I once asked my uncle what was the difference between Democrats and Republicans. He looked at me with a straight face and told me that there is no difference. I then asked him how do people know whom to vote for then. He said, “They don’t”. As Paul Goren perceives, “Citizens rely heavily on partisanship and core principles ton construct their policy preferences, to guide their evaluations of public officials” (881). Democrats and Republicans both want our country to flourish, but they have different ideas on how to accomplish this goal. These different beliefs are especially prominent when it comes to tax policy, education, and gay rights.
They both want to lead America to prosperity despite the various economic and social differences between each party.
Republicans believe in a “free-market economy” (Republican National Committee). They object to policies that allow the federal government to be “in control of industry and allow it to pick winners and losers in the marketplace” (Republican National Committee). They also believe in a tax policy that means lower tax rates for all income classes. As Sudhir Sen observes during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, “They (Republicans) also made a further pledge to continue their efforts to lower tax rates” (1823). Ronald Reagan was a Republican president who famously embraced tax cuts for everyone. Even when there were budget deficits during his presidency, he opposed all tax increases. Reagan once said that he would never interfere in the federal-tax deductibility of mortgage payments because it would “impede the realization of the American dream of owning a family home (SOURCE FROM SUDHIR SEN). Reagan also during his administration passed the “25 per cent tax cut of 1981” (SOURCE FRO...
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...e the people who run this great country. Even though they clash in economic and social issues, they both want America to thrive. They both want to lead America to prosperity despite the various economic and social differences between each party.
Works Cited
"Democrats.org." Democrats.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2014. .
"GOP - Welcome to the GOP." GOP. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2014. .
Goren, Paul. “Party Identification and Core Political Values.” American Journal of Political Science 49.4 (2005): 881-896. Print.
Hawthorne, Michael R. and John E. Jackson. “The Individual Political Economy of Federal Tax Policy.” The American Political Science Review 81.3 (1987): 757- 774. Print.
Sen, Sudhir. “Economic Platform of Republican Party.” Economic and Political Weekly 19.42-43 (1984): 1822-23. Print.
Immediately after being sworn into office, Reagan implemented the first of many tax cuts. The Economic Recovery Tax Act passed in 1981 took 20% off taxes from top income levels and 25% off taxes from all lower income levels. Additional tax cuts, enforced in 1986, lowered taxes for those with high incomes by another 28% and those with lower incomes by 15%. These cuts were enacted based on the principle that tax breaks for the upper echelon of society would encourage investment and spending, creating new jobs for lower income individuals. Though these acts helped America during an economic low, they had consequences which are still being felt today. During Reagan’s presidency the distribution of wealth shifted unfairly towards individuals...
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 Jeffersonian-Republicans (also known as the Democratic-Republicans) were opposed to the Federalists from before 1801-1817. Leaders Thomas Jefferson and James Madison created the party in order to oppose the economic and foreign policies of Alexander Hamilton and the Federalist Party. The Democratic-Republicans supported the French, whereas the Federalists supported the British. Each party had its set of views. The Federalists supported a loose interpretation of the Constitution, a strong central government, high tariffs, a navy, military spending, a national debt, and a national bank (all ideas of the Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton). The Democratic-Republicans opposed all of the said ideas and fought for states' rights and the citizens to govern the nation. Originally, each of these parties stuck to their own views and ideas, but eventually would accept eachother's views and use them as their own.
Fairlie, Henry. The Parties: Republicans and Democrats in This Century. New York: The New Republic Magazine, 1978.
Reagan became president when the country was experiencing economic troubles; mainly inflation was at 13 percent and the unemployment rate climbing. Reagan developed a relief act and policies that became known as Reaganomics. Marc Cornman states “that there was no positive to the policies unless you were rich.” Interesting perspective, meaning that the policies covered lowering income and capital gains taxes, encouraging businesses to do business in the United States hoping to boost spending and in turn the economy. Mr. Cornman remembers more negatives, “Unemployment and the first recession, he raised taxes and eliminated deductions but continued to lower taxes for the wealthy.” He also recollects that President Reagan fired thousands of air traffic controllers for going on strike and that Reagan implied that unions were no longer needed this harming the economy even more. He feels ...
Reagan's economic policies towards middle to lower class workers recognized the economic imbalance of American society as a problem, which could not be solved by so called subordination of the American taxpayer. The implication of this was that the government would not subsidize, using taxpayer money, administrations and programs that were similar to those of the New Deal. One can derive this conclusion by looking at Reagan's policy towards cutting unemployment insurance and his hesitation towards raising the minimum wage.
