Political Parties in the United States

In the United States of America, the political stage has been dominated by a two-party system right from the Federalist Party vs Democratic-Republican Party era to the present day Democrats vs Republicans era. Other than these two major parties, American politics is also characterized by the presence of third parties - small political parties which usually field candidates for Congressional and/or state-level offices of the US administration rather than opting for the Presidential elections.

American Political Parties Over the Years

As we mentioned earlier, the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party were the first two major parties in the American history. The Era of Good Feelings (1816-1824) marked the end of the first political system, and the second party system began with the modern Democratic Party and the Whig Party at loggerheads in the first half of 19th century. The decline of Whig Party and emergence of the Republican Party marked the beginning of third party system in the second half of the 19th century. The fourth party system - which is referred to as the Progressive Era was dominated by the Republicans with a brief stint for the Democrats. In fourth party system, however, the central issues were different from what they were in the third party system. The fifth party system, the one that we follow today, was formed as a result of the New Deal coalition with the Democrats and Republicans at loggerheads in 1933.

Political Parties in the United States Today

As of today, the two major parties in the US political arena are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Even though various third parties have achieved minor representation at the state as well as nation level, it's the two major political parties which have been in control of the US Congress since 1856. Given below are the details of the two major political entities in the United States of America as of today.

The Democratic Party (Democrats)
The modern Democratic Party was founded in 1828 from factions of the Democratic-Republican Party. Its ideology is, by and large, based on American liberalism and progressivism. In the US political spectrum, the Democratic Party is considered to be a center-left party. It is not just the oldest political party in the United States, but is also one of the oldest in the entire world. As of today, this party has given the United States 15 US Presidents, including President Barack Obama - the current President of the United States of America. Other Democrats in the list of Presidents include some popular names such as Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945), Harry Truman (1945-1953) etc.

The Republican Party (Republicans)
The Republican Party, also referred to as the Grand Old Party (GOP), was founded by anti-slavery activists, modernizers and ex-Whigs in 1854. In the US political spectrum, the Republican ideology is typically characterized by American conservatism, social conservatism and economic liberalism. The Republican Party first came to power within six years of its inception in 1860 - under the leadership of President Abraham Lincoln. The last Republican to become the US President was President George W. Bush (Jr.) who served as the president for two consecutive terms. Other Republicans featuring in the list of Presidents of USA include names like Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961), Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) etc.

Other Political Parties in the US
Other political parties with a significant role to play in the American politics include the Constitution Party (founded in 1992), Libertarian Party (founded in 1971) and the Green Party (founded in 1980s.) The third largest part in terms of registered voters, the Constitution Party follows the ideology of American nationalism and National conservatism. Similarly, the Libertarian Party ideology is based on libertarianism and non-interventionism, while the Green Party ideology is based on green politics. Other than these five political parties, there also exist smaller parties which do not have presidential candidates, but they do contest for other offices of the US administration. (See the table given below.)

Political Party	Year Formed	Ideology
America First Party	2002	Paleoconservatism, economic nationalism, non-interventionism
American Party	1968	Paleoconservatism
America's Independent Party	2008	Conservatism, Constitutionalism
Boston Tea Party	2006	Libertarianism, Non-interventionism
Communist Party of the United States of America	1919	Communism, Marxism-Leninism
Florida Whig Party	2006	Syncretic politics, Transpartisanship
Independence Party of America	2007	Non-partisan democracy, Populism
Moderate Party	2006	Moderate, Centrism, Peace Open, Democracy
Modern Whig Party	2008	Modern Whig philosophy, Centrism, Pragmatism, Syncretic politics, Transpartisanship
National Socialist Movement	1959	Neo-Nazism
New American Independent Party	2004	Moderate, Pragmatism, Grassroots democracy
Objectivist Party	2008	Objectivism
Party for Socialism and Liberation	2004	Communism, Marxism-Leninism
Peace and Freedom Party	1967	Social democracy, Democratic socialism
Pirate Party of the United States	2006	Intellectual property reform, Freedom of information
Prohibition Party	1869	Temperance
Reform Party of the United States of America	1995	Populism, Centrism
Socialist Equality Party	2008	Trotskyism, Socialism
Socialist Party USA	1973	Democratic socialism
Socialist Workers Party	1938	Socialism, Marxism
United States Marijuana Party	2002	Anti-Prohibitionism
Unity Party of America	2004	Centrism
Working Families Party	1998	Progressivism, Populism, Social democracy

As of 2004, the Democratic Party had the largest number of registered voters at 72 million, followed by the Republican Party which had 55 million registered voters to its credit. The landslide victory for President Barack Obama, in the 2008 polls, did give the Democrats an edge, but whether they'd be able to hold on to it is something that only time will answer.