Editing Politics of the United States (section)

===Development and evolution of political parties===
{{See also|History of the United States Republican Party|History of the United States Democratic Party}}

====Background====
The [[United States Constitution]] never formally addressed the issue of [[Political party|political parties]], primarily because the [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Fathers]]—[[Alexander Hamilton]], [[James Madison]],<ref>In [[Federalist No. 9|Federalist Papers No. 9]] and [[Federalist No. 10|No. 10]],  respectively</ref> [[George Washington]]—opposed them as domestic [[political faction]]s leading to domestic conflict<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shmoop.com/political-parties/founding-fathers-political-parties.html |title=Political Parties - The Founding Fathers & Political Parties |website=Shmoop |date= |access-date=2022-02-25 |archive-date=January 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190112023032/https://www.shmoop.com/political-parties/founding-fathers-political-parties.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and stagnation.<ref>{{cite WS|title=Washington's Farewell Address|link=Washington's Farewell Address#20}}</ref>

Nevertheless, the beginnings of the American [[two-party system]] emerged from Washington's immediate circle of advisers, including Hamilton and Madison.  By the 1790s, different views of the new country's proper course had already developed, with those holding the same views banding together. The followers of [[Alexander Hamilton]] (the "[[Federalist Party|Federalist]]") favored a strong central government that would support the interests of commerce and industry. The followers of [[Thomas Jefferson]], ("[[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republicans]]")  preferred a decentralized [[Agrarianism|agrarian]] republic.

By 1828, the Federalists had disappeared as an organization, replaced first by the [[National Republican Party]] and then by the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whigs]], while the Democratic Republicans evolved into the Democrats led by [[Andrew Jackson]], and known for celebrating "the common (white) man" and the expansion of suffrage to most of them.

In the 1850s, it was the Whigs' turn to disappear, undone by the issue of whether slavery should be allowed to expand into the country's new territories in the West. The Whigs were eventually replaced by the Republican Party which opposed slavery expansion and whose first successful candidate for the presidency was [[Abraham Lincoln]].

====Democratic and Republican====
In the 150+ years since the Democratic and Republican parties have been America's two major parties, though their policies, base of support and relative strength have changed considerably.

Some eras in American politics include:

