Brief History And Role Of Third Parties In The United States
The History and Role of Third Parties in the United States
For almost two centuries has the political party system of the United States been under a two-party system. The Democratic Party, founded in 1828 by Andrew Jackson, and the Republican Party, founded 1854 by anti-slavery activists, members of the upper class, and former members of the defunct Whig Party, have dominated the two party system since their establishment. The two-party system of the United States was not intended by the founding fathers because they did not desire the political system to be partisan, but by the around the beginning of the 19th century, the emergence of a proto two party system began to develop between the Federalist Party of Alexander Hamilton and the Democratic-Republican Party of Thomas Jefferson over the issue of the federal government’s power. Gradually, this system developed into the modern political two-party system of the United States as it …show more content…
Political parties rose to prominence while others faded into history, but gradually the Republican Party and the Democratic Party rose to occupy the two positions within the party system of the United States all the way into the contemporary era. However, while a two-party system is designed to discourage the rise of alternative third parties, there have been occasions where third parties have risen to challenge the Republicans and Democrats for one of their positions within the political system (Jackson, J. S., 2015). The range of successes of the third party challengers of Republican and Democrat hegemony has varied greatly with some parties managing to secure office in local offices, others having members of their party within the national government, and others managing to split either the voter base of the dominant parties such as in the election of
For almost two centuries has the political party system of the United States been under a two-party system. The Democratic Party, founded in 1828 by Andrew Jackson, and the Republican Party, founded 1854 by anti-slavery activists, members of the upper class, and former members of the defunct Whig Party, have dominated the two party system since their establishment. The two-party system of the United States was not intended by the founding fathers because they did not desire the political system to be partisan, but by the around the beginning of the 19th century, the emergence of a proto two party system began to develop between the Federalist Party of Alexander Hamilton and the Democratic-Republican Party of Thomas Jefferson over the issue of the federal government’s power. Gradually, this system developed into the modern political two-party system of the United States as it …show more content…
Political parties rose to prominence while others faded into history, but gradually the Republican Party and the Democratic Party rose to occupy the two positions within the party system of the United States all the way into the contemporary era. However, while a two-party system is designed to discourage the rise of alternative third parties, there have been occasions where third parties have risen to challenge the Republicans and Democrats for one of their positions within the political system (Jackson, J. S., 2015). The range of successes of the third party challengers of Republican and Democrat hegemony has varied greatly with some parties managing to secure office in local offices, others having members of their party within the national government, and others managing to split either the voter base of the dominant parties such as in the election of