Political Parties

7 Pages 1868 Words

Political party is defined as “A group of office holders, candidates, activist, and voters who identify with a group label and seek to elect to public office individuals who run under that label.” (O’Connor 296) When referring to political parties George Washington, the first president of the United States, described it as the “fury of political parties”. In fact, George Washington felt so strongly against political parties that he felt a need to warn Americans stating:
“Let me now take a more comprehensive view and warn you in most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy.”
(George Washington)

George Washington was not alone in his fear of political parties, James Madison in Federalist # 10, warned Americans against factions and party politics, describing it as potentially “mortal disease”. (Federalist ) Hamilton claimed it was “an avenue to tyranny”.(Reichley 19) Despite the fear and dread of parties, political parties have become one of the most recognizable and essential part of American Politics. In the following pages, I will take a closer look at political parties, tracing its origins and progression, discussing the role parties played and play in American politics, focusing some attention on the different “third parties” in American history.
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ORIGINS OF POLITICAL PARTIES
As I touched on earlier, our founding fathers did not have a particularly fond view of political parties. Why were these men, considered the elite in politics at the time, so opposed to the notion of political parties? One theory on the strong opposition is, they felt part...