Political Parties Essay Research Paper Political PartiesINTRODUCTIONPolitical

Political Parties Essay, Research Paper

Political Parties

INTRODUCTION

Political party is defined as A group of office holders, candidates, activist, and voters who identify with a group label and seek to elect to public office individuals who run under that label. (O Connor 296) When referring to political parties George Washington, the first president of the United States, described it as the fury of political parties . In fact, George Washington felt so strongly against political parties that he felt a need to warn Americans stating:

Let me now take a more comprehensive view and warn you in most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy.

(George Washington)

George Washington was not alone in his fear of political parties, James Madison in Federalist # 10, warned Americans against factions and party politics, describing it as potentially mortal disease . (Federalist ) Hamilton claimed it was an avenue to tyranny .(Reichley 19) Despite the fear and dread of parties, political parties have become one of the most recognizable and essential part of American Politics. In the following pages, I will take a closer look at political parties, tracing its origins and progression, discussing the role parties played and play in American politics, focusing some attention on the different third parties in American history.

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ORIGINS OF POLITICAL PARTIES

As I touched on earlier, our founding fathers did not have a particularly fond view of political parties. Why were these men, considered the elite in politics at the time, so opposed to the notion of political parties. One theory on the strong opposition is, they felt parties would undermine the unity of a country; to have parties is to divide a country into parts. Different parties would inevitably lead to disputes. And according to this view, parties divided by important differences of principle create a potentially revolutionary situation (Wilson, 48) A second theory on the strong opposition is [parties] undermine the prudence necessary for wise political leadership. To be politically prudent means to do the right thing at the right time for the good of the country. If parties are simply collection of men seeking their own advantage rather than the country s then they constitute organized opposition to prudent action for the common good (Wilson, 48) Even with all these potential dangers, political parties established themselves and have been around ever since. So, were the founding fathers wrong. While the founders were not wrong in thinking that democracy will fail if there is no sense of a national interest, they were certainly wrong in underestimating the value of parties as the tie that binds, the glue that fastens (Reichley,30)

So when and why were the first political parties formed . During the 1780s, sharp conflicts marked American politics. Since the establishment of the Constitution in 1789, the unanimous election of George Washington, and recommendation for a Bill of Rights, conflicts soon arose over the new policies to be developed in the government. While George Washington, a federalist, won all the electoral votes in the first presidential election, quarrels within congress began to separate the legislative branch. The political system was moving away from George Washington s ideal one party system into a two party system. Ideological divide began to form in response to the ambitious economic plan proposed by Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury Alexander Hamilton as secretary of the treasury proposed a sweeping fiscal program which included funding and “assumption” by the Federal government of the Revolutionary War debts by the federal government and enactment of tax on whiskey. The program was immediately attacked by those who feared collaboration between a relatively strong national government and aggressive business interest. (Reichley 39) Thomas Jefferson and his supporters led opposition against the Federalist, his group was known as the Anti-Federalist. These two parties are considered by some to be the first political parties of this country. At the forefront of the conflict was a fundamental issue; the Federalist wanted a stronger national government, while the Anti-federalist wanted to give more power to the states. (O Connor, 297).

Madison and others saw that the key to defeating the Federalist was to combine the old Anti-federalist with former Federalist who had grown dissatisfied with some of Washington s policies. In 1800 Washington s vice president John Adams ran for president as a federalist and Thomas Jefferson, with the support of Madison, ran against Adams as a Democratic -Republican.. When the votes were counted the Republican ticket won. This marked the death of the Federalist Party. While the Federalist Party did have a big impact in American history, there tenure as a party was short. The Federalist failed in part because they did not understand the underlying nature of American democracy .The longer they clung to office, the more many of them began to ta