Essay On Political Parties

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1. The two main political parties have each changed drastically over time. What are the historical origins of the Democratic Party? Of the Republican Party? What is a party system, and describe at least two party system that have formed over the course of American history.
The term party system refers to the organizations, the balance of power and the institutional bases of the country. Though the Founding Fathers, particularly George Washington, warned the nation about becoming a two-party system, America has been a strong two party nation since the 1790s, when the Federalist competed against the Jeffersonian Republicans. In the present days, the two predominant parties are the Democratic and the Republican Parties, but, as mentioned before, this was not always the case. The first party system was constituted in 1790s. The …show more content…

Firstly, it is known that party affiliation is greatly influential in voter’s decisions. Because it is usually reinforced by society, party identification tends to be very strong, and typically unchangeable throughout an individual’s life. However, even though it might influence an individual’s decision on Presidential elections, it is more effective in shaping the decisions of voters on less-visible races. That is, it is more effective if the voters are not familiar with the candidates, than if they know them. After the 1960s, nevertheless, parties have become weaker on its influence to the public. This phenomenon, mostly associated to the influence of mass media, which portrays candidates by personality and not party, has made people less likely to develop a strong party affiliation. The evidence is shown on the number of people describing themselves as independents, and the rise of split-ticket voting. On the other hand, party identification among a large number of the most active voters has grown

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