The American Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States. Founded in 179 1, it was then called the Republican Party. 1794 was renamed the Democratic Republican Party, also known as the anti-federal party. After that, the party split. Jackson School established the Democratic Party in 1828. 1840, the party held the third national congress, officially named the Democratic Party, and adopted the party program for the first time.
It is worth mentioning that the Democratic Party of the United States has not fixed party member, and party member is free. The total number of party member is calculated according to the voting results of the party's presidential candidates. The Democratic Party of the United States takes the donkey as its emblem, so its competition with the Republican Party, which is marked by the elephant, is called "the battle between the donkey and the elephant". The color of the Democratic Party is blue, and the symbol of the Party is the donkey.
[Edit this paragraph] ☆ History of the Democratic Party
From 1833 to 1856, the opponents of the American Democratic Party are mainly Whigs. After 1856, its main rival was the Republican Party. During the civil war, the Democratic Party advocated compromise and conservatism with southern slaves. But in the 20th century, Republicans became conservatives, while Democrats represented liberal ideas.
The Democratic Party of the United States holds a national congress every four years to determine its presidential and vice presidential candidates and formulate its campaign platform. 183 1 year, the first national congress of the party was held to elect candidates for president and vice president. This is also the first national congress of political parties in American history. 1840. The Party held the third national congress, officially named the Democratic Party, and adopted the party program for the first time, with only about 1000 words. However, the party program is not fixed, it is based on the political program of the party's presidential candidate. Later, sometimes the party's program was as long as 40,000 words, 40 times as long as the original, which showed that it was lengthy.
Big old party
The Republican Party is currently one of the two major political parties in the United States, also known as the Grand Old Party. The color of the Republican Party is red, and the symbol is elephant.
history
The Republican Party was founded in 1854. It was originally composed of anti-slavery people in the American Democratic Party and Whig Party, and received a lot of support. 1860, abraham lincoln was elected president, defeated the confederacy in the civil war and abolished slavery. After the civil war, Republicans began to be elected president for a long time because of the split of the Democratic Party. Andrew johnson, hiram ulysses grant, Rutherford B Hayes, james garfield and chester alan arthur successively served as presidents after the Civil War. From 65438 to 0897, william mckinley, a Republican, became president and invaded and expanded abroad on a large scale, which led to the United States entering the imperialist period. During this period, theodore roosevelt, william howard taft, Warren G Harding, John Calvin Coolidge and herbert hoover successively served as presidents. Because the Republican Party adopted a laissez-faire policy in the economy, the economic crisis in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s could not be solved. After Democratic Party franklin roosevelt was elected, the Republican Party was in opposition for 20 years. After Eisenhower, a Republican, was elected, the United States entered a period in which the two parties took turns to govern. Nixon, Reagan and George H.W. Bush successively served as presidents.
George H.W. Bush was elected president in 1988, but he was not re-elected because of the Persian Gulf War and the burden of the Republican Party's 12 years in power, and the Democratic Party took power.
Since 1994, Republicans have taken control of the US House of Representatives. Although it has been seesaw with the Democratic Party in the Senate, it finally took control of the Senate.
In 2000, George W. Bush, the son of George H.W. Bush, ran for president on behalf of the Republican Party. He lagged behind the Democratic Party in the general election, but won the electoral votes. In 2004, Bush was re-elected.
Now, the Republican Party has become the representative of the conservative forces in the United States. George W. Bush is the president, opposing abortion, same-sex marriage and stem cell research, advocating tax cuts and strengthening military defense forces, eliminating countries suspected of supporting terrorism, and attacking Afghanistan and Iraq is evidence.
[Edit this paragraph] Current ideology
The Republican Party consists of many different informal factions, which often overlap with each other, but do not necessarily agree with each other's positions. For example, there are fiscal conservatism, evangelicals, social conservatives, libertarians, ancient conservatives, neoconservatives, moderates (sometimes referred to as "-nominal Republicans") and "log cabin Republicans" who support LGBT rights.
Compared with the Democratic Party, the Republican Party tends to be conservative in social issues, close to libertarianism in economy, close to Wall Street (large enterprises) and commercial streets (small enterprises in the region), but rarely supported by trade unions. Republicans support reducing taxes, limiting the size of government on economic issues and supporting business development; On some social issues, such as abortion, Republicans support government intervention. Schools in the south reflect the religious thoughts of evangelicals and fundamentalists, paying less attention to economic issues, but paying more attention to moral issues and opposing abortion and homosexuality. However, there are also solid evangelical Republican forces in the western United States, and in fact, economic liberalism and social conservatism are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and they often overlap within the Republican Party.
