Political parties in the United States

[edit] Democratic party

Main article: Democratic party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in the United States and arguably the oldest in the world.^[1][2]

Since the 2006 midterm elections, the Democratic Party is the majority party for the 110th Congress; the party holds an outright majority in the House of Representatives and the Democratic caucus (including two independents) constitutes a majority in the United States Senate. Democrats also hold a majority of state governorships and control a plurality of state legislatures. In 2004, it was the largest political party, with 42.6 percent of 169 million registered voters claiming affiliation.^[3]

The Democratic Party traces its origins to the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other influential opponents of the Federalists in 1792. Since the division of the Republican Party in the election of 1912, it has consistently positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party in economic as well as social matters. The economically left-leaning activist philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which has strongly influenced American liberalism, has shaped much of the party's economic agenda since 1932. Roosevelt's New Deal coalition usually controlled the national government until the 1970s.

[edit] Republican Party

Main article: Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States of America, along with the Democratic Party. It is often referred to as the Grand Old Party or the GOP.

Founded in 1854 by anti-slavery expansion activists and modernizers, the Republican Party rose to prominence with the election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president. The party presided over the American Civil War and Reconstruction and was harried by internal factions and scandals towards the end of the 19th century. Today, the Republican Party supports a conservative platform (as far as American politics are concerned), with further foundations in economic liberalism and social conservatism.

The current U.S. President, George W. Bush, is the 19th Republican to hold office. Republicans currently fill a minority of seats in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, hold a minority of state governorships, and control a minority of state legislatures. It is currently the second largest party with 55 million registered members, encompassing roughly one third of the electorate.^[3]

[edit] Green Party

Main article: Green Party (United States)

In the United States, the Green Party has been active as a third party since the 1980s. The party first gained widespread public attention during Ralph Nader's presidential runs in 1996 and 2000. Currently, the primary national Green Party organization in the U.S. is the Green Party of the United States, which has eclipsed the earlier Greens/Green Party USA. There are Green Parties in many nations, with total membership being about a million people.

The Green Party in the United States has won elected office mostly at the local level; most winners of public office in the United States who are considered Greens have won nonpartisan-ballot elections (that is, the winning Greens won offices in elections in which candidates were not identified on the ballot as affiliated with any political party).^[4] In 2005, the Party had 305,000 registered members in states that allow party registration, as well as tens of thousands of members and contributors in the rest of the country.^[5] During the 2006 elections the party had ballot access in 31 states.^[6]

Greens emphasize environmentalism, non-hierarchical participatory democracy, social justice, respect for diversity, peace and nonviolence.

[edit] Libertarian Party

Main article: Libertarian Party (United States)

The Libertarian Party is an American political party founded on December 11, 1971.^[7] It is one of the largest continuing Third parties in the United States, claiming more than 200,000 registered voters and more than 600 people in public office,^[8] including mayors, county executives, county-council members, school-board members and other local officials. It has more people in office than all other third parties combined.^[8]

The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects that group's particular brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration across borders, and non-interventionism in foreign policy that respects freedom of trade and travel to all foreign countries.

[edit] Constitution Party

Main article: Constitution Party (United States)

The Constitution Party is a conservative United States political party. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers Party in 1992. The party's official name was changed to the Constitution Party in 1999; however, some state affiliate parties are known under different names.

It ranks third nationally amongst all United States political parties in registered voters, with 366,937 registered members as of November 2006.^[9]

The Constitution Party advocates a Bible-based platform which it claims to reflect original intent of the U.S. Constitution and the principles of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

In 2006, Rick Jore of Montana became the first Constitution Party candidate elected to a state-level office^[10][11], though the Constitution Party of Montana had disaffiliated itself from the national party a short time before the election.