...The United States is mainly known for two political parties called the Democrats and Republicans. They are on a constant fight trying to promote their ideas on what should and what shouldn’t be done. In a constant fight between Republicans and Democrats whose philosophies differ from each other mainly by social problems, tax policies, social programs. The Republicans idea of social problems is due to the oppose of gay marriage. They believe that only women and men should be able to marry each other. “Between 1996 and 2009, no more than 20% of Republicans believed same-sex marriages should be legally valid, ” states Justin McCarthy. On the other hand, Democrats believe that gay marriage should be allowed. “ The Democratic Party has undergone a complete makeover on the issue, and its members have been champions of marriage equality on the state level,” states Justin McCarthy. It shows that the people are willing to change for the happiness of other people. Democrat’s philosophies show that everybody should have the same opportunities of happiness. The Democrats ideas of tax policies are that there should only be cuts on middle and lower class, but should be higher on...
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...The two major parties, Democrats and Republicans, for decades have disagreed on many different crucial topics. Every time election comes these topics come up in all kinds of political debates and rallies around the country. Some of those important topics are; Abortion, Capital Punishment, Gun Control, Immigration, and Sex. In this new day and age, abortion has become possible through medical advances, which has also made it a pressing social topics during presidential debates. Democrats have the more liberal views on this topic believing it is “woman's right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy”. They also strongly believe in funding stem cell research, giving the mother the option to choose if she cannot afford the abortion, choice is a fundamental and constitutional right to all women. The Green Party share a very common outlook as the Democrats on Abortion. Their view is it is always a women’s right to choose, keep abortion...
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...with a different platform is the Libertarian Party. Historically the main two parties were not much different. In the beginning both parties believed that “men (not big government) was to rule them” (The Fundamental Differences Between Republican and Democrats). There was a mutual desire for individual freedom. Currently it seems that their fundamental beliefs have changed. The Democratic Party wants to increase government involvement in the lives of the American public, whereas the Republicans would like to see decreased national government and have each state govern themselves (The Fundamental Differences Between Republican and Democrats). The Libertarians seem to want to get back to what the founding fathers envisioned. Each party has very strong convictions on the topics that confront America today. The hottest topic facing the nation is Same Sex Marriage. Since the beginning the Democrats have defended Civil Rights and supported the expansion of opportunities for all. They fight to end all forms of discrimination, but this is an uphill battle. “We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under the law for same-sex couples” (Democratic Party on Civil Rights). On the other hand the Republicans strive to strengthen, protect and preserve “Traditional Marriage” by believing that “the union of one man and one woman must be upheld as the national standard…encouraged and promoted through laws governing marriage” by respecting all...
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...2011-12-13 United States Government Political parties & interests groups Political Parties * American political parties do not have clear programs, regular members, annual meetings, party leaders don’t decide who will run for election, etc. – the ideology of American parties is not very distinctive – they are electoral machines – they help people get elected to Congress and help us organize our thinking. * Political parties have existed since the first decade of the new government’s existence. Americans have always had ambivalent feelings about them. * Parties are necessary, and they perform vital functions, they are crucial institutions when it comes to organizing competition when it comes to elections, structuring the thinking of the society. If they help us distinguish various political sides, we can start identifying with them (liberal, conservative) * Ad-hoc coalitions – built in order to pass a specific bill. Party functions: * Organize the competition * Unify the electorate * Inspire and inform voters * Translate preferences into policy * Provide loyal opposition * Organize Government * Help Govern * Act as Watchdogs * Nominate Candidates * Ensure Candidate Quality * Winner takes all election system – if you have to be big to win, it makes no sense for small parties to function. * Party systems – Multiparty and Two Party System. * Minor parties: Persistence and Frustration * American parties...
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...LITERATURE REVIEW OUTLINE Introduction I. History of 1994 (Bader 1996; Balz & Brownstein 1996) A. 1992 Presidential Election i. Democrat president ii. Full Republican Minority/Democrat Majority B. Newt Gingrich & GOP Leadership C. Contract with America i. How it was conceived ii. Who the main players were iii. Who/what decided what was on it (Lathrop 2003) a. Standard Republican issues b. Populist issues iv. How was it marketed v. Who it helped (Abramowitz 1995) vi. Why it worked a. Funneled money to needy campaigns (Abramowitz 1995) b. Stalled Democratic legislative initiatives ineffective (Jacobson 1996) c. Forced Democrats in competitive districts to retire (Jacobson 1996) D. Results of election II. Why was the 1994 Election a surprise? A. Conventional signals suggested nothing was out of the ordinary (Balz & Brownstein 1996; Campbell 1997) B. Inadequate models (Busch 1995) i. Not precise enough a. No measure for levels of animosity towards Clinton b. No measure of apathy towards Democrats ii. Too precise a. No attention to actual concerns b. Changing morals iii. Difficulty in accounting for Perot supporters in 1992 (Campbell 1997; Connelly & Pitney 1994) C. Convention of all politics being “local” (Jacobson 1996) D. Suppression of realignment (Campbell 1997) i. Suppressed by the strangle hold of Democrats in the South ii. The gains Republicans should’ve made there but didn’t because of weak challengers obscured academic understanding of electoral behavior III. Explanations...
