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Essay on rise of political parties in US
Essay on rise of political parties in US
The rise of American political parties
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The Problem with Presidential Primaries
Ever since the election season of 1972, presidential primaries have become “the dominant means of selecting the two major party candidates.”i[i] The primary system is one in which the eligible voters of each state do one of the following: 1) Vote for a presidential candidate to run for their party in the general election. 2) Vote for a delegate pledged to vote for a certain candidate at the party’s national convention. As intended, this process would bring the candidate selection processes out into the open and “let the people vote for the candidate of their choice.”ii[ii] On the surface, this may look very democratic (and admittedly, in some instances it was/is), but upon closer examination, it becomes overwhelmingly clear that the candidates are chosen long before the people cast their vote. The culprit: the structure of the presidential primary system.
The most influential structural element of the new primary system is the newfound practice of the political parties choosing a favored candidate before the primary season. The parties then throw all their support and financial backing behind this candidate and instantly make him/her a front-runner. While this element is standard among the two parties, the remaining structure of the primary system differs between the two main political parties. While both the Democratic and Republican parties hold open and closed primaries, the two parties hold many of their state primaries on separate dates. Additionally, the two parties have different rules that determine how each state’s delegates are allotted. The Democrats practice the proportional representation method of delegate allocation. The Republicans, on the other hand, pract...
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... Online. Internet. 18 Mar. 2000. Available: http://www.thegreenpapers.com/Definitions.html#Prop.
i[iv] “New Hampshire Republican Delegation 2000.” The Green Papers: Election 2000. 1 Mar. 2000. Online. Internet. 18 Mar. 2000. Available: http://www.thegreenpapers.com/PCC/NH-R.html.
v[v] “Delaware Republican Delegation 2000.” The Green Papers: Election 2000. 9 Feb. 2000. Online.Internet. 18 Mar. 2000. Available: http://www.thegreenpapers.com/PCC/DE-R.html.
v[vi] “South Carolina Republican Delegation 2000.” The Green Papers: Election 2000. 4 Mar. 2000. Online. Internet. 18 Mar. 2000. Available: http://www.thegreenpapers.com/PCC/SC-R.html.
v[vii] “The Green Papers: Election 2000 Presidential Primary Season.” The Green Papers: Election 2000. 18 Mar. 2000. Online. Internet. 18 Mar. 2000. Available: http://www.thegreenpapers.com/.
The United States is a privileged country with freedoms and opportunities many countries strive to achieve. People come into the United States in hopes to obtain these rights and make a better life for themselves; they strive to achieve “The American Dream.” Citizens are given the chance to vote, speak their mind, and live according to their desires without prejudice. However, the same government that promises hope has flaws that frustrate the American people; the Electoral College is one topic of debate. Many feel this system is a safe way to regulate who leads the country, while others feel that issues should be left to popular vote.
In order to understand and analyze the forces that shaped politics during this time period, political changes must first be examined. One of the biggest changes during this time period was the change in the number of voters. Between 1812 and 1840, the percentage of eligible voters in the United States presidential elections almost tripled, increasing from 26.9 to 80.2 percent while the percentage of states allowing voters to choose presidential electors more than doubled, rising from 44.4 to 95.8 percent, shown in Document A. By 1840, Rhode Island was the only state that didn’t allow all free men to vote.
Sabato, Larry, and Howard R. Ernst. "New Jersey Plan." Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections. New York: Facts On File, 2006. N. pag. Print.
It’s hard to imagine a period in American political history that hasn’t been dominated by a duopoly of political parties. Even though resistance from the founding fathers on the issue of political parties is well documented, the two-party system we are well accustomed to developed shortly after the emergence of the United States as an independent nation. Whether it was the Federalist/Democratic-Republican system in the late 18th and early 19th centuries or the Democratic/Republican system we know today, two ideologically opposite parties have always maintained dominant control of the American political system. The existence of third parties and independent candidates, therefore, complicates the political system that we have used for centuries. Steven Rosenstone contends that the existence of our current two-party system is due, in part, to the ability of the two major parties to provide benefits in exchange for voter support. What then occurs when either of the major parties fails in its responsibility to be accountable to the public? While several options exist, including the demand for change within major parties, third parties and independent candidates become a viable option to restore a sense of accountability among American politicians. Even though third parties and independent candidates might seem attractive to voters, they often are unable to find success in any major elections. This lack of success can be attributed to many different factors, including constitutional and electoral barriers, as well as deficiencies born from the general lack of knowledge about third parties. Why then do third parties and independent candidates continue to exist in American politics? The ability of a third party to influence the policy p...
