Libertarian Versus Republican
“What political party are you?” John asked.
“I am a Libertarian,” Zach replied.
“No, I mean are you a Republican or a Democrat?” John answered, confused.
“Yeah I know what you mean, but I am neither of those. I am a Libertarian,” Responded Zach.
Many people are vaguely, if at all, informed about the less popular political parties in our country. When they discuss politics the only two parties that come to mind are the Republican and Democratic parties. How would it be possible for all of the citizens of America to choose between only two political parties to claim themselves to? For many Americans this is an easy task, hence the reason why the Republican and Democratic parties are the two most popular and well known in the country. However, other Americans have formed together to create political parties of their own. Some of these are rather minor with very little public attention or support such as the Green party, the Constitution party, or the Ecology party. Socialism, Anarchism, Theocratic beliefs, and Racial Separatism are ideologies that are also referred to as “extremists” because of how unsupported they tend to be due to how unpopular and far-reached they are. Others are more commonly known and supported by the public. These include Conservatism, Liberalism, and Libertarianism.
Personally, I was always one of those people who never paid much attention to outside political parties or ideologies. I just considered myself a Republican without much thought because my parents were Republicans and I seemed to agree with most of their thoughts and opinions on political issues. After taking the Political Compass Test I was a bit shocked to find that I was more towards the Libertarian side. That ...
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...lieve that it is also important for all of these differing parties to present their side to one another. If we can learn to do this respectfully, then this will hopefully lead us to the best possible solution for all of our current political conflicts.
Works Cited
Eclipse, Terra. “Libertarian Party Platform.” Lp. Libertarian National Committee, n.d. Web. 2
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“Political Parties in the US.” Ballot Pedia. GNU, 1 Apr. 2014. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Dalmia, Shikha. “Obamacare’s Bogus Enrollment Claims.” Reason. Reason, 4 Apr. 2014. Web.
4 Apr. 2014.
“What is Libertarian?” The IHS. IHS, n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
LewRockwell. LewRockwell. LR, 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
The Humble Libertarian. Humble Libertarian. THEHULI, 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
"Libertarianism's limits." The American Conservative. 13.1 (2014): 5. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
8.In order for political success, both sides of the political spectrum must be critically examined in order to omit mistakes and for cultural advancement. Over two hundred years of United States politics have seen many changes. The names of parties may have changed, but the bi-partisan feature of the party-system has not. Republicans and Democrats are our two major partisan groups in present day America. Sometimes there are disagreement amongst party members that lead to dispute and a less concentrated effort. That is the beauty of a democracy, everyone is allowed to put their two cents worth in.
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...
A Democratic Party long ruled by moderates and conservatives succeeded in stunting what seemed like the natural growth of a successful Republican Party until the 1990s. Since then, various forces have contributed to the growth of the Republicans, and in the end, to an altering of the core membership of each party. Most recently, the state has seen the development of a dominant Republican Party that doesn't yet hold quite the dominion the Democrats enjoyed through most of the twentieth century. The Republican Party has certainly benefited from the defection of former Democrats, the arrival of Republicans and independents from out of state, and organizational difficulties in the Democratic Party. Thus, Republican officials dominate state government, and Democrats find themselves reduced, for the present, to the status of an embattled minority party seeking to recreate themselves among their voting and financial constituencies. This is showing that the newfound Republican dominance can be the beginning of a new strong party system, or if we are in a state of transition in which the terms of political competition are still in change. If it is a new party system, I don’t think it will be very durable or last too long for that matter. Now, it seems that Republican dominance of state government will
In the 1790s, soon after the ratification of the Constitution, political parties were nonexistent in the USA because President Washington feared they would drive the country apart. However, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, with their rivalling mental models, could not help but spark the division of the United States into the Democratic-Republican and Federalist parties. These parties, the Democratic-Republican wanting a small, local government system and the Federalist wanting a strong, powerful government system, turned citizens against one another and eventually led to the inimical Democratic and Republican parties of today. Hence, the formation of the original political parties in the United States is very significant. Political
In today's day in age, the Democratic and Republican parties seem to be completely diverse. These two parties have completely opposing views on topics ranging from social issues, health care, tax policy, labor and free trade, foreign policy, crime and capital punishment, energy and environmental issues, and even education. Once upon a time however, these two groups were not as polarized as they have become. Both were once a single party known as the Democratic-Republican Party, formed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in 1791. This sole party favored the idea of a decentralized, democratic government. They despised the idea of the U.S government becoming anything similar to England's monarchy system at the time. They also supported states’ rights as well as the literal and strict interpretation of the U.S Constitution. The group's purpose was to stand against the Federalists who were
In the United States there are only two main political parties to choose from. The two main parties are the Democrats and the Republicans. There are also many other political parties to choose from which are called third parties. Third parties may include political parties such as the Socialist Equality Party and the Peace and Equality party. People can choose to be a part of any party they want but most go with the common two main parties the Democrats and Republicans. Democrats and Republicans have many similarities and differences. These mainly occur in international, social, economic, and domestic issues.
