Change in Massachusetts Politics
Massachusetts has always been known for its politics. From the days of John Hancock and John Adams to the Kennedy Compound and failed Dukakis presidential campaign, the Bay State is, has been, and always will be a hotbed of political activism. But that does not mean that Massachusetts has a vibrant two party system.
If anything can be said about Massachusetts, it is that the state and its voters are certainly lop-sided towards one party. Massachusetts currently has Democrats filling all of their US House and US Senate Seats, as well as a 138 of 160 State House seats, and 33 of 40 State Senate seats. The only state-wide office held not held by the Democrats is the Governor’s seat, which is set to be widely contested next year with 7 candidates lining up to face “incumbent” acting Gov. Jane Swift.
In the old days however, the story wasn’t exactly the same. For practically every year before 1928, Massachusetts overwhelming voted Republican. In fact, the first Republican floor leader in the US Senate was Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr., from Massachusetts. Many of the famous Massachusetts politicians that rose to power before world war two were Republicans, including President Calvin Coolidge, who before moving on to Vice President and President, was the Governor of Massachusetts.
Somewhat like today’s climate in the state, Massachusetts at that time was also dominated by one party. It just happened to be the Republicans rather than the Democrats. Before Franklin Roosevelt, the Democrats were largely the party of the Southern whites farmers who were ideologically different than the Northern white businessmen that dominated politics and voted largely Republican.
It is the party switch that is the most interesting and the most available to analyzing. There most certainly was a switch somewhere between the roaring twenties and the great depression, but it not necessarily had everything to do with the money in people’s pockets. The reasons for it are to be further explained.
The Industrial Revolution in Massachusetts
In Massachusetts during the 1880’s and 1890’s, as in almost every other part of the country, immigrants were arriving at unprecedented levels. Especially in Boston, but in other communities like Lowell, Brockton, Worcester, and Springfield, the demographic of people was slowly ...
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...once in 1984 during a campaign in which he lost only one state. Especially evident was in 1972, when Massachusetts was the only state in the nation that did not vote for Nixon in his re-election bid. That vote prompted the “Don’t Blame Me, I’m from Massachusetts” bumper sticker that still puts a grin on Bay Staters faces today.
Conclusion: Massachusetts, A need to be unique
Since the Great Depression, the entire nation has been much more supportive of Democrats than they previously were. Most of that support can be attributed to Roosevelt’s New Deal, and the ineffectiveness of Hoover’s Republican strategies.
In Massachusetts, however, there has always been a different reason for doing things. This was no different. While the economy may have played a major role, Massachusetts’ change was evident before the “true” start of the depression.
Similar changes happened in New York, Rhode Island, and other industrial states. However, Massachusetts has always prided themselves on being a leader and an innovator, and as proved by the analysis into the elections of the 20’s and 30’s, it is evident that this major swing in political beliefs was no different.
The first political parties in America began to form at the end of the 18th century. "The conflict that took shape in the 1790s between the Federalists and the Antifederalists exercised a profound impact on American history." The two primary influences, Thomas Jefferson a...
With the 1960s and 1970s, came a growing need for change among the American people. A previously dominant liberal government was not taking a hard enough stance on the fight to end communism. All it took, was a final nudge to shift the vote from democratic to republican.
American states each have individual political cultures which are important to our understanding of their political environments, behavior, and responses to particular issues. While voters probably do not consciously think about political culture and conform to that culture on election day, they seem to form cohesive clusters in different areas of the state, creating similar group political ideologies. Because of these similarities, it is possible to measure the dominant political culture within states or areas of a state, gaining insight into the mind-set of state residents. Whatever the state culture, whether liberal or conservative, participatory or exclusive, political culture identifies dominant, state-wide trends. The question remains whether there is an accurate way to measure this political culture phenomenon in the United States.
The practice of Gerrymandering started in 1812, with the governor of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry. In this year, he signed a bill to redistrict Massachusetts so that most of the districts would favor his own party. Gerrymandering is called what it is because it is a mix of the governor’s name and the word salamander, because one of the districts in Massachusetts
American Politics in Transition For the United States, as for most states in the world, the 1980’s and 1990’s were a time of change and challenge. During this period the effects of change both within the US and internationally acted as push factors in many areas of life, including economics and politics. This sudden change was primarily due to global shocks and recessions, increased foreign economic competition, the end of the Cold War and the demise of the Soviet Union, the development of revolutionary new technologies, the achievement of post-industrial society within the US, slower rates of domestic economic growth, and the demographic changes within American society. By the Mid 1980’s important developments had occurred within interest groups, political parties. By 1990’s national debates were being held in regard to America’s future in the post-Cold War world, America’s economic competitiveness, culture, morality and the states relationship with society. Five major things must be taken under account when discussing American politics in transition. 1) the basic nature of the American political system, 2) the sources of political change since the late 1960’s, 3) the conservative renewal and the new conservative agenda, 4) the Reagan-Bush legacy in politics and public policy 5) the new political and economic constraints in the era of divided government, and 6) the public policy environment of the 1990s. At the core of American political culture I support for the values of liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism and laissez-faire. The nature of this society with also has glorification of the individual, and the rejection of conservative theories of organic society, hierarchy, and natural aristocracy. Being an American means accepting this liberal Democratic creed (laissez faire), while those who reject it are considered to be un-American. America’s political evolution has also been shaped by the continental scale of the American State. The influx of immigration has caused there to be an extraordinary mixture of ethnic, racial, and religious groups spread across a continent-wide expanse that contributed historically to strong religious, racial and regional cleavages. Even its econony was spread throughout the American state. The largest sector of the economy were commercial agriculture, mercantile capitalism, mining, and heavy (capital goods) industry, but these, however, were also diversified into product specific areas. Collectively, the cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic factors had a profound effect on America’s political development because they reinforced the trend towards decentralization and localism that had already been established in the political and legal domains by the American constitution.