* [[Reconstruction era]] (1865—1877) and [[Gilded Age]] (1870s—1900s). After the defeat of the Confederacy,  the Republican Party, associated with the successful military defense of the Union and often known as "the Grand Old Party", became the dominant party in America.<ref>Lewis L. Gould, ''The Republicans: A History of the Grand Old Party'' (Oxford University Press, 2014).</ref> The Democrats were dominant in the   "[[Solid South]]" (i.e. solidly Democratic) where "repressive legislation and physical intimidation" of [[Jim Crow]] prevented the "newly enfranchised African Americans from voting". They celebrated "state's rights", a key principle of segregationists. Nationwide democrats supported  [[Easy money|cheap-money]], and opposed banking and tariffs.<ref name="britannica-dem">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Democratic-Party  |title=Democratic party |website=Britannica |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref><ref>Jules Witcover, ''Party of the People: A History of the Democrats'' (2003)</ref>  Another element in its coalition were mostly urban Catholics.
{{main|Third Party System}}
* The [[Progressive Era]] (1896—1917). Progressive programs —municipal reforms, civil service reform, corrupt practices acts, and presidential primaries to replace the power of politicians at national conventions—strove to clean up politics, revitalize democracy, bringing to bear scientific solutions to social problems. Progressive leaders included Republicans  [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[Robert M. La Follette]], and [[Charles Evans Hughes]]; Democrats [[William Jennings Bryan]], [[Woodrow Wilson]], and [[Al Smith]].
{{Main|Fourth Party System}}
* The [[New Deal]] (1933—1938). These programs of Democratic president [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] designed to deal with the disruption and suffering of the [[Great Depression]] — raising of the minimum wage, the establishment of the [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] and other federal services — created a dramatic political shift in America.  Roosevelt "forged a broad coalition—including small farmers, Northern city dwellers, organized labor, European immigrants, liberals, intellectuals, and reformers". The Democratic party became the dominant party—retaining the presidency until 1952 and controlling both houses of Congress for most of the period until the mid-1990s.<ref name=britannica-dem/>
{{Main|Fifth Party System}}
* The Break up of New Deal coalition. The [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]]—driven by Democratic president [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]—began the breaking off of the white segregationist Solid South from the Democratic party.  [[Richard M. Nixon]]'s "[[Southern strategy]]" began the process of winning white Southerners away to the G.O.P., and within a few decades  created a solidly Republican south. Republican conservatives became victorious with the [[1980 United States presidential election|1980 victory]] of [[Ronald Reagan]], who campaigned on a theme of smaller government,  free trade and tax cuts. These would stimulate economic growth which would then "[[Trickle-down economics|trickle down]]" to the middle and lower classes (who might not benefit initially from these policies). The Republican party was now said to rest on "[[The Three Leg Stool (GOP)|three legs]]" of  [[Christian right]]/[[Social conservatism]], [[fiscal conservatism]]/[[Libertarian conservatism|small government]], and strong anti-communist military policy.
[[File:Political Polarization in the United States.png|thumb|366x366px|One year after the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, American Facebook users on the political right and political left shared almost no common interests.]]
* [[Political polarization in the United States]] (1990s—present). Since the 1990s, the U.S. has experienced more "[[partisan sorting]]" (i.e.  liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats began to disappear);<ref>{{cite web |title=Political Polarization in the American Public | publisher=Pew Research Center |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/ |date=12 June 2014}}</ref> as well as  a greater surge in ideological polarization,  and affective polarization than comparable democracies,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Boxell|first1=Levi|last2=Gentzkow|first2=Matthew|last3=Shapiro|first3=Jesse M.|date=2022|title=Cross-Country Trends in Affective Polarization|journal=The Review of Economics and Statistics|volume=106 |issue=2 |pages=557–565|doi=10.1162/rest_a_01160|s2cid=246583807|issn=0034-6535|url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w26669.pdf }}</ref><ref name=Draca>{{Cite web |last1=Draca |first1=Mirko |last2=Schwarz |first2=Carlo |date=2021-05-11 |title=How Polarized Are Citizens? Measuring Ideology from the Ground-Up |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3154431 |publisher=[[Social Science Research Network]] |ssrn=3154431 |language=en}}</ref> with a shift away from focus on political success, toward the abhorrence and domination ("owning") of supporters of the opposing party.<ref name="sectarian">{{Cite journal |last1=Finkel |first1=Eli J. |last2=Bail |first2=Christopher A. |last3=Cikara |first3=Mina |last4=Ditto |first4=Peter H. |last5=Iyengar |first5=Shanto |last6=Klar |first6=Samara |last7=Mason |first7=Lilliana |last8=McGrath |first8=Mary C. |last9=Nyhan |first9=Brendan |last10=Rand |first10=David G. |last11=Skitka |first11=Linda J.