Over the years, the American Political Parties have basically consisted of the two paramount parties and they are the Republican and the Democratic Parties respectively. These Two political parties usually compete for political positions especially presidential positions after every four years.
Although these two are the major parties we mostly hear of, we would love to let you know that there are various other political parties in America that contribute to the political system even though they do not usually have electoral wins.
As we know, there are diverse reasons as to the failure of these other political parties and the elasticity of America’s two-way system. These major two outshines the others because they adopt a broad range of interests. They have just little differences and are both equipped politically that is why they mostly stand out and contest among themselves.
Without going into many details, let’s focus on the deal of the day. Below is a list of the American Political Parties.
Table of Contents
History and early political parties
The issue of political parties in the United States Constitution is usually unsaid. Fathers of the Federation did not initially propose a two-party system for America. It is known that George Washington who was the first president originally did not belong to any party at that time. He had not wished for political parties to be formed to avoid conflicts in any way.
First Party System: 1792–1824
The “Federalist Party” and the “Anti-federalist Party” were the two parties that consisted of the First Party System in the United States. The “Anti-federalist Party” is now referred to as the “Democratic-Republican Party” and in some cases, it is also called “Jeffersonian Republican”.
The Two-way Party System of America began at the time of the first President George Washington where his group of advisers (James Madison and Alexander Hamilton) indirectly became the heads of the partisanship system.
- The Federalist Party: The Federalist Party was formed by Alexander Hamilton who was the Treasury’s Secretary in Washington.Â
- The Democratic-Republican Party:Â The Democratic-Republican was formed by Madison alongside Thomas Jefferson. In 1800, This party led the republic and the Federalist Party could not contest strongly with the democratic-republican. Therefore the Federalists failed. James Monroe emerged as President between 1816-1824 and his reign ended the First Party System as well as reduced Partisanship.
Second Party System: 1828–1854
The Second Party System had begun between the late 1820s towards the mid-1850s after the splitting off of the Democratic-Republican Party. As at this time, there were two major parties that had dominated the political system. That is the Whig Party that was originated from the National Republican Party and was headed by Henry Clay and The Democratic Party headed by Andrew Jackson.
Third-Party System: 1854–1890s
The Third-Party System started in 1854 and took to the mid-1890s and featured the advent of the anti-slavery Republican Party. This anti-slavery Republican Party embraced some of the policies of the Whig Party such as high tariffs, national banks, railroads, and others.
Moreso, The Democratic Party was greatly the opposing party at this time. Although it had controlling hands in the Senate and/or the House of Representatives.
Fourth Party System: 1896–1932
The Fourth Party System extended between 1896 to 1932 and involved the same groups that existed in the Third Party System but with some major features added to some important issues. Also, the fourth Party System was also controlled by the Republican Party.
Fifth Party System 1933–196
The Fifth Party System started with a New Deal that began in 1933 which was headed by Franklin D. Roosevelt. In this era, of the two American Political parties, the political party that dominated the political landscape of America was the Democratic Party.Â
Sixth Party System, 1968–Present
The exact date at which the Fifth Party System stopped and the Sixth Party started is usually disputed. The date commonly used for the Fifth and Sixth Party System is 1968. In the 1960s, the southern democrats were moved to the Republican Party resulting from the southern plan.
Nixon won Landslides and this success and strategies caused the Republican Party to increase in the Sixth Party System as compared to the Fifth Party System.
Seventh Party System
The emergence of the Seventh Party System is still argued.
The Republican and Democratic party has been shaped by trump to become better and stronger as it evolves and this stirs up the assumption of whether or not we are moving into a new party system. Mark D. Brewer and L. Sandy Maisel are the two among others which this curiosity has struck.
Paraventure, the Seventh Party system has not emerged yet, then the Sixth Party system will be the party with the highest duration.
Major parties
The major political parties in America is the Republican and Democratic Parties respectively;
Democratic Party
The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in America and was formed by Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren in 1828. it is undoubtedly the earliest political party that was founded in the world.
The Democratic Party was seen to be the domicile Party of the white southerners from the early times up to the mid 20th century. Today, the Democratic Party has grown to a better party tackling great issues as it evolves. In 2004, the Democratic party was the largest Political party in the world with a total number of 72 million registered voters.
While the party has been seen to support great issues of social liberalism, a mixed economy, social justice, and the welfare of the State, It has also through Bill Clinton and other loyal Democratsadvocated for neoliberalism and free trade. Also, the Democratic party is presently dominating the West and Northeast of the United States of America.
Republican Party
 Another major modern Political Party in the United States of America is the Republican Party. it has been referred to as the “Grand Old Party” or GOP since the 1880s. It was formed by the Northern anti-slavery activist and modernizers in 1854.Â
In spite of the fact, that the Democratic Party is Older, This party has been seen to make a wave since Abraham Lincoln, one of the fathers won the election in 1860. He used the party strategy and machinery in promoting the American civil war.Â
As the Party progresses, it has had its fair share of successes and failures, and that has made it grow stronger.
Minor PartiesÂ
American Politics have been known to feature a two-party system. Yet, in history, there have been a number of other political parties believed to have emerged. They include:
- Libertarian party
- Green Party
- Constitutional Party
- American Solidarity PartyÂ
Libertarian Party
One of the minor American Political parties is The Libertarian Party that was formed on December 11, 1972, with David Nolan as a founder. After the two major parties, the libertarian is the next fastest-growing political party in the United States of America. It has gathered more than 600,000 voters.
the Libertarian Party has made 176 elected officials, 2 legislators, that have been elected. They have made other wins as the party progresses. their major concern is to bring down the size, expenditures, and influence in all tiers of government.Â
Green Party
 One of the active parties from the 1980s is the Green Party. The party became famous due to the presidential election of Ralph Nader in 2020. the party mostly won elections at the local government level.Â
The Party with 305,000 members registered in 2005 has been seen to progress in the American political system.
Constitution Party
The Constitution Party is a minor American political Party in the United States of America formed by Howard Philips as the U.S TaxPayers Party in 1992.Â
In 1999 the Party took “Consitution Party” as an official name. Between the time it was formed in 2012, the party has been active in the governmental system.Â
American Solidarity Party
The American Solidarity Party (ASP) was formed by David Frost in 2011 but was integrated in 2016.
It was originally known as the Christian Democratic Party USA (CDPUSA) before it was changed to American Solidarity Party.Â
American Solidarity Party has a Solidarity National Committee (SNC) with various working local and state chapters.Â
Summary
In this article, much has been said of American Political Parties. From the History and early political parties consisting the First, Second, Third, Fourth… Party Systems of the United States of America, to the Major contemporary parties including the Democratic and Republican American Political Parties, and finally the Minor Political Parties comprising the Libertarian Party, Green Party, Constitution Party, and American solidarity Party respectively.
These political Parties make up the political landscape of the United State of America and is competing in its own capacity to become the best. Have a good time reading through this article and find out more about these American Political Parties.
