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Differences Between Political Parties

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Differences Between Political Parties
In a world growing more diverse by the day it is no wonder that the dilemmas we face become more challenging. Issues of government powers, the free market, gun control, abortion, welfare, education, taxes, separation of church and state along with a multitude of other factors that not only invade our personal lives but our society as a whole makes defining America as a free country and determining personal rights quite a challenge. With political parties changing where they stand on an issue from one moment to the next before, during, and after elections, as well as avoiding issues to remain politically correct, choosing a party to belong to has become almost an impossible task and has led to the rising of several other political parties such as, Libertarians, The Green Party, Constitution Party, Reform Party, and Natural Law Party being the most active.1 More Americans are voting based on their own personal beliefs regarding each issue rather than those represented by a specific political party and over the last decade the candidates have increasingly been catering to the individualist rather than sticking to one ideology.

Democrats, represented by the donkey, are the oldest political party in the United States. Created in the 1790s in response to slavery and land control and consistently representing the common people, members lean towards a more liberal approach to government focusing on the whole and not the individual. Throughout the history of the Democratic Party there is a general pattern that emerges to give us a basis of the party. Democrats historically represent that it is the governments’ job to take care of the people, prefer an organized controlled market with as few outsourced commitments as necessary. Members promote stronger gun control, the death penalty, personal choice regarding abortion, sharing of economic deficiencies while supporting the less fortunate with welfare programs and government aid, and have a strong standing on the



Bibliography: Articles Brian Bakst,”Tiny Presence, Unknown Impact for 3rd Parties” Associated Press October 5, 2012 Kristina Nwazota, “Third Parties in the U.S. Political Process” PBS July 26, 2004, 8:40 p.m. ET Ken Rutledge, “Democrat vs http://libertarian.jimeyer.org(accessed 10-8-2012) http://www.lp.org/introduction/americas-third-largest-party (accessed 10-8-2012) http://www.extremelysmart.com/andmodest/RepsVsDemsInHistory.php (accessed 10-7-2012) http://www.democrats.org/about/our_history (accessed 10-7-2012) http://www.buzzle.com/articles/political-parties-in-the-united-states.html (accessed 10-5-2012) http://www.svgop.com/files/Differences%20Between%20Republicans%20and%20Democrats.pdf (accessed on 10-4-2012) http://2012election.procon.org/view.source-summary-chart.php (accessed 10-1-2012) http://www.sussexcountygop.com/gopvalues.htm (accessed 10-2-2012)

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