|author-link6 = Samara Klar |date=2020-10-30 |title=Political sectarianism in America |journal=Science |language=en |volume=370 |issue=6516 |pages=533–536 |doi=10.1126/science.abe1715 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=33122374 |doi-access=free}}</ref> This move away from the center and change in ideology has not been symmetrical, with Republicans moving farther to the right than Democrats have moved to the left (based on rankings of congressional roll-call votes).<ref name="Desilver-Pew-10-3-2022">{{cite web |last1=Desilver |first1=Drew |title=The polarization in today's Congress has roots that go back decades |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/03/10/the-polarization-in-todays-congress-has-roots-that-go-back-decades/ |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=10 November 2022 |date=March 10, 2022}}</ref> {{NoteTag|see also Sahil Chinoy: the Republican Party "leans much farther right than most traditional conservative parties in Western Europe and Canada", based on its party manifestos, while the Democratic Party is still close to other left-of-center parties in developed democracies.<ref name="Chinoy-NYT-26-6-2019">{{cite news |last1=Chinoy |first1=Sahil |title=What Happened to America's Political Center of Gravity? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/26/opinion/sunday/republican-platform-far-right.html |access-date=5 November 2022 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 26, 2019}}</ref>}} Republican strategist [[Newt Gingrich]] introduced a "Take No Prisoners"<ref name="Krauss-bank-1992">{{cite news |last1=Krauss |first1=Clifford |title=The House Bank; Gingrich Takes No Prisoners in the House's Sea of Gentility |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/17/us/the-house-bank-gingrich-takes-no-prisoners-in-the-house-s-sea-of-gentility.html |access-date=9 November 2022 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 17, 1992 |quote=Newt Gingrich of Georgia, the Republican whip, who is described even by his friends as a bomb thrower, a pit bull, a guerrilla. ... the triumph of a militant style of Republican leadership that the House has not seen for decades.}}</ref> or "no-holds-barred" style in congress,<ref name="Beauchamp-conquered">{{cite news |last1=Beauchamp |first1=Zack |title=How conservatism conquered America — and corrupted itself |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/7/6/23144343/end-of-conservatism-roe |access-date=5 November 2022 |website=Vox |date=July 6, 2022}}</ref> that abandoned the norm whereby Democrats were opponents in elections but primarily  colleagues to negotiate with in making good  legislation. Gingrich taught that they were the enemy to be defeated, attacked as "traitors ... liars ... cheaters".<ref name=dana-8-9-22>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/08/09/1116281152/how-the-republican-party-came-to-embrace-conspiracy-theories-and-denialism |title=How the Republican Party came to embrace conspiracy theories and denialism [Interview by Terry Gross of Dana Milbank, author of ''The Destructionists: The Twenty-Five-Year Crack-Up Of The Republican Party'' |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=August 9, 2022 |access-date=October 3, 2022}}</ref> [[Karl Rove]] emphasized that elections are won by energizing the party "base" (core supporters), not reaching out to the persuadable or swing voter in the middle; attacking opponents strong points (for example running ads implying decorated veterans—[[Max Cleland]] and [[John Kerry]]—were actually treasonous).<ref name=dana-8-9-22/>  Conspiracy theories also began to become mainstream among Republicans during this time (for example accusing then Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] of ordering the military to not protect Americans at the [[2012 Benghazi attack|U.S. compound in Benghazi]]).<ref name=dana-8-9-22/>
* [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Presidency of Donald Trump]] (2017—2021). After decades of dominance, "Reagan Revolution" rhetoric and policy, began to be replaced by new themes [[Political positions of Ronald Reagan|Reaganism]] had not emphasized, (cultural/attitudinal conservatism such as opposition to gay marriage, transgender rights). Themes it had not objected to (immigration from non-European countries) or had unequivocally supported (economic globalization and especially big business) were abandoned or attacked. Populism replaced  gentility,<ref name="lurched-2020-economist">{{cite news |title=The Republican Party has lurched toward populism and illiberalism |url=https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/10/31/the-republican-party-has-lurched-towards-populism-and-illiberalism |access-date=November 9, 2022 |newspaper=The Economist |date=October 31, 2020}}</ref> and prudent [[Edmund Burke]] conservatism.<ref name="NYer-Lizza-met-11-11-15">{{cite magazine |last1=Lizza |first1=Ryan |title=When Donald Trump Met Edmund Burke |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/when-donald-trump-met-edmund-burke |access-date=9 November 2022 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=11 November 2015 |quote=The Burkeans have been losing ground in the Republican Party for a while now. Too often their old conception of conservatism strikes others in the G.O.P. as a form of surrender or, at the very least, an acceptance of the liberal status quo.