Main political parties

18.2.1. At the national level, the United States makes use of a two-party system. Today the United States has two major political parties. One is the De­mocratic Party, whose origins go back to the nation's third president, Thomas Jefferson and was founded in 1828. The other is the Republican Par­ty, which was formed in the 1854, by people in the states of the North and West, such as Abraham Lincoln, who wanted the government to prevent the expansion of slavery into new states then being admitted to the union. Each party has its own emblem – the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey.

18.2.2. Party membership in any American party is formal. Members are not registered; they do not have cards and do not pay membership dues. The main representative of the Democratic party are Franklin D. Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, John Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton. The main representatives of the Republican party are Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, John McCain.

18.2.3. Most Americans today consider the Democratic Party the more liberal party. As they understand it the De­mocrats believe that the federal govern­ment and the state governments should be active in providing social and eco­nomic programmers for those who need them, such as the poor, the unemployed or students who need money to go to college. Republicans are not opposed to such programmers but believe they are too costly to taxpayers. They put more emphasis on encouraging private enterprise in the belief that a strong private sector makes citizens less dependent on government.

18.2.4. There are other, smaller parties in the United States besides the two major parties. None of these smaller parties has enough popular support to win a presidential election. But some of them are very strong in certain cities and states. They can have their own state or city candidates elected, or can deter­mine which major party wins by sup­porting one or the other.

The Green Party has been active as a third party since the 1980s. Greens emphasize environmentalism, non-hierarchical participatory democracy, social justice, respect for diversity, peace and non-violence.

The Libertarian Party is an American political party founded in 1971. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects that group's particular brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration across borders, and non-interventionism in foreign policy that respects freedom of trade and travel to all foreign countries.

The Constitution Party is a conservative United States political party. It was founded in 1992. The Constitution Party advocates a platform that purports to reflect the Founding Fathers' original intent of the U.S. Constitution, principles found in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and morals taken from the Bible.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-07