Democracy is rule by the people; the people elect governing officials based off of their personal values and beliefs. Different political parties rule the political scene and are serving to represent the people’s opinions in the best ways possible. Previously, I had a belief that my political view was essentially the only one possible and therefore it was the best. These views changed quickly once I learned the different political parties, their views, how they represent the people’s views, and how public opinion shapes politics. The government is formed around differentiating opinions on which policies should be in place and which social aspects need to be considered first. Not only is the government guided by opinion, but the people’s lives are guided by opinion as well. Each individual holds a different view, and each view can have an influence on society. Fortunately, after roughly eight weeks of studying American Government, I now have a better sense of complexity and the value of
Economics is the study of currency and how it is made and distributed through our economy. Taxation is one of those main issues in this category. The Democrats and Republicans both consider taxation a major issue but both have different ways they are trying to deal with the problem. The Democrats believe that extending tax cuts to the middle class families of America that make less than 250,000$ a year while raising taxes on the extremely wealthy and huge corporations to help parents pay for college (“Democrats Unveil”). While the Republican Party says it would “try to eliminate taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains altogether for lower and middle-income taxpayers also would work to repeal the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax” (“Democrats Unveil”). They both want to change the tax policy to try to help pay off our debt and or help Americans to live an easier life. Another Key issue in this category is Medicare. Both parties believe that the Medicare policy should be changed. "Democrats adamantly oppose any efforts to privatize or voucherize Medicare" when the Republicans pledge...
Beck, Paul Allen and Hershey, Marjorie Randon. Party Politics in America. 9th Ed. Longman, New York, NY. 2001.
The founding fathers based this country on freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, press, assembly, petition. Freedom to have your own opinion about the founding fathers. Freedom to have your own opinion on how our government should run. So with this much freedom, it's obvious someone's going to disagree. And that's where political parties come in. The Federalists versus the Anti-Federalists, a 210-year battle which still carries on today with the Democrats and Republicans. These first parties were very different, and each had their own view on how our country would be run, and how it would end up.
... Issues and Inheritance in the Formation of Party Identification. American Journal of Political Science, 970-988. Oakes, P., Alexander, H., & John, T. (1994). Stereotyping and social reality.
On June 4, 1776 America finally got its independence, but it was truly a struggle for all the colonists to get this far in order to have a structured government and to win freedom. The success that the colonists gained was not only the strategies that George Washington created, nor was it the help from the French. Taking those examples into consideration, they were very important actions to win the revolution, but not as important as the joined efforts of the states to rebel against the King. The main reason why we won the American Revolution was because of proper protest, choices made, and connection during the revolution. This caused many great ideas to appear for a future, and a more reasonable government in which law was king and the people ran the government. Once the patriots got through all the British, a new country began which is now America. From the past we can gather a great amount of information of how the colonists used these methods of protest to bypass and become independent from the government.
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”(Benjamin Franklin). Privacy is considered a civil liberty issue. It reflects the American fundamental values such as civil liberties, limited government, and individualism. It covers the whole range of civil liberties spectrum and it holds every aspect of our life. It plays a major role on our daily lives and it is also a main structure in the future of democratic political system (Wemmer, 2012.) Privacy has evolved overtime, privacy can be interpreted from the First ,Third, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, Fourteenth Amendments in the Constitution; however Americans don’t consider the importance of privacy until cases such as Griswold v. Connecticut (381 U.S. 479, 1965), Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113, 1973), Mapp v. Ohio (367 U.S. 643, 1961) are brought to the court.
The Republican party is one of the two major POLITICAL PARTIES in the United States, the other being the DEMOCRATIC PARTY party. It is popularly known as the GOP, from its earlier nickname Grand Old Party. From the time it ran its first PRESIDENTIAL candidate, John C. Fremont, in 1856, until the inauguration of Republican George BUSH in 1989, Republican presidents occupied the WHITE HOUSE for 80 years. Traditionally, Republican strength came primarily from New England and the Midwest. After World War II, however, it greatly increased in the Sunbelt states and the West. Generally speaking, after World War I the Republican party became the more conservative of the two major parties, with its support coming from the upper middle class and from the corporate, financial, and farming interests. It has taken political stances generally in favor of laissez- faire, free enterprise, and fiscal responsibility (at least until 1981) and against the welfare state.
Wattenberg, Martin P. (1986). The decline of American political parties 1952-1984. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.