The original vision of the U.S. government did not include political parties. Parties are not mentioned in the Constitution, and George Washington cautioned in his Farewell Address to the People of the United States against "the baneful effects of the spirit of party" and cited "the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it."
Nevertheless, two major political parties had emerged by the end of the Washington presidency, focused around two prominent members of the original Cabinet: Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. The two-party system has continued to dominate U.S. politics throughout most of our history.
Since the 1850s, the dominant parties have been the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Over the years, the parties' philosophies and bases of support have shifted in fundamental ways. Today, the Democratic Party tends to be more liberal, focusing on issues such as the rights of women and minorities, greater spending on social welfare and education, and government regulations to protect workers, consumers, and the environment. In contrast, the Republican Party is more conservative, advocating less economic regulation, greater privatization, and lower taxes, particularly for business entities.
Click on the links below for more detailed information on the history and current configuration of U.S. political parties.
In every presidential election year, each party creates an official statement of its core principles, known as a party platform. The platform is composed of a series of "planks," which present the party's positions on specific issues.
The candidates are not technically required to adhere to their party's platform. Their failure to do so, however, can lead to conflicts and controversies within the party, which candidates generally seek to avoid.
The links below will take you to websites that define party platforms and address the question of how significant they are in today's politics.
