1. Political Parties: What do they do?
Promote a political agenda to influence government policy and action
Select candidates for election
Educate voters
Finance election campaigns
Fill government positions

2. 2 “Big Tent” Parties
Both Republicans and Democrats are considered “Big Tent” parties because there are many different groups that support unrelated issues who associate with the same party. For example, African Americans, environmentalists, pro-choice Americans and gay Americans all are special interest groups whose members typically vote for the Democrat party.
Often in American politics third parties limit their interests to a single issue. For example, the Green Party is a political party that puts environmentalism at the center of its agenda.

3. Political Parties: Who are they. What do they want
Political Parties: Who are they? What do they want? Democrats and Republicans

4. The History of Democrats
The first two presidents of the US, George Washington and John Adams were Federalists. They believed in a strong central government. Both were wealthy men who owned property and were very concerned with improving commerce and ensuring property rights.
The Anti-Federalists evolved into the Democrat-Republican party. Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States was the first Democrat-Republican to be elected President. They were mostly supported by working class small farmers from the South who valued their liberties, resented big business and possessed a general suspicion of government.

5. Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, the 3rd and 5th Presidents of the United States signed the Constitution in support of a strong federal government, but came to distrust an all powerful central government. They called themselves Democratic-Republicans and openly sympathized with the Anti-Federalists.

6. The First Democrat elected President!
Andrew Jackson

7. Andrew Jackson used a donkey to symbolize his working class roots and ever since the Democrats have been known as the part of the donkey.

8. Democrat History Continued
Democrats evolved into the party that represented mainly the working classes of cities in the North and predominantly white agricultural workers in the South until Famous Democrats of this time period included James Polk, Andrew Johnson, and Woodrow Wilson.

9. Franklin Delanor Roosevelt transformed the Democrat party into what it is today.
FDR captured the White House in 1932 and led the United States out the Great Depression by expanding government services like welfare, social security, jobs programs and to a lesser extent supporting civil rights laws. John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson continued the tradition set by FDR in pushing forward civil rights laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and expanding the welfare state (a type of government designed to take care of its citizens, rather than ask them to take care of themselves) government’s role in society with the creation of Medicare, Medicaid and the expansion of welfare.

10. Democrats Today
Today the Democrats are commonly perceived as the party of big government, civil rights, women’s rights, environmentalism, the poor and pacifism (slow to go to war).
Currently the president is a Democrat and in the upcoming election there will be Democrat.
Hillary Clinton
Barak Obama

11. History of the Republicans
The Republicans were born in 1854 with support of abolitionists (people against slavery) and those who supported a strong federal government. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican to be elected President. The Radical Republicans were responsible for pushing for Reconstruction efforts after the Civil War in the South. Later, in the late 1880s Republicans became known as the party of big business.

12. The Republican Party was born amidst tensions between slave and free states in 1850s. They tended to find more support in northern states.

13. History of Republicans
In the 1920s Republicans such as Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover were known for laissez faire economics (free market) and isolationism (the US should mind its own business and stay out of world affairs). They favored small government, were against taxes and thought that the economy could take care of itself if left to its own devises.

14. Republicans came to be associated with elephants due to the political cartoons of Thomas Nast in 1874.

15. The Republican Party transformed itself from a political party of the North to one of the South and West in 1968.
The modern Republican Party was born out of Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy in which Nixon appealed to southern white voters by proclaiming his support of states rights and promised to make the US safer. Today the Republican party stands for many of the issue Richard Nixon supported such as lower taxes, small government, the rights to carry arms, pro-life policies, a strong military and a smaller welfare state.

16. Republicans Today!
The Republican party today tends to support public policies that limit the size of government and cut taxes. Typically, they also support the War on Terror, are generally opposed to the legalization of abortion (pro-life) and vote against programs to increase the size of the welfare state.
Donald Trump
Marco Rubio
Paul Ryan

18. The 2000 Election. Blue = Democrat Red = Republican

19. 2004 Election

20. 2008 Election

21. 2012 Election

22. Evaluate
What parts of the country seem to favor one party over another
What states seem to switch?
Battle Ground States
Usually Colored Purple, indicating both red and blue

23. Party Differences Republicans Democrats Philosophy
Conservative (Right)
Liberal (Left)
Economic Ideas
Believe taxes shouldn't be increased for anyone (including the wealthy) and that wages should be set by the free market.
Increased taxes on higher income brackets (wealthy)
Role of Government
Small Government
Big Government (Lots of Social Welfare Programs)
Military and Military Spending
Decreased spending
Increased spending

24. Republicans
Democrats
Gun Laws
Oppose gun laws; support second amendment
Support stronger gun laws