}}</ref> In the party base, not only had conservative (white) blue collar workers migrated to the Republican Party, but a business class that had been part of the Republican Party since the post-Civil War [[Gilded Age]], began to leave.{{notetag|[[Ross Douthat]] explained the shift:<ref>Ross Douthat. "What Does the Right Do When Big Business Turns Against Republicans?" [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/27/opinion/desantis-musk-disney.html ''New York Times'' April 27, 2022]</ref><blockquote>The Republican Party in the Trump era remained a mostly pro-business party in its policies but its constituencies and rhetoric have tilted more working class and populist  ... much of corporate America has swung culturally into liberalism's camp. ...  accelerated by anti-Trump backlash, the more left-leaning commitments of big business's younger customers and (especially) younger employees, ... As a consequence, today's G.O.P. is most clearly now the party of local capitalism—the small-business gentry, the family firms.... Much of the party elite wish to continue doing business with big business as before. But the party's base regards corporate institutions—especially in Silicon Valley, but extending to more traditional capitalist powers—as cultural enemies ...</blockquote>  In the words of Republican Senator [[Marco Rubio]]: "Big Business is not our ally. They are eager culture warriors who use the language of [[woke]]ness to cover free-market capitalism." Journalist [[David Brooks (commentator)|David Brooks]] argued that "the information age is transforming the American right. Conservatives have always inveighed against the cultural elite—the media, the universities, Hollywood. But in the Information Age, the purveyors of culture are now corporate titans".<ref name=terrifying>{{cite magazine |title=The Terrifying Future of the American Right |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/scary-future-american-right-national-conservatism-conference/620746/ |first1=David |last1=Brooks |magazine=Atlantic |date=18 November 2021}}</ref>}}  Added to the louder and growing number of  conspiracy theories{{NoteTag|When conspiracy theories started appearing after the intruder attack with a hammer of 82-year-old Paul Pelvis, Chris Cillizza of CNN described them as "unfortunately, ... par for the course for the former president and the movement that he leads. The embrace of conspiracy theories sits at the very heart of Trumpism. Remember that Trump once suggested, without evidence, that Texas Sen. [[Ted Cruz]]'s father might have been involved in the [[assassination of John F. Kennedy]]. And that the Iowa caucuses had been stolen from him. And that the 2020 election was stolen from him. And that the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago might have really been an effort to reclaim Hillary Clinton's email server. Conspiracy theories have a special appeal to Trump because they speak to the underlying appeal he has to his followers: The elites in the country are always up to something nefarious and they are trying to keep that fact from you. They want to keep you in the dark, but you are too smart for that, so you see through the stories they are telling you."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/01/politics/donald-trump-paul-pelosi-reaction/index.html |title=Donald Trump joins the Paul Pelosi conspiracy caucus |author=Chris Cillizza |publisher=CNN |date= 1 November 2022 |access-date=2 November 2022}}</ref>}} were "[[alternative facts]]". The "bedrock principle of democracy, that losing candidates and their supporters accept the results" was no longer supported by the majority of Republicans.<ref name="Benen-data-MSMBC-2-11-2021">{{cite news |last1=Benen |first1=Steve |author-link1=Steve Benen|title=Data shows GOP voters skeptical of 'bedrock principle of democracy' |url=https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/data-shows-gop-voters-skeptical-bedrock-principle-democracy-n1282947 |access-date=9 November 2022 |publisher=MSNBC |date=2 November 2021 |quote= When looking ahead to the 2024 presidential election, it is remarkable that a bedrock principle of democracy — that losing candidates and their supporters accept the results — is not held by nearly two in three Republicans who say they will question the results if their candidate does not win. (pollster Lee Miringoff)}}</ref>  Not only did white southerners leave the Democratic party but eventually a large majority of rural and working class whites nationwide became the base of the Republican Party.<ref name="Bauman-2020">{{cite news |last1=Bauman |first1=Anna |last2=Clayson |first2=Jane |title=Tracing The Path Of The Modern GOP, From Reagan To Trump |url=https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2020/08/28/gerald-seib-tracing-modern-gop |publisher=WBUR |website=On Point |access-date=September 28, 2022 |date=August 28, 2020}}</ref> Whereas for decades the college-educated voters skewed heavily toward the Republican party, eventually high educational attainment was a marker of Democratic support, (leading [[Donald Trump]] to proclaim to supporters, "I love the poorly educated!"). Post-2012 has also been characterized by even political division and a lack of a dominant political party.<ref>{{cite news |author=Jamelle Bouie |date=November 11, 2022 |title=A Shock to the System Is Coming. Which Party Will Be Ready for It? |department=Opinion |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/opinion/midterms-republicans-democrats-history.html}}</ref>