Political parties in the United States

American electoral politics have been dominated by successive pairs of major political parties since shortly after the founding of the republic of the United States. Since the 1850s, the two largest political parties have been the Democratic Party and the Republican Party—which together have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and controlled the United States Congress since at least 1856. Despite keeping the same names, the two parties have evolved in terms of ideologies, positions, and support bases over their long lifespans, in response to social, cultural, and economic developmentsthe Democratic Party being the left-of-center party since the time of the New Deal, and the Republican Party now being the right-of-center party.
Political parties are not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, which predates the party system. The two-party system is based on laws, party rules, and custom. Several third parties also operate in the U.S. and occasionally have a member elected to local office; some of the larger ones include the Constitution, Green, Alliance, and Libertarian parties, with the Libertarian being the largest third party since the 1980s. A small number of members of the U.S. Congress, a larger number of political candidates, and a good many voters have no party affiliation. However, most self-described independents consistently support one of the two major parties when it comes time to vote, and members of Congress with no political party affiliation caucus to pursue common legislative objectives with either the Democrats or Republicans.
The need to win popular support in a republic led to the American invention of voter-based political parties in the 1790s. Americans were especially innovative in devising new campaign techniques that linked public opinion with public policy through the party.
Political scientists and historians have divided the development of America's two-party system into six or so eras or "party systems", starting with the Federalist Party, which supported the ratification of the Constitution, and the Anti-Administration party, which opposed a powerful central government and later became the Democratic-Republican Party.

History and political eras

Founding Fathers

The subject of political parties is not mentioned in the United States Constitution. The Founding Fathers did not originally intend for American politics to be partisan. In Federalist No. 9 and No. 10, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, respectively, wrote specifically about the dangers of domestic political factions. In addition, the first President of the United States, George Washington, was not a member of any political party at the time of his election nor throughout his tenure as president. Furthermore, he hoped that political parties would not form, fearing conflict and stagnation, as outlined in his Farewell Address. Historian Richard Hofstadter wrote that the Founders "did not believe in parties as such, scorned those that they were conscious of as historical models, had a keen terror of party spirit and its evil consequences", but "almost as soon as their national government was in operation, found it necessary to establish parties."
Since their creation in the 1800s, the two dominant parties have changed their ideologies and bases of support considerably, while maintaining their names. In the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War, the Democratic party was an agrarian, pro-states-rights, anti-civil rights, pro-easy money, anti-tariff, anti-bank coalition of Jim Crow Solid South and Western small farmers. Budding labor unions and Catholic immigrants were the primary participants in the Democratic party of the time. During the same period, the dominant Republican party was composed of large and small business owners, skilled craftsmen, clerks, professionals, and freed African Americans, based especially in the industrial northeast.
By the start of the 21st-century, the Democratic party had shifted to become a left-wing party, disproportionately composed of women, LGBT people, union members, and urban, educated, younger, non-white voters. At the same time, the Republican party had shifted to become a right-wing party, disproportionately composed of family business, older, rural, southern, religious, and white working-class voters. Along with this realignment, political and ideological polarization increased and norms deteriorated, leading to greater tension and "deadlocks" in attempts to pass ideologically controversial bills.

First Party System: 1792–1824 (Federalist vs Democratic-Republican)

The beginnings of the American two-party system emerged from George Washington's immediate circle of advisers, which included Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. Hamilton and Madison wrote against political factions in The Federalist Papers, but by the 1790s, differing views concerning the course of the new country had developed, and people who held these views tried to win support for their cause by banding together.
Followers of Hamilton's ideology took up the name "Federalist"; they favored a strong central government that would support the interests of commerce and industry and close ties to Britain. Followers of the ideology of Madison and Thomas Jefferson, initially referred to as "Anti-Federalists", became known as Republicans, which for clarity's sake is today called the "Democratic-Republicans"; they preferred a decentralized agrarian republic in which the federal government had limited power.
The Jeffersonians came to power in 1800. The Federalists survived in the Northeast, but their refusal to support the War of 1812 verged on secession and was a devastating blow to the party when the war ended well. The Era of Good Feelings under President James Monroe marked the end of the First Party System and was a brief period in which partisanship was minimal.

