As I lean back into my chair to type this, my first blog entry for this particular website, I can't help but think about the elections that took place in the United States of America last week. What the American people witnessed, and not to mention took part in, was a revolution of sorts. No, it wasn't like 1776, nor was it like 1896 (though some could argue that all campaigns afterwards were like 1896), but it was more reminiscent of the election of 1800, when federal power shifted for the first time under the current constitution.
In any case, the election got me thinking; at the moment, there are two major political parties: the Republicans and the Democrats, and if you haven't heard of them, you've been living under a rock. The Republicans and the Democrats (or the "Reps and the Dems") are the two political parties that nearly every citizen in America, at least those that are politically inclined, aligns themselves with. However, if we take a look at the platform of each party, we see some strange qualities:
Republicans
Economic Stances
Small government
Pro-business (less government control over businesses)
Less concern for environment
Privatize Health care (put businesses, not government, in charge)
Low taxes for benefit of the people
High Defense-Spending
Privatize Social Security (Put people in charge of their own savings)
Progress-based education, accountability to students, parents, teachers
Social Stances
Religious-in-policy(more often than not)
Focus on "Family values"
Want government rein on civil liberties
Pro-Life
Pro-Death-penalty
Anti-affirmative action
Anti-gay marriage
Democrats
Economic Stances
Big Government
Anti-Big Business (more government control over businesses)
Environmental concerns
Government-based Health care
Higher Taxes (produce national surplus and pay national debts)
Lower defense spending
Government-regulated Social Security
More money into education system, increase standards
Social Stances
More "political" (less religious influence in policy making)
Focus on Civil Liberties
Want government to stay away from people's civil liberties
Pro-Choice
Anti-death penalty
Pro-Affirmative Action
Pro gay marriage.
It's no coincidence that these two parties are, more often than not, polar opposites of one another on all issues, but does this really represent the American people? I ask anyone who reads this blog, do YOU fit in these die cast molds of Republican and Democrat to the tee? Do the extreme views of either party fully agree with your own, or do you find yourself somewhere in the middle? I ask all readers to take this quiz and see if this helps them discern their own political leanings:
http://www.self-gov.org/quiz.html
It's just ten questions, five social, five economic, and a handy-dandy Nolan chart result that places you in accordance to your answers. According to the statistics present on the site, before it was reset, the quiz had been taken over 800,000 times, with the largest percentage of takers scoring on either the centrist or libertarian sector (both had about 33%), while the other 34% was taken up with a combination of Liberal, Conservative, and Statist percentiles. These statistics do not justify the massive presences of either party in the political system, if the majority of Americans do NOT fit into their philosophies as a whole. The recent surge in independence at the polls proves this as well.
It is obvious that the two parties do not fully represent America's view as a whole. Therefore, I ask readers, nay, all of America, to shy away from the two parties if they do not represent the people, and instead look for a better alternative. Democracy will never succeed if Americans continue to see their politics in shades of red and blue only. Support candidates that take a moderate view, or an alternative view to the extremes of the Democrats and Republicans.
Maybe then, America can get past party lines as a whole, and at least begin to knock down the divisions that have, for the past 200 years, divided a country that may actually be more united than originally thought.
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Hallelujah! Well said, and my opinion exactly. I'm "independent" because I agree with some things Democratic, and some things Republican--I guess that means when I turn 18 here in a few months I'll be a "swing" voter. Politics is largely all Greek to me, but as I start to learn more about it--my upcoming voter status has been a great motivator, lol--I find I agree with George Washington. One of the few things I remember from American history; he never wanted a party system, because of all the problems it would cause. (At least, I hope that information is correct.) Anyway great article, and I loved the handy dandy platform comparisons--for the uninformed such as myself, that's really quite useful. (Uniformed, yes, but at least I haven't been living under a rock. :))
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~I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.~
I appreciate your comment. You call yourself an independent, and that's a great place to start your political journey as far as I'm concerned.
So many people get wrapped up in the preceptions of Democrat and Republican that it's not hard to imagine why an equal amount of people, if not more, think that our current government is too extreme in its policies.
Yes! In the month before the election, I was approached by many people trying to get me to be part of the democratic or republic students association, and to which I responded that I was non-partisan. And I felt good about saying it.
When most people think of independents, they think uninformed, more likely to vote democratic. But independent voters are gaining more powers to sway votes during each consecutive election.
Why should I have to choose one extreme or the other?
Every test I've taken seems to agree I'm a liberal, so I'm fine with the Democrats.
I don't think our system is designed to work well with many parties. We have a strange winner-take all system in which a third party can easily split a party and allow the minority view to take power.
Or, if no candidate with 270 electoral seats (which is very likely with three or more candidates) then the House picks the President. They aren't going to be picking someone who isn't a Democrat / Republican.
In other countries, elections are more favorable to all views. You always see parliaments with a lot of moderates, a few socialists, and maybe a communist or libertarian.
Of course I don't think that the welfare of this great country should only be seen in red and blue but I do think that Dem and Rep are the two best choices for political parties. They are the longest surviving political parties in the U.S. and I'd say that they've been rather successful. I don't think their could possibly be a party to fit everyone because we're all different, obviously, I myself don't agree with EVERYTHING the democrats stand for nor do I agree with EVERYTHING the republicans stand for. I do lean more to the left, though.
I'm not normally and advocate for the average American citizen but I don't think that the majority of the American people vote based on over all beliefs or political parties- it's proven that a lot just vote for media-based reasons. I believe that this is why our founding fathers created a 'safety net' within the House.
So, no... Dem or Rep are not the only choices, but they've worked out the best concerning the government.
[Krst]
I AM normally an advocate for the average American citizen.*
[Krst]