The impact Stalin has had on the world is immense and at some periods in history devastating. Contrasting, Unknown Stalin by Zhores Medvedev and Stalin:Breaker of Nations by Robert Conquest, to gain different historical perspectives of Stalin. Medvedev does not go into much detail into Stalin’s rise to power in the beginning of the book but starts with his death. He takes an approach giving a historical portrayal of Stalin that focuses not only on how callus and brutal he could be, but how all of his success was made possible by his patience and intelligence . In contrast, Conquest’s book he begins with Stalin’s birth, like many biographies, and his rise in the ranks in the Bolshevik party, but his book is more intimate as it explains his emotional states. Conquest argues that Stalin's main goal was the preservation of his vision of Maxist-Leninism and the removal people he deemed as enemies of that vision. These books take different paths to understanding Stalin as a person and as the Head of State of the Soviet Union. Is Stalin's portrayal as a megalomaniac with an insatiable lust for control, fear and power accurate and how must we use his other social positions, husband, father, friend, and fellow revolutionary, to answer this question. Looking through these two books we can find the sides ignored by many and the sides that were rightly feared of Stalin.
Tan, Kevin S. Y. “Constructing a Martial Tradition: Rethinking a Popular History of Karaet-dou.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues 26, no. 2 (2004): 169-192, doi: 10.1177/0193723504264772.
Neale, Thomas H., CRS Web. CRS Report For Congress. The Electoral College: How It Works in Contemporary Presidential Elections. 28 September, 2004. http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/36762.pdf
During Indiana's 2008 General Election." Journal Of Law & Politics 25.3 (2009): 329-373. ContentSelect Research Navigator. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
“Prosperity, Self-Government, and `Moral Clarity' (1996 Republican National Platform).” Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report. 17 Aug. 1996: 2317-2336.
During World War II alone, Joseph Stalin killed an estimated 20 to 60 million people. Born in the late 1870s, Stalin began his rise to power at 43, and by 45 had betrayed Vladimar Lenin to eventually become the leader of the Soviet Union. Stalin was a cruel man, even killing an artist for not potraying him as he wanted to be. He also made considerable use of the Communist International movement in order to keep other Communist parties pro-Stalin and pro-Soviet. Stalin, today, is seen as one of the most sadistic leaders in the past century, even surpassing Adolf Hitler to some people. Joseph Stalin is the man who turned the Soviet Union from a backward country into a world superpower at unimaginable human cost.
Dye, Thomas R. , L. Tucker Gibson Jr., and Clay Robinson. Politics In America. Brief Texas Edition ed. New Jersey: Pearson, 2005.
A number of Americans fail to realize that when they vote they are not voting for the president and vice-president directly, but for electors who then cast their ballots in the Electoral College. Until the recent battle between Gov. George W. Bush and Vice-president Al Gore for the presidency, this new generation of American voters has never witnessed a controversial election. Historically, there have been problematic elections allowing voters to question this system. The Electoral College is now a process open to criticism and debate, specifically because many do not understand its origin or purpose today. On November 7, 2000, Election Day, I was excited to become an official voter. Considering myself mature, responsible, and finally of age to vote, I had mailed my registration, received my voter’s card, ready to become a participant in one of the most crucial events of the year. I was a faithful supporter of my candidate, crossing my fingers in hopes of victory. That night I watched CNN, eating my dinner and sipping a Diet Coke when the station announced Al Gore had won Florida, which held twenty-five electoral votes. Two hundred and seventy are needed to win, and presidential candidates Bush and Gore had switched leads all night.
Tan, Amy. “Two Kinds.” Exploring Literature: Writing and Arguing About Fiction, Poetry, Drama and The Essay.4th e. Ed. Frank Madden. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. 253-261. Print.
Ken Kollman, The American Political System, (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2012), 25, 322-323, 330, 449.
Was born of illiterate peasant parents, his harsh spirit have been blamed on undeserved and severe beatings by his father, inspiring vengeful feelings toward anyone in a position to wield power over him (Stalin 1). His mother set him on a path to become a priest, and he studied Russian Orthodox Christianity until he was nearly twenty (1). He studied at a theological seminary where he began to read Marxist literature ( Joseph 1). He never graduated, instead devoted his time to the revolutionary movement against the Russian monarchy (1).