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...UNIT 3C: REPRESENTATIVE PROCESS IN THE USA SECTION 1: ELECTIONS & VOTING Primaries: * Election to select a parties candidacy for president * Open primary: A primary for any registered voter, democrat or republican. E.G. Texas * Closed: A primary for democrats and a primary for Republicans. (Separate one’s) * Invisible primary: candidates try to gain support and finance in the year before the primary * Proportional primary: awarded delegates in proportion to votes they get * Winner-takes-all: Win the most votes and you take all the states delegates Advantages: * Increased level of participation from ordinary votes (30% in 2008) * Increased interest from people * Increased choice of candidates (14 in 2008) * Removing power from party bosses Disadvantages: * Turnout is usually low * Voters are usually unrepresentative of normal voters (tend to be wealthier, old and better educated) * Process is far too long and expensive (Obama in 2008 announced his running 332 before the first primary * Fails to test presidential qualities Increased importance of primaries: * Really the only route to become a parties President Caucuses: * A meeting for the selection of a candidate * Usually held in states that are geographically large but thinly populated (Iowa, North Dakota, Nevada) * Turnout is usually pretty low, and usual favour ideological candidates National party conventions: Formal functions: ...
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...Tilghman Mrs. Coker RWS October 17, 2014 Democratic vs. Republican “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future”. (J.F.K) Political parties have been around since the 1700’s, although they are not a part of our constitution they just sort of evolved. Democrat and Republican are both major political parties with a different set of beliefs and policies. Many political parties base their system on ideologies. An ideology is a system of ideas, especially one that forms political theories and policies. The main ideology for the Democratic party is liberalism and left-leaning. Liberalism is a political philosophy founded on ideas of liberty and equality. Left leaning ideologies are the rights of the individuals. Where as the Republican party tends to be right-leaning meaning power to the government. The Republican party's main ideology is conservatism which is a person who is opposed to change and holds to traditional values....
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...there are wide partisan differences over how much the government should - and can - do to address these issues. The new national survey by the Pew Research Center and USA TODAY, conducted Jan. 15-19 among 1,504 adults, finds that 65% believe the gap between the rich and everyone else has increased in the last 10 years. This view is shared by majorities across nearly all groups in the public, including 68% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans. Yet there is a sharp disagreement over whether this gap needs government attention. Among Democrats, 90% say the government should do "a lot" or "some" to reduce the gap between the rich and everyone else, including 62% who say it should do a lot. But only half as many Republicans (45%) think the government should do something about this gap, with just 23% saying it should do a lot. Instead, nearly half of Republicans say the government should do "not much" (15%) or "nothing at all" (33%) about the wealth divide. The differences are somewhat less stark when it comes to views of government action in reducing poverty: Nearly all Democrats (93%) and large...
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...How a Healthcare Bill Caused A Government Shutdown What to do about the rapid rise of healthcare costs has become a contentiously argued subject by the United States two major political parties. The finale of this debate sees us two weeks into a government shut down with a small but determined faction of ideologue republicans threatening to default on our nations debt unless President Obama scraps the biggest piece of legislation he’s gotten passed into law since his election in 2008, a healthcare bill, commonly referred to as Obamacare. The president, on the other hand, is saying he won’t pay a ransom to Congress in order for them to reopen the federal government. He’s making his case against his opponents in congress by siting his reelection as vindication that Americans overwhelmingly want this legislation to move forward. The two sides are using an overwhelming amount of social media to air their views and ideology to the American public. While the Republicans spread doubt and fear about the bill, the democrats, conversely, overselling the probable effectiveness of Obamacare. With all this information swirling around the national discussion it is difficult to know exactly what’s true about the bill and what isn’t. Perhaps the most important consequence of this political battle is that currently 500,000 government workers are out of work and not being paid while this shut down plays itself out. This furlough is not only hurting those workers and their families but also proving...
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...Democrats versus Republicans A war goes on in politics as the republicans argue against the democrats. Both have very different views on things. The donkeys vs. the elephants; these two political parties a have always had different opinions on topics. Sometimes people cannot agree with one or the other People just go by what they think is right both political parties have different beliefs on many daily American issues. Democrats are known for supporting love between the same sex. They believe in more of equal rights for everyone. They believe that gay marriage should be left a state issue. They are strong supporters of gay marriage. In 2012 Obama won 76% of the votes from gay people. Gay marriage is a huge controversial in the U.S and the democratic party is...
