Reversal of the Democratic and Republican Party - Research Paper Example

Roles Reversal of the Democratic and Republican Party Introduction Democratic Party, formed in 1824 and Republican, which was formed later in 1854 are the two parties that dominate the America’s political arena. However, the two parties contrast greatly both in their philosophies as well as ideologies. During and immediately after the civil war, the Republicans were considered stewards of the American laws while the democrats were liberal and always fighting for radical changes. However, the two parties have gradually reversed their roles, particularly over the past few decades. Currently, democrats can be described as the real stewards of the status quo while Republicans are now struggling to bring changes in the United States. As much as the two parties have undergone modifications such that they appear to have reversed their positions, the royalty from the public has not changed. By this, I mean that those regions that were loyal to the conservative Republican remain loyal to the somehow radical Republican while the region royal to the radical Democratic Party remain loyal to the less liberal Democratic Party. However, it is irrefutable that certain aspects remain unchanged in either of the two parties. This paper argues that the Republican and Democratic parties have reversed their roles but most people remain loyal to either of the party because they do not know the history of the Democratic and Republican parties. Background of Republican and Democratic Parties Democratic Party origin can be traced back to the period before America attained independence from British. It was enhanced by Anti federalist factions. On the contrary, anti-slavery objectors instituted the Republican Party in 1854. However, Republican Party remained less popular until the Election of Abraham Lincoln who was the first Republican Party. During its foundation, Democratic Party was grounded on liberalism ideology while the Republican Party was based on conservatism. The different ideologies are depicted in personal and economic issues (Meyers web; Berg-Andersson Web). Liberalism advocate for individual autonomy over morality in addition to favoring economic equality over freedom. Liberalism also supports government actions to reduce poverty by redistributing the wealth. On the other hand, conservatism approves of personal morality over freedom and advocate for economic freedom over equality. Conservatives promote traditional principles such as strong patriotism (Parla Web; ProCon Web). Additionally, conservatism supports the idea that the government should not involve itself in role such as helping individuals and opposes attempts to redistribute income between the wealthy and the poverty-stricken. The ideologies also dictated the possible ways of reacting to different issues with Republicans being more likely to put economic freedom above equality while Democrats were likely to put equality over economic freedom (Berg-Andersson Web; Parla Web). Democrats are considered to be on the left side of the political spectrum and commonly referred to as the leftist while the republican are considered to be on the right. With time, the two parties have been characterized by change in their ideological platforms and specifics. Currently, neither of the two parties fully represents the same ideologies it did during the initial stages of the foundation. Additionally, the parties have undergone drastic changes in the past four decades, which has been portrayed by the change in the leadership styles by recent presidencies from each of the two parties (Meyers Web; ProCon Web). The Democrats were initially a States Rights party, and strongly supported slavery. On the other hand, the Republicans started as an abolitionist party, whose members strongly opposed slavery. Currently, Republicans advocate and support States Rights, and are against any attempt by the government to increase taxes. On the other hand, Democrats prefer to use Federal funds and power to improve the lives of the poor as demonstrated by their attempts to enact laws that charge higher taxes to the wealthy (ProCon Web; Rutledge Web; ushistory.org Web). With time Democrats, have moved toward a virtually the opposite direction. Initially, Democrats as a party advocated for and strived for a steady progressive or forward movement. The party conquered the Depression and led United States into winning the Second World War. The liberal ideologies enabled Democratic Party to lead United States in establishing the postwar international security and participate in the Cold War. Additionally the desire for progressiveness led Democrats to enact laws that sought to resolve the most overwhelming economic and social difficulties facing United States. As opposed to the predecessor’s views, contemporary democrats are more status-quo oriented, reasonable protectors of government, who are even ready to overhaul programs and cut down retirement and health benefits with the aim of upholding the government’s central obligations (NewsFlavor Web; ProCon Web). Initially, Republicans were conservative and would often go to any length to protect the welfare of the United States from external influence. However, the Republican Party has of recent become a radical party that is less strict on protecting the United States, and is no longer considered a steward of the status quo (Meyers Web; Socastee 0nline Web). Comparison of the Democratic and Republican Parties To understand the differences in political, social, and economic view between the republicans and the Democrats, it is important to discuss some of the controversial issues that have demonstrated the variance in ideologies. One of the major controversies is on Military where Republicans favor increase in military spending and often advocate for military deployment in politically unstable countries such as