POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE UNITED STATES Bibby When the founders of the American republic wrote the U.S. Constitution in 1787, they did not envision a role for political parties in the governmental order. Indeed, they sought through various constitutional arrangements such as separation of powers, checks and balances, and indirect election of the president by an electoral college to insulate the new republic from political parties and factions. In spite of the founders’ intentions, the United States was the first nation to develop parties organized on a national basis and to transfer executive power from one faction to another via an election in 1800. THE EMERGENCE AND PERVASIVENESS OF POLITICAL PARTIES The development of political parties was closely linked to the extension of the suffrage as qualifications requiring property ownership to vote were lifted during the early 1800s. With a vastly expanded electorate, a means was required to mobilize masses of voters. Political parties became institutionalized to accomplish this essential task. Thus parties in America emerged as a part of this democratic revolution, and by the 1830s were a firmly established part of the political firmament. Today, the Republican and Democratic parties totally pervade the political process. Approximately two-thirds of Americans consider themselves either Republicans or Democrats, and even those who say that they are independents normally have partisan leanings and exhibit high levels of partisan loyalty. For example, on average 75 percent of independents who “leaned” either toward the Republicans or the Democrats voted for their preferred party’s presidential candidate in the five presidential elections held between 1980 and 1996. The pervasiveness of partisan influences also extends to the party in government. The two major parties dominate the presidency, Congress, governorships, and state legislatures. Every president sin...
