Political parties are not mentioned in the U.S. Ck>nsdtudon. The framers believed the government would work better without parties, because parties represent narrow interests instead of the general interests of the public. Yet, parties began to form shortly afterwards, and have since played a central role in American political history.

The Two-Party System

American politics today is based on a two-party system. When we say that Americans have a two-party system, we do not mean that there are only two parties in the United States. Usually about a dozen parties nominate candidates in the presidential election. Wc call it a two-party system because there arc two m^or parties — the Democratic Party and the Republican Party — and a number of third parties. Althou^i third parties have often appeared in presidential decdons, no third-party candidate has ever won. And very few third-party candidates have won seats in Congress. So the question arises as to why the United States has had a two-party system deeply rooted throu^iout its histoiy.

To answer the above question, wc need first to take a look at the historical foundations of the Two-Party System

America’s first president George Washington did not belong to any political party. His belief that political factions with inevitable divergences on many issues could not best serve the people’s interests made him America’s only president who was elected as an independent

In the ei^iteenth century, Amcrica was involved in a nationwide debate over the radficadon of the Constitution. Supporters of the Constitution took the name Federalists and, Alexander Hamilton (one of Americas Founding Fathers) founded America's first political party the Federalist Party in 1792. The Federalists supported the principle of a strong national government ruled by a wealthy educated elite, large cities with powerful industry, and a national bank, and favored fewer ri^its for states and most citizens. Opponents of the Consdtudon were called anti-federalists which later were replaced by the Democratic-Republican Party 一 America’s second political party formed within the Federalist Party and led by Thomas Jefferson (the third U.S. President and writer of the Declaration of Independence) and James Madison (the fourth UJ5. President and the Father of the Constitution) in order to oppose the policies of the Federalists. The Dcmocratic-Rqjublican Party favored an agriculture -driven economy, spoke out against the Constitution (largely due to its initial vagueness and ambiguity), denounced the national bank, and promoted citizens’ and states limits.

The cmcrgcncc of the Democratic-Republican Party marked the beginning of the U.S. two-party system. In (act, Jefferson was reluctant to create a party because he was opposed to political parties in general, but he felt that founding an opposition party was the best way to protect the rights of citizens from the centralization of power in the federal government. Therefore, the two-party system in the U.S. occurred to prevent one party from gaining too much power, by creating a second party with opposite policies.

TTic Federalists lost the presidential election of 1800 because they were internally divided. The Democratic-Republicans won easily with Thomas Jefferson as the new president, and this hastened the decline of the Federalist Party. During the James Madison administration, the Federalists met further frustrations and never recovered.

In the 1820s and 1830s，new political parties were taking shape. They grew out of the conflict between John Quincy Adams (the 6th president) and Andrew Jackson (the 7th president). People who supported Adams and his prcgrams for national growth called themselves National Republicans, which were later known as Whigs. Jackson and his supporters called themselves Democrats. Today’s Democratic Party traces its roots to Andrew Jackson^s time.

Whigs wanted the federal government to spur the economy. They included most eastern business people, southern planters, and former Federalists. Democrats included frontier farmers as well as factory workers in the East. The Whig Party then disintegrated in the mid-1850s. A bit later, the Republican Party emerged as an anti-slavery coalition of former Whigs.

The brief history of American political parties has shown that Americans have accepted the two-party system throu^i custom. Meanwhile, scholars of American politics have also suggested other reasons for the persistence of the two-party system. One explanation focuses on the broad consensus supporting the American political culture. The values of democracy, a^italism, free enterprise, individual liberty, religious freedom, and equality of opportunity arc so widely shared that no party challenging these values has even won. On broad policy issues，most Americans stand near the center. This general consensus tends to discourage multiple parties. They seem to have little ability to detach voters from the two major parties. Yet another explanation of the American two-party system focuses on the electoral system itself. Winners in any elections in the United States are usually determined by a winncr-takc-all vote. Only one party’s candidate wins in the end. Losers come away en^ty -handed. It is difficult for smaller parties to sustain long-term support. Another £su:cor in the American two-party system may be electoral system barriers to third parties. The Democratic and Republican nominees are automatically included on all general election ballots, but third-party and independent candidates face difficult obstacles in getting their names listed. For instance, in presidential elections, a third-party candidate must meet the varied requirements of fifty separate states to appear on the ballots. But just doiz^ so requires a considerable expenditure of effort and Structure and Organization of American Political Parties

The Democratic and Republican parties are structured to resemble the American federal system, including national party convendom，national committees, state committees, and county and local committees. At each level, these largely independent organizations act £urly autonomously as they represent various interests in Washington, state capitals, and local governments throughout the nation.

