The Role Of Political Parties In Congress

Generally speaking, anyone who lives in the United States of America knows that there are two main political parties—the Republicans and the Democrats. Having two main parties has its advantages and, of course, its disadvantages. For example, in By the People James E. Monroe and Rogan Kersh (301) point out having this type of system creates “predictability and stability.” However, they also declare (301) it can “lead to a gridlock.” This is not a new concept either as there has been a divide since the beginning of both parties. The two parties more often than not disagree on various issues, while rarely agreeing on what is best for the country.

Firstly the members of congress, executive branch, or members of outside community draw up a bill. After that the members of the house only will have to introduce the bill on the floor of house of representative. Then the bill is sent to the committee. Only bills that are necessary and reasonably appropriate make it to the next step, which is the rules of a committee for debate. Then it goes back to the floor of the house for a debate and members of the house then will vote for the bill. If the bill is in favor by most of the members of the house, hence the bill is sent to the senate. The senator introduces the bill on the floor. If the majority of the committees agree then the bill goes to the entire senate to consider the bill. As it follows the same process of the house, there is a debate and if majority votes for the bill then the bill is returned back to the house of representative.

Third parties in the United States do not win, but they do tend to keep elections interesting. Although third parties bring in votes for themselves, most of them have extreme views on issues. These type of views cannot put a party at the top of a nation that mainly consists of moderate individuals. America has one of the most advanced democracies and as a result has developed the two party system. The reason a two party system overpowers a three-party system is because, ideally, the constitution only has two sides to it, the opposing and the supporting. While the United States has a large two party system, third parties have been around for hundreds of years, they play a large part in presidential elections, and within the national government

In the United States, we have a majority rule type of system where only one person represents an entire district of people. This system is extremely pluralized, which means that people will favor either extreme on the view of an issue. Due to these reasons, only two parties can coexist, and it is difficult for a third party to gain favor in the masses, which is Duverger’s Law. In the history of the United States, there has usually been two political parties that represented the views of the masses. Each of these parties had a certain way that they believed about the major issues of the time that were brought up or could be influenced by the government. The reason that only two parties have ever been able to establish themselves in government is because of the majority ruled system that our government has, and the love people have for having a definite answer rather than an indefinite one.

In the 1790s, partisan politics emerged due to the opposing views on how the new nation should be governed. The two parties that developed were the Federalists and the Democratic –Republicans. The Republicans were a group that believed in the strong states’ rights, restricted power for the federal government, and a stern clarification of the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison led the party. The Republicans ideal government favored liberty and believed that the government should be receptive to the people. The party believed that the states’ should be dominant in governing because they wanted assurance that individual liberties would be protected from government tyrants.

Students of Ajou University attended a lecture given by Dr. Kraagac at Johns Hopkins SAIS Washington on July 21 as part of the summer school language program. Dr. Kraagac briefly taught attendees the history of the United States, how people in America built USA and why they built it. He explained the national government is divided into three separate branches.Then he told us about suspicions on government, and how that suspicions made today’s American politic system. Jacksonian, Wilsonian, Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian are the parties existed in Congress and each of them had different point of views to American Government and policies.

Throughout the federalist era, there existed a strong central government that sticked to the constitution. In the federalists time, there also came into play the role of other political parties. Eventually, there were two political parties in total, the federalist and the democratic republicans. The democratic republicans were led by thomas jefferson, and believed that the people should be the one with the political power, they also opposed a national bank because they thought that it would be a good source for the rich. On the other hand the federalist led by hamilton, favored a more loose interpretation of the constitution, and they did support the idea of a national bank, because they believed that if they tax poeple the money would end

In the late eighteenth century parties developed gradually after the inauguration of the federal government in the United States which gave rise to persistent divisions among the officeholders. This was mainly because there were questions on the extent of the new government’s powers and authority. There were no proper structures on the powers and jurisdiction of the national and state government which led to conflicts. This was finally revealed in 1791 when the debate over the establishment of the Bank of United States showed the huge difference in the ideas and opinions about the balance of power state and national power (Sutton, 2002). This thereby led to the establishment of two different political factions; the republicans and the federalists. The republicans were proponents of limiting the federal government powers and giving the state more authority thereby expanding popular participation in politics. The federalists on the other hand strongly supported the national government and international ties especially with Great Britain and pushed for more power to be handed to the federal government. This paper looks at the Federalists views and the main motivator or the reasons why the Federalists pushed for a central government in the United States.

The basis of federalism is the idea that the state and federal government should share power. The federalists were supporters of a strong national government, led by Alexander Hamilton. The Democratic-Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson, opposed the federal government, their beliefs were that majority of power should be held by local governments (The States).

Democratic party and the Republican party these are the two parties that over power’s America’s political positions but greatly have different in their philosophies and ideas. The main things or philosophies issues they differ on are as follows: Taxes, Immigration, Gun Control, Healthcare and the Role of the Government as a whole. The Democratic party was founded in 1824 and they were Liberal. The Republican party was founded later in 1854 and they were Conservatives. The Democratic party’s color is blue and their symbol is a donkey while the Republican party’s color is red and their symbol

The Constitution has nothing to say about political parties. Nowhere does it define political parties or explicitly specify that there should be two dominant parties. Nevertheless, America has had a strong two party system for last 150 years, a degree of party stability and endurance that can be found in no other nation (Landy and Milkis, 451). This system of two dominant parties has both its advantages and its drawbacks, the same as any system will. The two strong parties simplify and stabilize American politics from both the citizens’ and the politicians’ point of view and allow for government to be unified across the separation of powers built into the Constitution

The United States two-party system has been in effect for the majority of the United States existence. The Republican and Democratic parties have been the leaders in funding and overall influential presence, leaving little room for minor parties to try and squeeze in their own foothold. The Electoral System favors a two-party system as well. The two-parties have not always been the same however. They are the product of years of circumstantial fine tuning and ideology shifts. The majority of America though has the similar, if not the same, values and ideals for how a proper government should be run.

There have been many different political parties since the beginning of the American political system. A political party is made up of a group of people that share common goals and ideals, and these people work together to help elect people to offices that share these goals to represent them. Political parties work to try to control the government and their ultimate goal is to win as many elections and to gain as many offices as possible.

In Congress, the whips are selected by each member of their respective political parties in both the Senate and House of Representatives. Also commonly known as the assistant leader, they are primarily responsible for rounding up party members for votes and quorum calls and negotiating with the opposition. If necessary, they can stand in for the majority and minority leaders in their absence. Modeled after the British House of Commons in the late 1680s, both chambers of Congress as well as state legislatures have employed the use of majority and minority whips since 1899, Democrats and Republicans alike, although their positions vary from one another. For example, the House Majority Whip assists the Majority Leader to ensure party discipline

When George Washington left office, he warned the nation about political parties fearing they were dangerous to the way government should function. Despite his warning, political parties developed and changed American politics forever. By definition, a political party is "a group of office holders, candidates, activists, and voters who identify with a group label and seek to elect to public office individuals who run under that label" (O'Connor and Sabato 437). The creation of political parties can be traced back to the differing views of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton while they served in Washington's cabinet. Jefferson's Democratic-Republican counterpart today is the Democratic Party while Hamilton's Federalists are similar to