[Edit this paragraph] Economic policy
The Republican Party emphasizes the importance of private enterprise and individual decision-making in promoting economic prosperity. They support business-friendly free market policies and economic liberalism, and limit the size and control of the government. However, in recent years, some people have also pointed out the high budget deficit of the United States in 2006 and criticized that the Republican Party is no longer a financially conservative party.
At present, the economic theory held by most Republicans is Reagan Economics put forward by ronald wilson reagan. According to this theory, lowering the income tax rate will increase the growth of GDP, and the extra growth will bring more extra income to the government. This theory is also reflected in the Republican Party's long-term support for tax reduction, which has been the main political viewpoint of the Republican Party since the1968+1920s. Republicans believe that a series of tax cuts since 200 1 have promoted the development of the American economy. Many Republicans also believe that income tax is doomed to be inefficient, and they also oppose the hierarchical tax system, believing that it is a system that robs the rich and helps the poor and unfairly punishes those who create more job opportunities and wealth.
Republicans agree that there should be a "safety net" to help the poor; However, the policies they support are usually lower in cost, more dependent on private fundraising, and stricter in eligibility for participation. Republicans strongly supported the welfare system reform of 1996, which raised the eligibility threshold for welfare system subsidies and successfully made many people who used to rely on welfare subsidies start looking for jobs.
The Republican Party opposes the universal health insurance system dominated by the government only like Canada and most European countries, and advocates the current medical insurance system based on individuals or employers, which only provides medical insurance for the elderly and medical subsidies for the poor. Historically, the Republican Party has different attitudes towards welfare system, medical insurance and Medicaid, and all these programs have been opposed or supported by the Republican Party. Republicans in Congress and the Bush administration support reducing the growth rate of Medicaid. On the other hand, Republicans in Congress also support the expansion of medical insurance and the provision of a new batch of drug subsidy programs for the elderly since 2006. Republicans usually oppose trade unions and support the promulgation of many laws and regulations at the local, state and federal levels that are not conducive to trade unions. Republicans usually oppose raising the minimum wage, believing that the minimum wage system will only increase unemployment and reduce corporate profits.
[Edit this paragraph] Social policy
Most Republicans oppose abortion, legalize same-sex marriage and support "faith-based action". They support the reduction of welfare system subsidies and oppose the employment quota implemented by the government to eliminate discrimination, but they disagree on whether to support affirmative action policies to avoid discrimination against women and ethnic minorities. Most members of the Republican Party support the death penalty and other more severe punishment measures, and the Republican Party usually strongly supports the right to buy, sell and own guns.
Most Republicans support increasing the freedom of students and parents to choose schools through voucher system and school permission system. Many people also strongly condemn the public school system and teachers' unions. Republicans also demand that the existing public school system must be more responsible. The recent 200 1 law "No Child Left Behind" is an example.
Religious factions within the Republican Party usually support the organization of routine prayers in public schools and insist that creationism or intelligent design should be taught like evolution. Although Republicans voted for increasing government subsidies for scientific research, many Republicans actively opposed federal subsidies for fetal stem cell research because they thought it would collect and destroy human embryos. Others support funding for adult-specific stem cell research.
[Edit this paragraph] Foreign policy
After the 9 1 1 attacks, the Republican Party supported neoconservative policies in the war on terrorism, including the invasion of Afghanistan in 200 1 and Iraq in 2003, and tried to spread democracy in the Middle East and the world. The Bush administration believes that the "illegal fighters" in Iraq do not belong to the scope of protection of the Geneva Conventions, and insists that the Geneva Conventions only protect the military personnel of sovereign countries and do not apply to terrorists of terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda.
The Republican Party also supports the reform within the United Nations to avoid the recurrence of corruption incidents similar to the oil-for-food program. The Republican Party opposes signing the Kyoto Protocol, arguing that the agreement will only harm the US economy and cannot bind China and other countries that have contributed a lot to global warming. Republicans strongly support free trade agreements, especially the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). At present, the Republican Party is also trying to further reach free trade agreements with South American countries such as Brazil, Peru and Colombia.
