Effects Of Political Parties Essay, Research Paper
Introduction
Since the last of the Whig party left office in 1852, the
American political system has been primarily a two party system. The
Democrats and the Republicans have been the two parties fighting for
the Presidency since that time. There have been many other parties
since that time, but mainly, these two have gone unopposed against
each other. However, how much good do these parties actually do? Would
our country be run as effectively if the presence of political parties
was no longer a factor? It is the opinion of the authors that the U.S.
Government would exist without political parties and may, in fact be
stronger. The concept of political parties seems to go against what it
means to be a politician: to represent his or her constituents. More
time, money and effort, it seems is put into getting elected to an
office than actually doing work for the people in that office. One
fairly recent example is seen in the case of the proposed federal
Balanced Budget Amendment. Mark Hatfield, Republican Oregon Senator,
went against his parties wishes and voted against the amendment. His
party nearly abandoned him for choosing the people over his party.
Many senators are faced with the same decision every day, but instead
stick with party beliefs and not what they feel would be the best for
the people. In order for true democracy to be achieved in our
government, we feel drastic changes need to occur.
Review Of The Literature
Since the mid 1850’s, the Democrats and Republicans have had
control of the nation government. The only place where opposition was
felt was at the state and local levels. However, in the early days of
our country, third and fourth party candidates played important roles
in politics. A few of these parties from our history are the:
Democrat-Republicans, Jefferson Republicans, Whigs and Federalists.
Many other lesser known or hardly known at all parties were the:
Socialists, Unionists, Farmer-Laborists, Progressives, Communists,
States’ Rights, American Independents, Libertarians, New Alliance,
Populists, Consumers, National Economic Recovery, Right to Life,
Workers league, Socialist Workers, Peace and Freedom, Prohibitionists,
Workers World, American, Grassroots, Independent and Third World
Assembly. This immense list goes to show that not all American history
has been two party. What we know today as Democrats and Republicans
derived from some of these parties to be what they are today. The
emergence of the parties has come mainly as a reaction to history
where most of the rulers have been dictators or kings. The people do
not favor dictatorship and therefore created political parties to
better represent the feelings of the voters (Madron, 1974). This is
not a time of a dictatorship and we have achieved representative
democracy. We have evolved as a nation and have grown out of the need
for political parties. The 1992 Presidential election was a definite
sign that the usefulness of political parties is crumbling. The
Democrats came out on top, followed by the Republicans, however, a
third party candidate, Ross Perot, emerged and ended the race with
nearly 10,000,000 popular votes. Perot made himself out to be the only
one who could clean up the mess in Washington, and came through with
an impressive finish (Wolfson, 1994). From this example, it is obvious
that the way we know political parties, or perhaps political parties
as a whole, are being phased out by the people. The world in which we
live is constantly changing and getting faster and more efficient at
making news readily available to the people. Back in the times before
radio, tv, the internet and e-mail, people had to find out somehow
about politics. The main source of their information came from
political parties to educate them as to who was running and what they
stood for and believed in (Carlin, 1992). Now, if someone needs
information on some kind of politics, they can simply turn on C-Span,
surf the ever-expanding net, or write an e-mail to the President
himself. Another strike against political parties is evident. Lately,
politicians have had their way in separating themselves from the
voters whom they are supposed to represent. A greater gap is growing
between the two. Voters do not like being just a number (Wolfson,
1994). The basis of democracy, in case some have forgotten, is equal
representation for all people. By separating themselves from the
voters, politicians are only creating a stronger case against
political parties.
Another such argument against parties can be seen in the fact
that lately, voters have been straying from voting for one candidate.
Instead of voting for a candidate, they may be voting simply against
another candidate. They are choosing the lesser of the two evils by
choosing the one that offends then the least, not judging on the
qualifications of the two (Ladd, 1978). Finally, the argument that may
have the most stature lies in the fact that nowhere in the
constitution of the United States, the document our forefathers penned
more than 200 years ago, are political parties mentioned. In a time
without radio or tv, where political parties may have been needed, the
authors the document in which governs our lives made no mention to
them or what they stand for. This argument in itself should take a
major role in the determination to rid government of political
parties. Since political parties did start and take hold as they did,
Americans have stuck to them and seem to remain grasped to them. If we
want our government to run more smoothly and work for the people and
not against, better than our current conditions, we must break the
pattern and ban political parties. There is much disapproval of the
two party political system today already, as illustrated. For a better
government for future generations, one without the constant battles
for political offices and without separation from the people, we must
look very closely at what can be done. Ideally, the solution would be
to ban political parties. Section III Conclusion From the research
into the matter of political parties, we have come to some conclusions
regarding them. As it may have seemed apparent throughout the report,
we believe that the American Political system would perform dually
well without the bothersome nuisance of political parties. It is true
that political parties served America well in their time, however a
time of change is unavoidable. With faster technology and better means
of communication, some parts of parties become obsolete. As people
become more aware of the country in which they live and the political
system dominating their country, more pieces of parties become
useless. As stated, political parties did at one time serve a valuable
purpose, and they have help shape our system into what it is today.
Surely, without political parties in our nation’s history, our system
would be much different. For that reason, political parties did do
some good. It has been a long time, though, since much good came from
them. Now, the only good that comes from parties is watching the ad
campaigns of politicians bashing each other to pieces for some office
or another. Even that can get a little old. So, in conclusion,
political parties have served their purpose. They were used for what
they were intended and now, for what they intended has already been
achieved, therefore making parties themselves obsolete.
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Bibliography
1. Carlin, David R. Commonwealth. “Lessons From November: Fraying The
Bonds”. December 18, 1992.
2. Ladd, Everett Carl. Where Have All The Voters Gone?: The Fracturing
Of America’s Political Parties. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.,
1978.
3. Madron, Thomas W. and Chelf, Carl P. Political Parties In The
United States. Boston: Holbrook Press, Inc., 1974.
4. Wolfson, Lewis. USA Today. “The Revolution In U.S. Politics Is
Nearly Here”. January, 1994.