Since the last of the Whig party left office in 1852, the .
American political system has been primarily a two party system. The.
Democrats and the Republicans have been the two parties fighting for .
the Presidency since that time. There have been many other parties .
since that time, but mainly, these two have gone unopposed against .
each other. However, how much good do these parties actually do? Would .
our country be run as effectively if the presence of political parties .
was no longer a factor? It is the opinion of the authors that the U.S. .
Government would exist without political parties and may, in fact be .
stronger. The concept of political parties seems to go against what it .
means to be a politician: to represent his or her constituents. More .
time, money and effort, it seems is put into getting elected to an .
office than actually doing work for the people in that office. One .
fairly recent example is seen in the case of the proposed federal .
Balanced Budget Amendment. Mark Hatfield, Republican Oregon Senator,.
went against his parties wishes and voted against the amendment. His .
party nearly abandoned him for choosing the people over his party. .
Many senators are faced with the same decision every day, but instead .
stick with party beliefs and not what they feel would be the best for .
the people. In order for true democracy to be achieved in our .
government, we feel drastic changes need to occur.
Review Of The Literature.
Since the mid 1850's, the Democrats and Republicans have had .
control of the nation government. The only place where opposition was .
felt was at the state and local levels. However, in the early days of .
our country, third and fourth party candidates played important roles .
in politics. A few of these parties from our history are the: .
Democrat-Republicans, Jefferson Republicans, Whigs and Federalists. .
Many other lesser known or hardly known at all parties were the: .
Socialists, Unionists, Farmer-Laborists, Progressives, Communists, .