Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Parties and party systems: A framework for analysis Essay
Political parties Introduction            Political parties are present in nations all over the world and politicians use parties as a way to outline their efforts in order to be elected. Political parties can be seen as social movements, with politicians trying to persuade people to consider their party. However, they have created legitimacy in a nation with widespread approval of institutional or government power. Although political parties have varying ranks of participation in their corresponding governments, many nations are used to permit members of several political parties to be represented in the ratio with a prevalent electoral vote. Moreover, other nations comprise of only one political party and still other nations are controlled by a small number of political parties. Consequently, political system of America has extensively been described as a â€Å"two political parties’ nation. This has endured persistent, although the political parties which were in charge have been modified and there are a number of outlooks as to why this is so (De Leon, 2004).            The two major parties in the United State have failed to meet the expectations of their followers. Their supporters are looking forward for a day when other political parties will have a say in the United State, a day when they will vote for a president from another party other than the Democrat or Republican. Is not that they are no other political parties in the United State, but there are small parties that cannot fit in the current political system (Mann, 2013). Two-party system was introduced in the United State by Alexander Hamilton’s with an aim of introducing a new political era. The system was effective because there was healthy competition between the Republicans and the Democrats for many years. However, this system has been misused by the current political leaders.            According to Popkin (2012), in the past, Republican were known for their interest on matters of private enterprise and government while the Democrats were well known for their fighting spirit when it comes to the issues of the common man and labor rights. Currently there has been a dramatic change in these responsibilities because politicians of both parties have become selfish, self-centered and corrupt. Republicans leader’s supports lobbying groups which they well know that they have huge number of followers; a good example is the gay marriage group which was in support by the republicans in 2012 presidential elections. The common people are left to suffer and that is a good reason why voters are looking for another presidential candidate from a different party other than republicans or democrats.            United State needs another party which will be moderate. Citizens need a party that will consider the rights of all citizens regardless of their race, gender or financial status. A party that will not support lobbying groups and its leaders will not be self-centered or corrupt. The moderate party will be run with transparency and thus they will be free to tell the truth to its followers. This party will force the democrats and the republicans to change their leadership system, and thus the Democrats and the Republican will try to copy the moderate party policies. All that is the dream of the voters who are tired of the two-party system in the United State and maybe it will come to reality one day (Ornstein, 2013).            The republicans and the democrats have a strong influence in the government because they believe if they are in the government, they have the rules. This slogan makes it hard for other parties to rise inthe United States (Mair, 2005). The two parties are rich and thus they have all the money to support their presidential candidates. This enhances the popularity of the candidate and thus they end up winning the elections. The solution to this dominance of the two political parties is that all the presidential candidates should be publically funded so that they can be given equal amount of money for their campaigns. Voters now will be free to elect leaders not because of their political parties or financial status but because of their ideology.            The topic of the two political parties in the United State and the demand for a change from the voters is interesting to everybody in the whole world. People all over the world find this topic of political system in the United State interesting because of its uniqueness. Many democratic countries have multi-party system where various political parties are involved in the government compared to the United State where there are only two horses. A lot of people tend to study this topic in order to know how the government is run by the two parties, how elections are conducted with only two candidates and why the other parties fail to rise in this system. Demand by voters for another moderate party is the most interesting issue in this topic, but will the current dominance of the republicans and democrats allow this change? And who will introduce this moderate party? This is the most interesting topic in the Americans politics (McAuliffe, 2007) .            The current evolution of politics in the United States must include numerous political parties to vie for the presidency position and other positions. The idea of considering only two parties does not fulfill the rights of political development in any governing nation and inclusion of third parties should mostly be deliberated. Though the American political structure has reliably been in this two party system, third parties occasionally stimulate elections and the candidates for those third party still sometime obtain elected posts in various states. The two party system is an influential system of politics because the two parties recognizes their mutual interests and they can keep for third party from gaining popularity and impact (Holt, 1992). New parties bring new ideas and philosophies in the world of politics. Collaboration of the two main parties to keep any other competitor party from gaining ground extremely brings a difficult chal lenge to any incoming third party.            Since the representation of the Green Party in the 1984 election, where it acted as the third party, deduction can be made that third parties have lacked interest in politics. Inclusion of third parties comprises much significance to many citizens and the same time offer great threat to the dominating parties. Third parties embrace people who feel strongly about a certain issue because that party focuses exclusively on it and this party can be closely tied to a particular region, which can raise their appeal. A third political party suggests numerous government practices and policies which lead to progress in a state generally. Third parties accomplish an impression on the political landscape and they have been having more achievement in elections than before (Conor and Lem, 2006).            If there is an inclusion of a third party in the current politics of the United States, major and prominent parties (Republican and Democrat) can address positively on divisible problems due to pressure and stiff competition. Moreover, third party like the Green Party can challenge one of the dominant party on various issues such as social justice while the other third party can position problems to the other major party. In simple terms, candidates of third party speak more honestly and freely than their major party opponents, addressing issues and facts that the foremost parties would often prefer to disregard. The reason behind this is because third parties usually consider themselves as having little chance of winning thus displaying their infidelity to the citizens (Hirano, 2007).            Snyder and Hirano (2007) have stated various factors which have potentially contributed to the existence of a two party system in the United States. One of the factors that influence mostly is the state of the economy in America. The state of the economy in America discourages the third party due to its necessities since third parties are just developing parties. Therefore, they do not have adequate funds to manage the status of the economy. High cost of political campaigns contributes greatly to lack of third political in the politics of the United States. The cost of managing and maintaining campaigns in all states of America is extremely high and this is a disadvantage to third parties because of inadequate funds. In addition, the rise of candidate-centered politics and political power at the national level has resulted to the two party system. However, electoral legislation which has influenced America is the Australian ballot whereby it involves restrictions as to who can appear on it. These limits create high obstacles which can only be controlled by any political with high amount of money.            In conclusion, these views and opinions can be considered as theory which needs to be validated in the political system of America. All factors leading to the deterioration of third parties can be tied to diversity. A great compact of resistance happens between political parties due to pressure on competition of generating voters thus strengthening the democracy of a nation. Existence of political parties ensures that there is no political perspective ignored and may be the reason the two party systems is well accepted in America. Generally, the dominance of third party in the political system of America will highly influence and modify its development. The foundation of all factors that are hindering the existence of a third party is based on the current political system in America and this gives an impression that with most factors considered, it is possible for things to change. References De Leon, C. (2004). â€Å"Radicals in Our Midst: the American Critique of Capitalism in Hirano, S. and James M. Snyder, Jr. (2007). â€Å"The Decline of Third-Party Voting in the United States†The Journal of Politics, 69:1.Holt, M. F. (1992). Political parties and American political development: From the age of Jackson to the age of Lincoln. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. Lem, S. B., and Conor M. D. (2006). â€Å"Picking Their Spots: Minor PartyCandidates in Gubernatorial Elections†Political Research Quarterly, 59:3. Saved April 6, 2012. Available: JSTOR Mann, T. E., & Ornstein, N. J. (2013). It’s even worse than it looks: How the American constitutional system collided with the new politics of extremism. New York: Basic Books. McAuliffe, T., & Kettmann, S. (2007). What a party!: My life among Democrats : presidents, candidates, donors, activists, alligators, and other wild animals. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. Popkin, S. L. (2012). The candidate: What it takes to win, and hold, the White House. New York: Oxford University Press. Sartori, G., & Mair, P. (2005). Parties and party systems: A framework for analysis. Colchester: ECPR. The Chicago Two-Party System, 1833-1867.†Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association San Francisco, California. Source document
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