Davidson, and political theorist Lee Drutman argue that the United States primarily falls into six political parties.

• Independents are not affiliated with political parties, and some political candidates and voters choose not to identify with a particular political party.

• As of late 2022, only two independents serve in the U.S. Congress, Senators Angus King and Bernie Sanders.

• According to Ballotpedia, as of 2022, there were 24 seats held by independents in state legislatures and 10 seats held by third parties.

• In some states, independents are not allowed to vote in primary elections, but in others, they can vote in any primary election of their choice.