1 / 8

History of the Two-Party System in America

History of the Two-Party System in America. History of the Two-Party System. Era of the Democrats (1800-1860 ) Democratic-Republicans had come to dominate politics, but then broke into two factions, the Democrats and Whigs

donnel
Download Presentation

History of the Two-Party System in America

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. History of the Two-Party System in America

  2. History of the Two-Party System • Era of the Democrats (1800-1860) • Democratic-Republicans had come to dominate politics, but then broke into two factions, the Democrats and Whigs • Democrats, led by Andrew Jackson, won all but 2 of elections against the Whigs

  3. History of the Two-Party System • Era of the Republicans (1860-1932) • Began with election of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War • Republicans dominated all but 4 elections due to support from businesses and African Americans

  4. History of the Two-Party System • The Return of the Democrats (1932-1968) • The Great Depression turned people against the Republican Party, especially as FDR led the U.S. out of the Depression • Dwight Eisenhower was the only Republican from this period

  5. The Start of a New Era: The Era of Divided Government Since 1968, neither Republicans nor Democrats have dominated the presidency and Congress has often been controlled by the opposing party. 1968–1976 Republicans hold the presidency Congress is controlled by Democrats 1976–1980 Democrats hold the presidency Congress is controlled by Democrats 1980–1992 Republicans hold the presidency Senate controlled by Republicans 1980-1986, controlled by Democrats from 1986 to 1994 1992 – 2000 Democrats hold the presidency Congress controlled by Republicans, 1994 to present 2000 Republicans hold the presidency Congress is controlled by Republicans 2009 Democrats hold the presidency Congress is controlled by Democrats

  6. Why Minor Parties Are Important Minor parties play several important roles: “Spoiler Role” • Minor party candidates can pull decisive votes away from major parties’ candidates. Critic • Minor parties, especially single-issue parties, often take stands and draw attention to controversial issues that the major parties would prefer to ignore. Innovator • Minor parties will draw attention to important issues and propose solutions to problems. If proposals gain popular support, they are added to platforms of the two major parties.

  7. Minor Parties in the United States Types of Minor Parties Economic Protest Parties: arise during periods of poor economy Example: The Greenback Party Splinter Party: break away from one of the major parties Example: “Bull Moose” Progressive Party Ideological Parties: based on a set of beliefs Example: Libertarian Party Single-issue Parties: concentrate on one public policy matter Example: Free Soil Party, Marijuana, Right to Life, Prohibition

  8. Minor Parties in the United States

More Related