A political era in the US refers to a system of American politics used in political science and history to identify and analyze the political party system existing at a particular time in the US. The US is a federal republic where the federal courts, Congress, and President share powers that were allocated to the national government according the American constitution. Furthermore, the federal government shares it sovereignty with the 50 states. Since independence, different parties have dominated American politics. However, since the civil war, the Republican Party and Democratic Party have dominated US politics. Other parties include the Constitution Party, Libertarian Party, and Green Party. Other than the left-right political ideologies, there are libertarianism, liberalism, and conservatism. According to history, the US has had about five political eras. In each era, most of the Congressional and presidential elections were dominated by the same political party (Fiorina et al., 2011). In most cases, each political party that dominated the congressional and presidential elections had a distinct ideology that influenced the political eras.
The first era occurred when the US was adopting the constitution. John Adams and George Washington were federalists, and the era was known as the Federalist Era. When Thomas Jefferson was elected, he was anti-federalist, it ushered in the second political era or the democratic-republican era. The third political era began in the mid-1820s, and it was exemplified by President Andrew Jackson's election (Fiorina et al., 2011). President Jackson was nominated through a national party convention. However, the Whig Party was unstable, and some broke away and formed a political party that led up to the Civil War (Fiorina et al., 2011). The Republican Party dominated the fourth political era that lasted until the 1920s (Fiorina et al., 2011). During the fourth era, the Democratic Party was gaining strength especially in the urban areas especially with growing immigrants and new voters. The Great Depression influenced the fifth political era that was controlled by the Democratic Party.
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Are the Voters Choosing the Candidates For Office Or Are The Candidates Choosing The Voters?
The statement was made because there have been serious attempts to restrict or control the right to vote. For instance, voter identification laws have significantly restricted the right to vote. The support for voter identification cards is based on a false belief in massive voter fraud. Moreover, critical analysis of voter fraud claims has shown that the claims are non-existent. The issues regarding voter fraud were developed to justify voter identification. According to studies, it is the poor people who have limited access to voter identification cards. Therefore, poor people are more restricted and affected by the restrictions regarding the right to vote. Additionally, in some areas where the poor people are more likely to vote for a different party, restricting their right to vote offers a better chance of winning an election (Fiorina et al., 2011).
According to evidence provided earlier, it is highly likely that elected officials choose their voters. Leaders often identify a particular group of voters who are highly likely to vote for them. Additionally, elected officials attempt to pass laws and regulations that will favor a particular group of voters. Furthermore, registering to vote is a difficult task in the US in comparison to other developed countries. The voter turnout in Europe can be higher than 70% while the highest voter turnout in the US since the 1960s was 62.4% occurred in 2008 during President Obama’s first election (Fiorina et al., 2011). Since federal elections occur on a Tuesday in November, it restricts many people from voting because it is a workday.
References
Fiorina, M. P., Peterson, P. E., Johnson, B. D., & Mayer, W. G. (2011). The new American democracy, seventh edition Boston: Pearson.
