6 REALITIES ABOUT AMERICAN PARTIES 6 REALITIES ABOUT AMERICAN PARTIES

1. Parties began as soon as people started taking sides in the debate over ratifying the U.S. Constitution. (Federalist and Anti-Federalist)

2. Political parties, and especially our two party system, have persisted over the course of our history.

Federalists

Federalists *Favored centralize power *Economically active government *More elite control *Industrialization

Democratic Republicans *Favored farm interests *Decentralized government *Less government in economy *Turned into the modern Democratic Party

Jacksonian Democrats Dominated by Democratic-Republican Party that represented average person (farmers)

Civil War Republicans Rough balance between parties after Reconstruction

Progressive Republicans Dominated by “Progressive” Republicans Democrats influenced by Populists

New Deal Democrats 1932-?? Great Depression triggers realignment bringing minorities, workers and the South into the Democratic coalition

3. Ours has almost always been a two party system, differentiating us from most nations, which have a one- party or multiparty system. Click to see why Germany loves a Party

4. Since 1830 we have witnessed reasonably effective competition in our national party system. (No Blow Outs)

1904 Theodore Roosevelt, Rep.336 7,628,831 Alton B. Parker, Democrat140 5,084,533 Eugene Debs, Socialist ,714

1908 William H. Taft, Republican321 7,679,114 William J. Bryan, Democrat162 6,410,665

1912 Woodrow Wilson, Democrat435 6,301,254 Theodore Roosevelt, Progressive88 4,127,788 William H. Taft, Republican8 3,485,831 Eugene Debs, Socialist ,255

1916 Woodrow Wilson, Democrat277 9,131,511 Charles E. Hughes, Republican254 8,548,935 Allan Benson, Socialist ,974

1920 Warren G. Harding, Republican404 16,153,785 James M. Cox, Democrat1 27 9,147,353 Eugene Debs, Socialist ,801

1924 Calvin Coolidge, Republican382 15,725,016 John W. Davis, Democrat136 8,386,624 Robert M. LaFollette, Progressive13 4,831,470

1928 Herbert C. Hoover, Republican444 21,430,743 Alfred E. Smith, Democrat87 15,016,443

1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt, Democrat472 22,821,857 Herbert C. Hoover, Republican59 15,761,841 Norman Thomas, Socialist ,781

1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt, Democrat523 27,751,841 Alfred M. Landon, Republican8 16,679,491 William Lemke, Union ,390

1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dem ,243,466 Wendell L. Willkie, Republican82 22,334,413

1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dem ,612,474 Thomas E. Dewey, Republican99 22,017,570

1948 Harry S. Truman, Democrat303 24,104,030 Thomas E. Dewey, Republican189 21,971,004 Strom Thurmond, States' Rights39 1,169,032 Henry Wallace, Progressive... 1,157,063

1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower, Rep ,937,252 Adlai E. Stevenson, Democrat89 27,314,992

1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower, Rep ,589,477 Adlai E. Stevenson, Democrat 73 26,035,504 Walter B. Jones, Democrat1

1960 John F. Kennedy, Democrat303 34,221,349 Richard M. Nixon, Republican219 34,108,647 Harry F. Byrd, Democrat15

1964 Lyndon B. Johnson, Democrat486 43,129,484 Barry M. Goldwater, Rep.52 27,178,188

1968 Richard M. Nixon, Republican301 31,785,480 Hubert H. Humphrey, Democrat191 31,275,165 George C. Wallace, American Independent 469,906,473

1972 Richard M. Nixon, Republican520 47,167,319 George McGovern, Democrat17 29,168,509 John G. Schmitz, American... 1,080,670

1976 James E. Carter, Jr., Democrat297 40,827,394 Gerald R. Ford, Republican240 39,145,977 Ronald Reagan, Republican1

1980 Ronald Reagan, Republican ,267,489 James E. Carter, Jr., Democrat49 34,964,583 John B. Anderson, Independent... 5,588,014

1984 Ronald Reagan, Republican525 53,428,357 Walter F. Mondale, Democrat13 36,930,923

1988 George H. W. Bush, Republican426 48,881,278 Michael S. Dukakis, Democrat111 41,805,374 Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., Democrat1

1992 William J. Clinton, Democrat370 44,908,233 George H. W. Bush, Republican168 39,102,282 H. Ross Perot, Independent...19,741,048

1996 William J. Clinton, Democrat379 47,401,185 Robert Dole, Republican ,197,469 H. Ross Perot, Reform...8,085,294

2000 George W. Bush, Republican271 50,456,169 Al Gore, Democrat ,996,116 Ralph Nader, Green...

5. Our parties have historically been decentralized and fragmented. Parties are organized around units of competition, which in our governmental structure make state parties the most important units. State parties can be quite different from one another.

6. U.S. parties primary goal is to WIN! (pragmatic politics) Winning office and power have been more important to party leaders than specific issues or platforms. Our parties can be characterized as moderate, pragmatic and only modest ideological, especially when compared to European political parties.