Second Party System: 1828–1854 (Democratic vs Whig)

By 1828, the Federalists had disappeared as an organization, and Andrew Jackson's presidency split the Democratic-Republican Party: "Jacksonians" became the Democratic Party, while those following the leadership of John Quincy Adams became the National Republican Party. After the 1832 election, opponents of Jackson—primarily National Republicans, Anti-Masons, and others—coalesced into the Whig Party led by Henry Clay. This marked the return of the two-party political system, but with different parties.
The early Democratic Party stood for individual rights and state rights, supported the primacy of the Presidency over the other branches of government, and opposed banks, high tariffs, and modernizing programs that they felt would build up industry at the expense of farmers. It styled itself as the party of the "common man". Presidents Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, and James K. Polk were all Democrats who defeated Whig candidates, but by narrow margins. Jackson's populist appeal and campaigning inspired a tradition of not just voting for a Democrat, but identifying as a Democrat; in this way, political parties were becoming a feature of social life, not just politics.
The Whigs, on the other hand, advocated the supremacy of Congress over the executive branch, as well as policies of modernization and economic protectionism. Central political battles of this era were the Bank War and the spoils system of federal patronage. Presidents William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor were both Whig candidates.
In the 1850s, the issue of slavery took center stage, with disagreement in particular over the question of whether slavery should be permitted in the country's new territories in the West. The Whig Party attempted to straddle the issue with the Kansas–Nebraska Act, where the status of slavery would be decided based on popular sovereignty. The Whig Party sank to its death after the overwhelming electoral defeat by Franklin Pierce in the 1852 presidential election. Ex-Whigs joined the Know Nothing party or the newly formed, anti-slavery Republican Party. While the Know Nothing party was short-lived, Republicans would survive the intense politics leading up to the Civil War. The primary Republican policy was that slavery be excluded from all the territories. Just six years later, this new party captured the presidency when Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860. This election marked the beginning of the Democratic and Republican parties as the major parties of America.

Party System	Party A	Party B
First	7	1
Second	5	2
Third	3	7
Fourth	2	7
Fifth	7	2
Sixth	6	8

Third Party System: 1854–1890s (Democratic vs Republican)

The anti-slavery Republican Party emerged in 1854. It adopted many of the economic policies of the Whigs, such as national banks, railroads, high tariffs, homesteads, and aid to land grant colleges.
After the defeat of the Confederacy in the Civil War, the Republican Party became the dominant party in America for decades, associated with the successful military defense of the Union and often known as the "Grand Old Party". The Republican coalition consisted of businessmen, shop owners, skilled craftsmen, clerks, and professionals who were attracted to the party's modernization policies and newly enfranchised African Americans.
The Democratic Party was usually in opposition during this period, although it often controlled the Senate or the House of Representatives or both.
The Democrats were known as "basically conservative and agrarian-oriented", and like the Republicans, the Democrats were a broad-based voting coalition. Democratic support came from the Redeemers of the Jim Crow "Solid South", where "repressive legislation and physical intimidation designed to prevent newly enfranchised African Americans from voting". Further Democratic support came from small farmers in the West before the Sun Belt boom. Both regions were much less populated than the North, yet politically powerful. Additional Democratic voters included conservative pro-business Bourbon Democrats, traditional Democrats in the North, and Catholic immigrants.
As the party of states' rights, post-Civil War Democrats opposed civil rights legislation. As the populist party of small farmers, it opposed the interests of big business, such as protective tariffs that raised prices on imported goods needed by rural people. The party favored cheap-money policies, including low interest rates and inflation favoring those with substantial debts, such as small farmers.
Civil War and Reconstruction issues polarized the parties until the Compromise of 1877, which saw the withdrawal of the last federal troops from the Southern United States.
During the post-Civil War era of the nineteenth century, parties were well-established as the country's dominant political organizations, and party allegiance had become an important part of most people's consciousness. Party loyalty was passed from fathers to sons, and in an era before motion pictures and radio, party activities, including spectacular campaign events complete with uniformed marching groups and torchlight parades, were a part of the social life of many communities.