Whig Party

Examples of Whig Party in the following topics:

• Political Parties from 1800–1824

  • The First Party System refers to political party system existing in the United States between roughly 1792 and 1824.
  • Anti-Federalist debates, it featured two national parties competing for control of the presidency, Congress, and the states: the Federalist Party, created largely by Alexander Hamilton, and the rival Democratic-Republican Party formed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
  • By 1796 politics in every state was nearly monopolized by the two parties, with party newspapers and caucuses becoming especially effective tools to mobilize voters.
  • In 1824-28, as the Second Party System emerged, the Republican Party split into the Jacksonian faction, which became the modern Democratic Party in the 1830s, and the Henry Clay faction, which was absorbed by Clay's Whig Party.
  • Distinguish the issues and policies supported by the first political parties and identify the central elements of the First Party System

• The Rise of Independents

  • In politics, an Independent or nonpartisan politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party.
  • Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties.
  • Sometimes, they hold a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do not feel that any major party addresses.
  • John Tyler was expelled from the Whig Party in September 1841 and remained effectively an Independent for the remainder of his presidency, later returning to the Democrats.
  • Vermont senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party to become an Independent in 2001.

• The Two-Party System

  • Under a two-party system, one party typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referred to as the majority party while the other is the minority party.
  • The modern political party system in the U.S. is a two-party system dominated by the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
  • The First Party System of the United States featured the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party (Anti-Federalist).
  • In 1829, the Second Party System saw a split of the Democratic-Republican Party into the Jacksonian Democrats, who grew into the modern Democratic Party, led by Andrew Jackson, and the Whig Party, led by Henry Clay.
  • The Third Party System stretched from 1854 to the mid-1890s, and was characterized by the emergence of the anti-slavery Republican Party, which adopted many of the economic policies of the Whigs, such as national banks, railroads, high tariffs, homesteads and aid to land grant colleges.

• Jacksonian Democrats: 1824–1860

  • The Democratic-Republican Party of the Jeffersonians became factionalized in the 1820s.
  • Jackson's supporters began to form the modern Democratic Party; they fought the rival Adams and Anti-Jacksonian factions, which soon emerged as the Whigs.
  • The Whigs were the inheritors of Jeffersonian Democracy in terms of promoting schools and colleges.
  • There was usually a consensus among both Jacksonians and Whigs that battles over slavery should be avoided.
  • The Whigs generally opposed Manifest Destiny and expansion, saying the nation should build up its cities.

• The Republican Party

  • The Republican Party is a major political party in the U.S, along with the Democratic Party; its platform reflects American conservatism.
  • The Republican Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party.
  • Founded in the Northern states in 1854 by anti-slavery activists, modernizers, ex-Whigs and ex-Free Soldiers, the Republican Party quickly became the principal opposition to the dominant Southern Democratic Party.
  • The party's founding members chose the name "Republican Party" in the mid-1850s as homage to the values of republicanism promoted by Thomas Jefferson's Republican Party.
  • The traditional mascot of the party is the elephant.

• Candidates for Congressional Elections

  • Although the two-party system preserves the dominance of the Republican and Democratic parties, there is no direct relationship between congressional party discipline and election years.
  • The support and backing of the parties is not necessary and sufficient to win elections.
  • However, candidates no longer have a congressional party discipline like in other historical times.
  • Ballot access rules for independent and minor party candidates vary from state to state.
  • (as elected in the biennial elections) Occasionally terms are applied in a slightly anachronistic way, such as for Federalists and Democratic-Republicans in the first few years on the Congress, or for Whigs during Jackson's presidency.

• Political Parties

  • When the party is represented by members in the lower house of parliament, the party leader simultaneously serves as the leader of the parliamentary group of that full party representation.
  • Partisan style political parties varies according to each jurisdiction, depending on how many parties there are, and how much influence each individual party has.
  • In single-party systems, one political party is legally allowed to hold effective power.
  • One right wing coalition party and one left wing coalition party is the most common ideological breakdown in such a system, but in two-party states political parties are traditionally parties that are ideologically broad and inclusive.
  • More commonly, in cases where there are three or more parties, no one party is likely to gain power alone, and parties work with each other to form coalition governments.

• Ideological Third Parties and Splinter Parties

  • Currently, the two major American parties are the Democratic and Republican parties, although the top two parties change over time.
  • A third party is any party that supports a candidate for election other than the two major political parties; at the current moment, a third party would be any party other than the Democratic and Republican parties.
  • The three main third parties are the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, and the Constitution Party .
  • The Green Party is a progressive party that emphasizes eco-socialism.
  • An example of an extreme left wing party is the Peace and Freedom Party.

• Party Identification

  • Party identification refers to the political party with which an individual identifies.
  • In the United States, political parties consist of three parts: the party as government (members of the party who hold public office), the party as organization (committees, leaders and activists who work to promote the party and the candidates), and the party as electorate (citizens who support the party through party identification).
  • Citizens in the general population who identify with a particular party make up the Party in the Electorate.
  • Party ID changes can occur in times of party coalition change, or realignment.
  • A "leaning" party supporter shows more loyalty to the party than that of a weak party supporter.

• The National Party Organization

  • The modern political party system in the United States is a two-party system dominated by the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
  • At various times, the Socialist Party, the Farmer-Labor Party and the Populist Party had considerable local strength, and then faded away.
  • At present, the Libertarian Party is the most successful third party.
  • Statehood Party has served as a strong third party behind the Democratic Party and Republican Party.
  • Explain the history of political party organization and the significance of party committees for each of the major political parties