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...Throughout our history the Democratic and Republican parties have gone head to head in many social problems. With the amount of trouble our country has been in and the low rate of jobs, economy has become the most talked about social problem between parties. The second most talked about social problem is the military issues. While those two social problems being the most talked about the next one on the long list of problems in our country is gay rights and marriage. However, with no jobs and a hurting country economy is the biggest issue we face today. The economic ideas the Democratic Party has is favoring minimum wages and progressive taxation, which means higher tax rates for citizens that make more money. On the other hand, the Republican Party believes that taxes should not be increased for anyone, including the wealthy, and that wages should be set by the free market. The free market is a structure that takes into consideration the supply and demand of goods or services and bases the cost around that. The controlling of the cost is made by the government or monopolies. The Republican parties oppose interventionist policies that put the federal government in control of industry and allow it to pick winners and losers in the marketplace. During America’s last recession the Democratic Party has done its best to try and regain what our country use to be. The motto Democrats have followed is the problem didn’t occur in one night so it’s going to be fixed in one night....
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...Ever since Roe vs. Wade, America has been arguing over the topic of abortion and for many it is a non-negotiable topic when supporting a certain political party. The Democrats being the progressive party have supported the Pro-Choice side of this issue, stating that the government should not be able to infringe on women’s rights. The Republican Party, sticking to biblical principals, is a Pro-Life party, seeing each life as a gift from God. Democrats believe that we should be constantly moving forward on every issue we face, this is the progressive way of thinking. The Democratic are trying to move past the old ideology in this country that kept women from voting and infringed on their basic civil rights. The Republican respect women’s rights but also respect the rights of the unborn child, thus resulting in a Pro-Life stand on the issue. The process philosophy idea that nothing is ultimate fixed, Relativism, also plays a part in the abortion discussion. Relativism states that no one choice in life is better than the other nor is there any absolute truths in the world, everything is relative to the time in...
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...Murdock vs. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Facts of the Case In Jeanette, Pennsylvania, there was a law that required people to purchase a license if they wanted to sell any kind of product. Jehovah’s Witnesses that were living in Jeanette went door to door requesting donations in exchange for books and pamphlets. The city of Jeanette believed that these actions could be counted as selling so they needed to purchase license. Historical Timeframe Murdock v. Pennsylvania was one of many cases during the World War II era that advanced the principles of the First Amendment, especially in regards to the freedom of religion. Starting with Lovell v. City of Griffin, there were several cases concerning Jehovah's witnesses Constitutional Question Raised Murdock v. Pennsylvania raised the question of whether a licensing requirement constituted a tax on a religious group's freedom to exercise their religion it was constitutional in regards to the Free Exercise Clause to. Supreme Court Justices The Supreme Court Chief Justice at the time of the case was Harlan F. Stone. He was appointed as an Associate Justice by the republican president Calvin Coolidge. Although Stone was a Republican, he was nominated as Chief Justice by the Democrat President Franklin Delano Roosevelt....
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...Smith Leah Raby POL110: United States Government 03/17/2014 Politics The two major political parties in the United States today are the Democratic and the Republican parties. They share the meaning to the way the political and presidential system should be run but are how different are they? One of the main differences between the two is that Democrats are Liberals and Republicans are Conservative but how is there a homeostasis between the two and why is there no real middle ground? The following information will explain in depth the differences between the liberals and conservatives as well as the campaign process in maintaining the two and the reason why there is only a two-party system. History and Current State The Democratic Party can be traced back to before America’s independence from Britain and is the oldest political party that has existed. It was formed in 1792 under Thomas Jefferson and established under the presidency of Andrew Jackson in the 1830’s but democracy has come a long way from that. Now the democrat party’s philosophy is labeled as the Liberal in which the supporters focus on ideas of liberty and equality and support current issues such as free and fair elections, civil rights, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, free trade and private property.( McGowan, 2007) The Republican Party is the second oldest political party in the United States and was first established with Abraham Lincoln in 1860 which helped abolish slavery under his rule...
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...Part 1: Chart House vs Senate | | | | | | HOUSE | SENATE | 1 | Size | 453 | 100 | 2 | Length of term | 2 years | 6 yrs | 3 | Term limits? | No limit | No limit | 4 | Election schedule: how often | | | 5 | Apportionment of representatives: which is by state and which is by district | District | State | 6 | Minimum age | 25 | 30 | 7 | Minimum citizenship | 7 years | 9 years | 8 | Inhabitant of state represented (for how long) | 7 years | 9 years | 9 | Filling vacancy (death, resignation, retirement, expulsion or election to another government position) | Special/general election | Governor or state of vacancy | 10 | Official Leader | Speaker of the house | Vice president | 11 | Describe organization: which is more centralized, more formal | Formal, more rules | Informal, less rules | 12 | Which has stronger leadership? | No | yes | 13 | Interrelations with constituency- how many do they represent | 710,767 people | Half the state | 14 | Greater expertise/specialization | Experts | | 15 | Name the four types of committees in each chamber (they are the same) | Standing: continue from 1 congress to the nextJoint: members of both chambers conduct investigations/special studies.Conference: members of both chambers work out differences on bills.Special: members from 1 chamber conducts special investigations | same | 16 | Who has more committee/subcommittee assignments | Less | More | 17 | Which chamber has...
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