Asking just about any animal rights activists on the thoughts of animal testing, it is virtually unquestionable that the majority of them would come across the thought of some of the laws in regards to animals and how animals are “protected” by these laws. Trained scientists and researchers take on the key role of testing on animals in laboratories and facilities throughout the world. Simply in the United States alone, there are very few laws protecting animals from the unnecessary amounts of suffering the researchers force upon them with many broad exceptions. Additionally, in reference to the scientists who perform these tests, the author lists and goes into detail explaining certain associations that infrequently examine and inspect animal testing facilities to ensure that the guidelines and standards are being followed. The author then goes on to state the problems among these organizations that were originally created by the government to assess
The political shifts in American history during the last two centuries are often explained by Arthur Schlesinger's cyclical explanation of eras of public purpose followed by private interest. What is considered liberal versus what is considered conservative shifts in a similar pattern. While laissez-faire policies are considered liberal in the Roaring 20's, the onset of the Great Depression in 1929 quickly changed America's view of liberalism. Suddenly, the small government politics of Hoover were conservative and the progressive politics of Roosevelt were considered liberal. Thus, because the Great Depression quickly changed America's view of liberalism, Roosevelt can be considered a liberal and Hoover a conservative, despite occasionally supporting similar policies.
Throughout history, animal testing has played an important role in leading to new discoveries and human benefit. However, what many people forget are the great numbers of animals that have suffered serious harm during the process of animal testing. Animal testing is the use of animals in biological, medical, and psychological studies. The development and enhancement of medical research has been based on the testing of animals. There are many questions being asked if animal research is good or not or if the benefit for us is way greater the abuse of animals. Doing tests on animals can help find ways to cure diseases, but testing on them is wrong. Although we want to find cures for diseases to help many people, testing on animals not only brutally hurts them but it also denies the animals the rights they have.
The American Party nominated candidates to run for state office and for congress. They were
Reputation plays a big role in the play Othello written by Shakespeare. Iago uses his reputation as an honest man to deceive Othello and everyone else. Othello's reputation also plays a big role throughout the play. Cassio's changing reputation has a big part in the outcome of the play as well.
Animal testing is a controversial topic with two main sides of the argument. The side apposing animal testing states it is unethical and inhumane; that animals have a right to choose where and how they live instead of being subjected to experiments. The view is that all living organism have a right of freedom; it is a right, not a privilege. The side for animal testing thinks that it should continue, without animal testing there would be fewer medical and scientific breakthroughs. This side states that the outcome is worth the investment of testing on animals. The argument surrounding animal testing is older than the United States of America, dating back to the 1650’s when Edmund O’Meara stated that vivisection, the dissection of live animals, is an unnatural act. Although this is one of the first major oppositions to animal testing, animal testing was being practiced for millennia beforehand. There are two sides apposing each other in the argument of animal testing, and the argument is one of the oldest arguments still being debated today.
During the last 10-15 years of the Progressive Era, more than 15 million immigrants arrived in the United States— a number equal to the total number of immigrants that arrived in the previous 40 years. In 1910, three-fourths of New York City's population was made up of either immigrants or first generation Americans. Unlike earlier immigrants, the majority of the newcomers during this time came from non-English speaking European countries. Immigrants mostly traveled in from...
A major ethical concern that has been under speculation for many of years is focused around animal ethics, and whether or not certain animal practices are just or inhuman. There are many questions that focus around fundamental issues concerning the moral status of animals. It is critical to understand the difference between a concern for animal welfare and a concern for animal rights. A current issue that is important to understand and analyze is animal experimentation, and although many consider it to be an unethical practice, there are many pros and cons to the controversial topic. Although animal experimentation has been very beneficial medically, the argument can be made that using animals to experiment is not always necessary.
Through the New American Standard Bible, the term righteousness, is used a total of 92 times. The word righteousness stems from the Greek word of “dikaiosynē” which literally translates of “equity (of character or act); specially (Christian) justification: —righteousness.” (Strong’s) Paul says that “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from
In Act I, Othello expresses that he is a man of honor, a hero who’s held in high prestige by the upper class. What Othello expresses here is nothing that an archetypal hero would express; he expresses nothing towards Cassio (to the point where Othello has imagined killing him) and Desdemona but hatred and vengeance, and he has become poisoned by Iago’s ruse. Additionally, Othello has grown to only trust Iago, which will only make him grow worse. This is the beginning of Othello’s transformation to a tragic hero, with his naivety and jealousy being his