Iran. On the other hand, Democrats prefer reduced military spending and disapproves use of military forces against other countries like in the case of Iran and Syria (Harwood Web; Meyers Web). Democrats advocate for gun control laws and are in favor of legislation to curb purchasing of gun by offenders while republicans are against gun control laws and advocate for the right to possess and carry concealed weapons. Another controversial issue is on abortion where Democrats propose for legalization of abortion arguing that it should be the woman’s right to decide if to keep the pregnancy or not. On the contrary, Republicans strongly oppose legalization of abortion (Socastee 0nline Web; ushistory.org Web). On the issue of homosexuality, Republicans are opposed to gay marriages and are opposed to laws that would allow the gay to marry or adopt children. On the contrary, democrats advocate for equal treatment of lesbian as well as gay couples and argue that they should be allowed to even adopt children if they so wish (ProCon Web; Rutledge Web). Currently, Democrats advocate for liberal taxation and argue that high-income earners should pay higher taxes while the republicans are opposed to progressive taxes and currently support tax cut. The republicans consider payment of higher taxes by the rich as a kind of class welfare. Additionally Democrats support increment of minimum wages while Republicans are opposed to such a move argues that it would affect businesses negatively (Rutledge Web). Swapping of Roles between Republican and Democrat After their successful fight for the abolishment of the slavery, the Republicans focused on ensuring that America did not undergo rapid changes that the Democrats were fighting for. This was the then definition of conservatism. On the contrary, the democrats were liberal and advocated for progressiveness which meant modernizing America. However, the last four decades have been characterized by rapid changes in the ideologies previously associated with the Democratic Party as well as the Republican Party. Nevertheless, most people currently believe that the two parties have continued to uphold their core beliefs since their formation, which is not true. Initially, the republicans were opposed to aspects such as labor unions, and low income taxes while Democrats advocated for higher tax payment particularly by the wealthy (Meyers Web; Socastee 0nline Web). The traits previously attributed to the Democratic Party are now attributed to the Republican Party and vise verse. It was the republicans who strongly supported isolationism while currently it is the democrats. Democrats initially pursued for liberty but this is currently a Republican ideology, who is less opposed to foreign policies. Additionally, the Democrats previously advocated for decreased tariffs and Republicans are currently advocating for low tariffs. Previously, Democratic Party was considered the party of the common person, a characteristic that is now accorded to Republican (Rutledge Web; Socastee 0nline Web). In around 1960, the republicans and the democrats reversed their roles. Republicans started disregarding the fiscal policies, advocated for trade restriction while the democrats became advocator s of fiscal policies, and advocated free trade in addition to competitive markets. Additionally, the Republicans started opposing on tax cutting while Democrats who had previously concentrated on raising the government expenditure resulting in tax raises started focusing on reduction of taxes. The budget started being characterized by deficit rise during republican presidencies an example being during the Reagan and Bush reigns 1981 and 2001 respectively. Additionally the two presidents disregarded long term budget considerations (Lawrence Web; Rutledge Web). There are numerous other examples to show that the history of approaches preferred by the two parties has changed or rather the republican and Democrats have traded places. Previously, Republican presidencies focused more on fighting inflation but recent presidents such as Reagan and Bush stressed on convincing the federal government to ease on monetary policies. On the contrary, Democrats who had previously showed less regard on the policies started viewing them as important. This was evidenced in Clinton’s presidency since he rarely interrupted the implementation of fiscal policies (Harwood Web; Helper Web). Formerly Republicans supported small government as opposed to Democrats who preferred large government. This changed later during Reagan as well as Bush’s presidency when the federal employment shot up only to shrink back during Clinton presidency. The increased federal employment meant an increased government size resulting in need for increment in taxes to support government operations (Lawrence Web; Socastee 0nline Web; NewsFlavo Web). Until 1960s, the Democratic and Republican parties were divided on issues concerning women. Initially, the Republican Party supported equal rights for women, while the Democrats favored protective legislation to safeguard women from competition. In the 1960s, the two parties started demonstrating some level of convergence on the women issue. By the end of Johnson reign, two parties virtually agreed that legal impartiality should be extended to women. However, in the early 1970s, the Republican Party began to reverse and showed opposition towards legal equality in addition to the Supreme Court's stance on abortion rights. This is a clear depiction of role reversal since the Democratic Party created the perception that they we attempting to reach out to women as constituents while Republicans were withdrawing (Harwood Web; Lawrence Web). From its foundation up to the middle of the 20th century, the Democratic Party particularly in the South strongly embraced racial discrimination. However this changed later as demonstrated by the Democratic President Lyndon