Saron Tekie

Period 1
Selvidge
Two Party System Notes
 Two parties have dominated nearly every national political contest since the early 19th century.
Since 1860, these parties have been the Democratic and Republican parties.
 On the national level, competition between the two parties has been close.
 Republicans generally take conservative stands and Democrats hold liberal values. Although
each party has a core constituency, both must play to the vast number of moderates to win
national elections; Ex: Barry Goldwater, George McGovern
 Despite the resilient two-party system on the national level, individual states and regions have
often had one-party systems. Any electoral choice came at party caucuses, conventions, or
primaries, and general multiparty elections were mere formalities.
 The two-party system has no basis in the U.S. Constitution. The framers of the Constitution by
and large deplored parties as factions, believing that good government depended on virtuous
public servants concerned with the public good.
 It was not until the 1830s, however, that parties came to be seen not only as a permanent
feature of politics, but as an indispensable part of a system in which party competition could
further good government, whether the politicians were virtuous or not.
 Five successive two party systems in American history.
 Federalist party support of economic policies favoring manufacturing over farming prompted
the rise of a Democratic-Republican Party. (organized at local level)
 Whigs established a nationwide organization that hotly contested every election with the
Democrats. Whigs generally favored internal improvements and high tariffs while the
Democratic Party catered to a coalition of Western farmers, immigrants, and Catholics, but both
parties were diverse coalitions of many groups and persuasions.
 Republican Party (1854); At first merely opposing the extension of slavery, then supporting the
Civil War and the emancipation of slaves, the Republicans also inherited from the Whigs a tilt
toward commercial interests and in favor of government funding of internal improvements.
 Fourth party: Populist. . This coalition with the agrarian radicals hobbled the Democrats for
years because it left much of the political middle to the Republican Party.
 Democrats: Southern whites, Catholics, union workers, Jews, blacks, and immigrants formed the
core of the new Democratic Party, but they were joined by many others who admired the
party's activist approach to restoring prosperity and creating social programs. This broad
coalition enabled the Democrats to dominate the presidency for two decades and hold the
majority in most Congresses until 1994.
 Reasons for persistence of two party system: cultural inheritance, tendency of Americans
toward consensus and moderation, Most Americans agree on fundamental social and economic
issues, institutional, structural
 Issues that have disrupted the two party system: Antislavery sentiments led to the formation of
the Liberty Party and the Free Soil Party, Agrarian discontent fueled the Populist (People's)
Party, Federal civil rights policies prompted prosegregation third-party candidates
 Importance of persistence: If it is a matter of traditional attitudes or institutional provisions
(such as the committee system), then third parties can harbor the hope of overcoming these
obstacles and winning elections on the national level, not merely attracting a small percentage
of protest votes. Factions can still hope to effect national policy but primarily by having their
ideas and voters co-opted by the major parties.