The Two Dominant Political Parties of the United States of America - Essay Example

All the variances in people figures have affected, modified and changed the political approaches and arena over time. The original thinking of great minds in the early civilization of America either no longer exists or has been aptly altered or transformed. In sum, the multi-faceted US landscape resulted in the growth and development of its politics being intertwined with the ethnic compositions of the social order. Despite these factors, it is very significant and interesting to observe that the American internal political influence is shared by only two dominant parties, the Republican and the Democratic, unlike in other free sovereignties where run-off elections are an ordinary scenario caused by multi-party rumbles not giving a majority vote for any party at first instance.. Of course, there are other groups (like the Libertarian, the Constitution and the Green parties) moved by different ideological or causal beliefs but these are seemingly petty pockets which do not require much attention.

The Democratic Party is the oldest political party in the US. Historically, its founding dates back to as early as in 1790 after those who followed the great George Washington started to struggle for national prominence.4 Ironically, the first president himself did not belong to any political party and he was vocal about being against the establishment of one.5 While the Democratic Party of today is commonly perceived to be liberal, its roots were not exactly identified with that perception.

The passing of time together with so much changing of the guards has introduced dilutions. In the early stages of its organization, the foremost pillars of the Democratic Party, while divided, were not totally against slavery and racial discrimination. But if we go back to the 1960's, Democrat Robert F. Kennedy was a moving proponent who vigorously supported the doctrines and actions of Martin Luther King albeit there were charges of inappropriateness on the part of the former anent eliciting private information from the latter.

Be it also noted that the Reverend Jesse Jackson, a true disciple of Luther King and one shining embodiment of the civil rights movement, has been a long-time stalwart of the party. On the other side of the coin, we have the Republican Party which was founded resultant of in-house fighting among the original democrats of the post-George Washington era. Among its major crusades during infancy stage, slavery and racism were condemned. In contrast, however, perception of Republican icons say another thing.

Thus, Republican Ronald Reagan was criticized so much for his alleged racist and discriminatory stance despite the fact that he made into law the observation of a national day honoring Martin Luther King and the fact that he appointed the first woman Supreme Court justice. Reagan,