SAMPLE American Government
● Electoral College : The Electoral College is the process we use to elect the U.S. President. Established intheU.S.Constitution(Articlell,Section1),itspurposeistospreadthepowerto electthepresidentacrossall50states.Itwasdesignedtoensurethatthemorepopulousstates wouldn’t overpower the smaller states when choosing the nation’s leader. What were the major political parties in colonial America? The Federalists dominated until 1800, while the Republicans dominated after 1800. The parties originated in national politics and soon expanded their efforts to gain supporters and voters in every state. The Federalists appealed to the business community, and the Republicans to the planters and farmers. Before the American Civil War , there were: Democratic-Republicans, Whigs, National Republicans, Anti-Masonic, Free Soilers, and Democrats.
The first Republican President was Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) Abraham Lincoln, elected in 1860, was an American lawyerandstatesmanwho served as the 16th President of the United States from 1861 until his assassinationin1865.WiththeRepublicanParty’ssuccessinguidingtheUnionto victoryintheAmericanCivilWarandtheParty’sroleintheabolitionofslavery,the Republican Party largely dominated the national political scene until 1932. Why did the United States develop a two-party system?
PoliticalfactionsorpartiesbegantoformduringthestruggleoverratificationofthefederalConstitution of1787.Frictionbetweenthemincreasedasattentionshiftedfromcreatinganewfederalgovernment to the question of how powerful the federal government should be. In the 1820s, Democratic-Republicans in Congress divided over questions about the federal government's powers. Later,between1824and1840,emergingpoliticalpartieswouldtransformAmericanpolitics,engaging the general public in politics and organizing two rival parties dedicated to a different vision of the constitution and government. The role and nature of third parties ThirdParties arealsocalled minorpartiesandspoilers .Theyarespoilersbecausetheydonothavea chance of acquiring electoral votes.
● Economic protest parties ● Ideological parties ● Libertarian Party
● Issue parties ● Factional parties ● Green Party
The importance of third parties in a political system ● Grants voters another avenue to voice their opinion ● Takes some influence and power away from the two major parties
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