The Republican Party has major differences on how to deal with illegal immigration, especially for Hispanics. The Bush administration has made dealing with Hispanic issues its first political goal, but many Republican local party departments have not paid attention to this issue. Generally speaking, business groups in the Republican Party welcome more immigrants, because it means hiring more cheap workers. Social conservatives oppose it. In 2006, the White House supported a complete immigration reform bill passed by the Senate, so that millions of illegal immigrants finally obtained citizenship, but the House of Representatives did not accept it. Although this issue has become one of the main concerns in the 2006 election, opinion polls show that voters are still more concerned about general issues such as economy, political corruption, the Iraq war and terrorism.
[Edit this paragraph] Voting basis
Business groups: The Republican Party has the support of business groups from all walks of life, from "Commercial Street" (small businesses in the region) to "Wall Street" (big businesses).
Geography: Since 1980, the geographical "base" of the Republican Party has been in the south and west of the United States, but its support in the northeast and the Pacific coast is weak. In fact, the Republican Party did well in the governor's election in the northeast, but not well in the presidential election (except New Hampshire). From 1854, the two parties were evenly matched in the midwest, but from 1990, Illinois gradually tilted towards the Democratic Party, and Minnesota and Wisconsin tilted towards the Republican Party. From the1930s, the Democratic Party controlled most metropolitan areas, while the Republican Party controlled most rural areas and suburbs.
Since 1980, the south has always been an important town of the Republican Party in the presidential election, and it has gradually tended to the Republican Party in the state-level elections. In 2004, Bush won 70% support among southern whites, Kelly only got 30%, and southern whites accounted for 765,438+0% of all southern voters. Among blacks or Hispanics, the opposite is true. Kelly gets 70%, while Bush only gets 30%. One-third of these southern voters call themselves evangelicals, and 80% of them voted Republican, but in 2006, this number dropped slightly to 72%.
Conservatives and moderates: The structure of the Republican Party is quite diverse, and many factions compete with each other in political views and candidate nominations. The so-called "conservatives" are the most in the south, mainly from supporters of religious conservatism. The "moderates" came from the northeast of New England, and their influence had spread all over the country before. From1940s to1970s, these moderate Republicans were represented by thomas dewey, dwight eisenhower, Richard Nixon, nelson rockefeller and others. They usually dominate the presidential faction within the party, and they are often called "Rockefeller Republicans". Compared with other Republicans, moderates are more likely to accept the policies of the New Deal, including government control and welfare. They also support maintaining high taxes in economic policies to maintain a balanced budget. Since1970s, the strength of moderate Republicans has gradually declined, but they still occupy a certain position in the cabinet of Republican presidents. Until 2006, polls in the 2008 general election showed that the top three Republican candidates supported by the public were condoleezza rice, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, mainly because of their independent positions. More conservative Republicans, such as Sam Brownback and newt gingrich, lag behind in the polls and rarely reach 10%.
organization structure
The Republican National Committee is responsible for organizing and coordinating Republican campaign activities and publicizing Republican policies. When the president is a Republican, the chairman of RNC is personally appointed by the president, and when the Republican is in opposition, it is elected by the state party departments everywhere. President george walker bush appointed Ken Melman as Chairman of the National Committee on June 5438+ 10, 2005. In the presidential election, the National Committee is responsible for supervising the process of the National Congress, including raising funds and coordinating the election strategy. States and party departments of major cities, counties and administrative regions also have similar committees, but the scale is smaller than that of the national Committee.
Republicans have powerful fundraising and election strategy committees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Republican National Committee of the House of Representatives is responsible for assisting the election of the House of Representatives, and the Republican National Committee of the Senate is responsible for assisting the election of the Senate. The two committees independently raised more than $654.38 billion in the annual election and played an important role in recruiting potential candidates for the governor. The Republican Governors' Union is a group that only discusses the candidates for governors and is not responsible for fund-raising. Generally speaking, the Democratic Party has similar organizations in every structure of the Republican Party.
The Federalist Party of the United States was founded in the170th century. Founder: History of alexander hamilton: The Federalist Party of the United States is one of the earliest political parties in American history. In the early days of the founding of the United States, Hamilton and his supporters supported the federal constitution in the 1789 ratification movement, calling themselves "federalists".
18 12 to 18 14 During the American-British War, the Federalist Party was unpopular because of its pro-British stance and collapsed on 18 15. Policy tendency: advocate the centralization of state power to the federal government and implement centralized system; The Federalist Party represented the interests of the rich in eastern New England, land speculators and slave owners in southern plantations. Ruling status: 1797, john adams was elected president. Became the second president of the United States after Washington, 180 1 retired. He is the only federal president in American history.