Beck, Paul Allen and Hershey, Marjorie Randon. Party Politics in America. 9th Ed. Longman, New York, NY. 2001.
Today, political parties can be seen throughout everyday life, prevalent in various activities such as watching television, or seeing signs beside the road while driving. These everyday occurrences make the knowledge of political parties commonly known, especially as the two opposing political parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. Republican and Democrats have existed for numerous years, predominantly due to pure tradition, and the comfort of the ideas each party presents. For years, the existence of two political parties has dominated the elections of the president, and lower offices such as mayor, or the House of Representatives. Fundamentally, this tradition continues from the very emergence of political parties during the election of 1796, principally between Federalist John Adams and Anti-federalist Thomas Jefferson. Prior to this election people unanimously conformed to the ideas of one man, George Washington, and therefore did not require the need for political parties.1 However, following his presidency the public was divided with opposing opinions, each arguing the best methods to regulate the country. Ultimately, the emergence of different opinions regarding the future of the United States involving the economy, foreign relations, ‘the masses,’ and the interpretation of the Constitution, led to the two political parties of the 1790s and the critical election of 1800.
The battle between the Democrats and the Republicans is a battle that has gone on ever since the 1900s. The only way that a political party can take over the house is if they are able to address the issues that relevant to the people. Now that elections are around the corner, many candidates are bringing up issues that have been affecting America for a while and how they are going to change it for the better. The issue of immigration has been brought up by both the Democrats and the Republicans, but both don’t seem to come to an agreement on the issue. The Republicans believe that illegal immigrants should not be given the same benefits as a legal citizen, but America should welcome those that come in legally. On the other hand, Democrats believe
Vallentyne, Peter, and Bas van der Vossen. “Libertarianism.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 5 Sept. 2002,
The two party system has encouraged the idea that voting for anyone who is not ‘blue’ or ‘red’ is a wasted vote. This can be seen in the lack of votes that 3rd party candidates are getting, for example in 2012 between the three third party candidates there was a total of 1,570,767 votes.(IVN) This could be because only a little more than half of the voting age population actually voted. (GMU) Or it could be to the lack of media coverage that they get. Third party candidates, or any candidate for that matter need to get at least 5% of the vote in a general election to get equal ballot access and federal funding like the two big parties. Another reason this idea of a wasted vote comes through is because no one knows what these other parties stand for they just hear what people on CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News say about them. For instance the libertarian party has been deemed nothing more than a bunch of pot smoking hippies just because they want to legalize marijuana. The big media outlets don’t look at the party as a whole and find one unpopular opinion they have and bash it into the skulls of their viewers as the truth.
Ken Kollman, The American Political System, (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2012), 25, 322-323, 330, 449.
U.S. government is full of many political parties, there are the main two; Democratic and republican. With many third parties who campaign like the main two. Out of the list of choices of choosing a third party to research I chose The Prohibition Party. I choose this party because this party encourages me to feel different and challenged. Meaning the party shows me their views and I compare them to mine. The Prohibition Party is an active party today and has been since 1869. The purpose for the creation of the Prohibition Part was to prohibit the use of alcoholic beverages in the country.
Wattenberg, Martin P. (1986). The decline of American political parties 1952-1984. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
There are four main political ideologies in the United States of America. Most people in