Johnson’s move when he passed the Civil Rights act in 1964, which gave equal rights to the black people in the South. This was the beginning of the fight for equality of all races. Recently the Democratic Party has changed from the party that advocated for bigger government to one advocates for small sized government and the Democrats backing for less taxation have revealed this. Reduction in taxes calls for a less vast government. On the contrary, the Republican previously opposed to taxations are advocating for increased government spending, which would require increase in taxes. This is a depiction of reverse of the ideologies hence the roles (Harwood Web; Helper Web; Klessig Web; Meyers Web). People’s understanding of Past of the Democratic and Republican Parties Though few aspects of liberalism among the democrats and conservatism among the Republicans remain unchanged, most people particularly in America do not understand the history of the two parties. This is because they still consider the Democratic Party to be a party of liberals and Republican Party to the party of conservatives. The few recent happenings that demonstrate conservativeness of the republicans include their disapproval of gay and lesbian marriages in addition to abortion. However, this can be attributed to the fact that most of them are religious and religious groups are opposed to such actions (Meyers Web; Harwood Web). The Democrat pro-abortion as well as avocations for legalization of homosexuality can be attributed to their need to strengthen their political support from the women and homosexuals. It is thus not accurate to argue that the democrat and Republicans are still liberal and conservative respectively. Currently, most black Americans strongly support Democratic Party and believe it has been against racism since they lack previous knowledge that it was the same party that advocated for slavery, which mainly involved sale of black people (Klessig Web; NewsFlavor Web). Conclusion Since independence, America has undergone vast changes. One of the most noticeable is the reversal of ideologies and roles between Democratic Party and Republican Party, which are the two major parties. Though the parties have interchanged their ideologies, most Americans still believe that the parties have not changed. This is depicted by the believe that Republicans are still conservative and Democrats are still Liberal irrespective of the many happenings in the last four decades that have completely depicted reversed ideologies. Initially Democratic Party was a party that advocated for liberal ideologies and believed in larger federal government. Additionally, they advocated for equal social status and thus implemented tax plans that required the wealthy to pay higher taxes as an attempt to help the less privileged. They advocated for progressiveness and asserted that the values and economy of United States must evolve over time. On the other hand, people who were generally conservative and opposed to slavery formed Republican Party. Initially, Republicans advocated for fewer changes and were against external influences. They were also opposed to high taxes and believed that the government was not supposed to intervene on the poverty issue by overtaxing the wealthier. They intensely supported economic impartiality over equality. However the last four decades have been characterized by reversed ideologies where the Democrats are receptive to smaller government are depicted by Clintons move to reduce federal employment. The Democrats are currently opposed to excessive government expenditure. On the contrary, the contemporary republicans advocate for increased government expenditure and a larger government. Bush and Reagan were among republicans who increased federal expenditure. However, it is worth noting that there are certain aspects that remain unchanged. The conservative Republicans are still opposed to certain changes as depicted by their opposition to homosexuality, and abortion. Additionally, Democrats have retained some aspect of liberalism as demonstrated by their support for gay and lesbian marriages and abortion. Nevertheless, there are only few aspects that have not been traded off between the two parties as compared to the aspects that have been reversed. It is thus correct to conclude that Republican Party and Democratic Party have reversed not just their ideologies but also their roles. Nonetheless, most people in the United States still consider the Republican Party to be the party of the conservatives and the Democratic Party to be the party of liberal, which is attributable to their lack of knowledge of the history of the two parties. Works Cited Berg-Andersson, Richard. A Brief History Of American "Major Parties". 21 May 2001.Web. 7 Aug 2012 . Harwood, John. "A House Democrat Relishes Role Reversal." New York Times 13 Feb 2011. Web. 2 Aug 2012. < http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/a-house-democrat-relishes-role-reversal/> Helper, Lauren. Republican Role-Reversal on Gay Rights, Harry Reid Has NRA Cash and More in Capital Eye Opener: August 31. 31 Aug 2010.Web. 7 Aug 2012 . Klessig, Lowell. Purification of American Political Parties: How Compromise Became a Dirty Word. 22 June 2012. Web. 7 Aug 2012 . Lawrence , Jill. Seven Things Republicans Were For, Before They Were Against Them. 2012.Web. 7 Aug 2012 . Meyers, William. A Brief History of the Democratic Party. 2002.Web. 2 August 2012 NewsFlavor. Differences Between Republicans and Democrats. 3 Sept 2008. Web. 7 Aug 2012 . Parla, Kristen. Democratic versus Republican Perspectives. 2010.Web. 7 Aug 2012 . ProCon. US Political Parties. 18 July 2012. Web. 7 Aug 2012 . Rutledge, Ken. Democrat vs. Republican Philosophy. 2012. Web. 7 Aug 2012 . Socastee 0nline. History Of The Grand Old Party. 2008. Web. 7 Aug 2012 . ushistory.org. The Origins of the Republican Party. 2010. Web. 7 Aug 2012 . Read More