Not sure if you’ve noticed, but the 2016
US presidential election is being held this year (let’s be honest you have definitely
noticed, the election is plastered absolutely everywhere…). Whether you are obsessively following the
election, or are forced to see it every day in the news, you would have surely heard the
words “Republican’s, GOP, Grand old Party” or – the other major political party: the
“Democrat’s or the Democratic Party”. Whether or not you live in the United States
of America, or live outside it, you might not fully understand what the difference really
is between the republican and democrat parties’ ideologies – and what they really stand
for. The Republican and Democratic Parties are
currently the two most popular, powerful and prominent political parties in the United
States, with the history of the Democratic Party starting in 1828, as anti-federalist
factions began to form . The Republican Party formed a few decades later in 1854, with the
formation of the party based on stopping slavery, as they viewed it to be unconstitutional. At the most basic and plainest politics is
said to be split in half, with political parties either traditionally having left or right-wing
political views. The left-wing is usually associated with progressiveness,
supporting those who aren’t able to support themselves and believe in equality. On the other hand the right-wing values tradition
heavily, believes in equity, economic freedom and that the everyday individual shouldn’t
really have to pay for someone else’s health service or education through taxes for example
– essentially a survival of the fittest society . On the political spectrum the Democrats and
Republicans tend to have opposing positions on matters such as the economy, society, military
and other key issues. Both political parties are so large now that
it is hard to work out where their positions are on certain issues, but there are a few
issues where their opinions are quite apparent, but even then: candidates within the same
political party can have slightly differing views on major issues which affect us all. TAXATION
When it comes to taxation and wages the Republican Party believe that high tax rates on the rich
is a form of class warfare, and that both the poor and rich should receive tax-cuts. As the Republican Parties plans would see
the revenue which the federal government collects decrease, the result would be higher debt
and deficits. By lowering the taxes for the upper class,
these people are more likely to invest in businesses which in turn creates more jobs,
making a trickledown effect. Republicans also oppose raising the minimum
wage as they believe it hurts small businesses who account for a large amount of employment
for American’s. Democrats on the other hard believe in raising
taxes for the upper class and lowering tax for middle and lower classes of society – allowing
the government to boost their spending on social programs for the lower class. By raising the taxes of the upper class, the
Democrat party hopes to cut taxes for 98% of American families. The democrats also favour increasing the minimum
wage to help everyday workers. Simply put; the Republican’s lower tax to
benefit the wealthy and big businesses, whereas the Democrats support progressive taxes to
help fund social programs and to help out lower income citizens. GUN LAWS
An issue which divides many American’s, also divides Republicans and Democrats. Democrats favour more gun control but also
recognise that the second amendment is an important part of American tradition and that
the right to own and use firearms should be preserved. Reinstating the assault weapon ban and working
to make the background check system stronger so that guns aren’t getting into the hands
of irresponsible, are high up the agenda for the Democrats. The Republican’s on the other hand oppose
gun control laws and go as far to say that they believe that you should be able to obtain
and store ammunition without registration and support the right to self-defence. VOTER ID LAWS
The Republican Party is currently pushing for elections to require photo identification
for voting, to in their words “prevent election fraud”. Between 2000 and 2012 there were 867 cases
of voter fraud, but the Republican’s want this to be zero. The Democrat party are complete opposites
on voter identification, saying that they believe everyone has the right to vote making
them in opposition of laws which begin to put restrictions on those trying to vote. According to the Democrats, introducing photo
identification would affect young voters, people of colour, low-income families, those
with disabilities and the elderly, which is a large number of voters who wouldn’t be
able to vote. PRO LIFE VS CHOICE
As I’m sure you can begin to tell, the Republican Party is very much influenced through religion
and tradition, which should make it no surprise that they support the government restricting
abortions. The Republican’s believe that unborn children
have a fundamental right to live which cannot be taken away from them. The Democrat’s support Roe v. Wade and believe
that a woman should have the right to make her own decision about her pregnancy and that
politicians and the government have no right to get involved with a woman’s pregnancy. The Democrat party also wants to help reduce
the number of unintended pregnancies through better sex education, which should then help
decrease the need for abortions. STD rates are hitting all-time highs in the
USA, so putting work into sex education is something which the democrats believe will
benefit society greatly. SEX-SEX MARRIGES
Being very traditional and religious based, the Republican Party wants to not recognise
same-sex relationships, with the party aiming to constitutionally define marriage as “one
man and one woman.” The republicans also have the viewpoint that
same-sex couples should also not be able to adopt children. The Democrats oppose same-sex discrimination
on the Federal and State level and believe that same-sex couples should receive the same
amount of respect and legal treatment as heterosexual couples. In fact it was under the Democratic-Obama
administration that section three of the Defence of Marriage Act (which defined marriage as
a union between a man and a woman) was found to be unconstitutional, a decision which was
ruled by the Supreme Court on June 26, 2013. LIMIT OF GOVERNMENT
Republicans have positioned themselves in believing that a smaller government is better,
with republicans preferring themselves to have less responsibilities in society and
that they should let people and companies fail or succeed based on “their merits and
actions”, instead of the government intruding. The Republican Party don’t like policies
which essentially allow the government to have the power to pick and choose the winners
and losers of the market, instead letting economics and businesses speak for themselves. The democrats on the other hand believe that
the federal government should have a strong role in helping American’s with the challenges
they face, whether it be through regulating businesses, being more involved with health
care, benefits or other programs which help assist American’s in need. This sees Republican’s usually associated
with being called supports of a small government and the democrat’s supporters of a “big
government”, although the Republican Party can sometimes have “big government” stances
on some issues – such as abortion issues, but the Republican Party establishment tends
to have small government viewpoints when it comes around economics and society. All in all the democrat and republican parties
are quite different when it comes to key points, but this is what happens when you find yourself
in a two party political system as it would not make sense for there to be two similar
parties fighting for the same issues with the same stances. If you have enjoyed this video be sure to
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