American political parties are more loosely organized than those in other countries. The two major parties, in particular，have no formal organization at the national level that controls membership, activities, or policy positions. In the United States, one can often bccome a “member” of a party, merely by stating that fact. In some U.S. states, a voter can register as a member of one party and vote in the primary election for one party, but such participation does not restrict one’s choices in any election. Nor docs it give a person any particular limits or obligations with respect to the party, except for allowing that person to vote in that party’s primary elections. A person may choose to attend meetings of one local party committee one day and another party committee the next day.

American political parties have weak central organizations and little central ideology. And the major parties arc able to tolerate great diversity within their parties. Members of Congress are allowed more independence from their parties than British Members of Parliament. They aim to appear loyal first of all to the people they represent and Americans do not want politicians to appear too strondy attached to their party. Therefore, any president cannot take for granted chat his party members of Congress will be loyal supporters of presidential programs. Moreover, a party really cannot prevent a person who disagrees with some positions of the party from claiming party membership, so long as the voters elcct that person. Once in office, an elected official may even change parties simply by declaring such intent.

The American electoral system also weakens the party organizations. Democratic and Republican

party nominations that provide access to the presidential election are won by individual candidates in primary elections rather than through selection by party leaders. Individual candidates are encouraged to build their own personal campaign organizations to win the primaries and the general elections.

The Roles of Political Parties in the United Slates

Historically, American political parties have performed the following important roles.

1. The political parties aid office holders by mobilizing support for their policies. When the president requests support for their policies, his party’s activists are usually the first to respond. Moreover, citizens interested in politics are mainly attached to one party or the other, creating majorities for party office holders to command.

2. The parties represent continuity in changing issues. Becausc of its desire to win elections, each party in a sense acts to moderate public opinion, by pulling the public toward an ideological ccnter in order to attract a majority of votes on the Election Day.

3. Parties provide the connection to hold together the difTerent elements of the American government and political institutions. The partisan affiliations of the leaders of each branch constitute a common basis for cooperation. Moreover, party identification and organization are vehicles for communication between the voter and the candidate as well as between the voter and the office holder.

4. The parties concentrate talented individuals into politics and government. Thousands of candidates are recruited every year by the two parties, as are many of candidates1 staff members 一 the ones who manage the campaigns and go on to serve in key governmental positions once the election has been won. The national, state and local parties also help raise money for candidates. The money raised by both parties is used to support a variety of party activities and campaign services.

5. The national political party organizes the national convention, which is held every four years in the summer before the elections for president The convention decides who will be the party's candidates for president and vice-president^ as well as the platform, the ideas and opinions of the party and its policies it will introduce if it wins the election.

6. Prior to the beginning of every session of Congress, each party in both houses gathers to select party leaders and to arrange for the appointment of members of each chamber’s committees. In effect, the parties organize and operate the Congress.

7. For most voters, their party identification is the strongest indicator of how they will vote. Party provides a useful cuc for voters who can use the party as a shortcut for interpreting issues and events they may not fully understand.

Traditional Images of the Two M jor Parties

The Democratic Party is the oldest political party in the United States. The symbol of the party is a donkey. The Republican Party is often referred to as the Grand Old Party or the GOP. It rose to prominence with the election of Abraham Lincoln. The symbol of die Republicans is an elephant. Both parties arc moderate and close to the political center, but the Democrats are to the left and the Republicans arc to the ri^it of center, that is, the Democratic Party is considered more liberal while the Republican Party more onservative.

Generally speaking, the Democratic Party has been able to maintain an image of 44 the party of the common people，” and the Republican Party has long been saddled with an image of **favoring the rich”. But when it comes to popular perceptions of each party^s ability to deal with problems confronting the nation, the Democratic and Republican parties appear evenly matched. The Democratic Party enjoys its

greatest advantages on "compassion issues" like helping poor, elderly, and homeless people, and handling unemployment as well as on environmental issues. And the Democrats have long enjoyed the support the hi^i-voter-tumout over sixty_five_^e group because it is trusted to do a better job “protecting the Social Security system."

Traditionally, the Democratic Party has drawn its support from poorer and less privileged people 一 workers with low-paid jobs,African Americans and other nonwhite minorities, and many people in the southern states. The Republican Party is trusted to "do a better job" in handling foreign affairs and maintaining a strong national defense. It also exJoys a reputation of being better at holding down taxes. It favors free economic principles, and prefers state and local government power to federal power. Business groups, people with more money and those who live in the central parts of the US have tended to vote for the Republicans.