Final essay United States Political Parties. History Essay

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Final essay
Question 1
The account of political parties in America began with suspicions of what the parties aimed to achieve. Most of the founding fathers opposed them with Thomas Jefferson stating that “If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all (Harrison, Jean & Deardorff 373).” Regardless of, the various negative notions held about political parties; their existence played essential roles in the country.
The development of political parties began in 1788, with the election of George Washington as the president. He formed the first party known as the Federalist Party to enable him to push his agenda in Congress. President Washington faced resistance from various people among them Thomas Jefferson who was his secretary of state. Upon his resignation in 1793, Jefferson builds support of Jeffersonian Republicans, currently known as Democrats that propelled him to the presidency in 1800 to 1808. The Jeffersonian Republicans enjoyed thirteen years dominance until 1928, marking the end of the First Party System (Harrison, Jean & Deardorff 254).
The rise to power of Democrats began in 1928 (Harrison, Jean & Deardorff 255). Discord became apparent in the Jeffersonian and a military general and politician Andrew Jackson, in discontent, formed the Jacksonian Democrats. The coalition propelled Jackson to the presidency in 1828. In the 1830s concerned plantation owners and north industrial owners raised concern over Democratic popularism. The concerns fueled the formation of Whig party in 1836, with William Harrison as its first president in 1841 and John Tyler as the second from 1841 to 1845. It marked the end of the Second Party System.
The Third Party System saw the rise to power of Republicans. The issue of slavery became the primary concern for the two political parties in 1980 (Hopkins 47). The diverse views sharply divided Whig Party into two, those in support of slavery and those against it. Whig Party died, and an antislavery party known as the Republican Party came into existence in 1854. It took center stage, and with the support of Whig abolitionists and northern Democrats, Abraham Lincoln became the president in 1860. The party grew strong with increased support from the now free African Americans.
The Fourth Party organization began with the 1896 election contest between Democrat Jennings Bryan and Republican William McKinley where McKinley became the President and marked the start of Republican dominance. After his assassination, Theodore Roosevelt took power in 1901 under the Republican Party but, ran for office under the Progressive Party from 1904 to 1909. The move split the Republican Party into the Progressive party and regular Republicans bringing to power William Taft. Republicans continued to enjoy dominance and controlled the presidency all through the 1920s (Hopkins 54).
The Fifth Party System began in 1932 after Americans heed to Franklin Roosevelt’s call for a New Deal after the 1929 Great Depression. President Roosevelt brought back Democratic dominance in his four-term rule. His death, however, in 1945 saw a struggle to keep the Democratic Party intact with Republican President Dwight Eisenhower taking over power all through to 1956 (Hopkins 47). Democratic Party took over reigns all through the 1960s but, the Republicans weakened them up to the conclusion of President George W. Bush ’s administration in 2008.
The election of Barrack Obama from 2008 to 2016, introduced the New Party System. His win brought the Democratic Party’s dominance back with support from first-time voters and the youths. The system portrays strong competition, which has brought the history of parties to an end.
Question 2
The American Congress is the branch of government tasked with making laws. It comprises two distinct houses namely, the House of Representatives with 435 members and the Senate with 100 members (Harrison, Jean & Deardorff 370). The legislative processes of the two chambers of Congress are similar and different in various ways.
The introduction of the bill follows distinct processes in the two chambers. In the House, the staff of one of the members outlines the planned law, after which it rests in a wooden box known as a Hooper at the front of the House chamber. After its introduction, it gets the letters “HR” and a number indicating its order. Contrary, in the Senate, the process of introducing a bill follows an informal process. Senators announce the planned law in the form of a speech at the floor of the house or submit it as a draft to the clerk of the Senate. After its introduction, it gets the letter “S” and an order number (Harrison, Jean & Deardorff 374).
The two chambers also differ in the debating of a bill. Once a bill passes the committee stage in the House, it goes straight to the Rules Committee. As one of the most important committees in the House of Representatives, it determines how long the debate on the bill will take and the extent of amendments allowed to the law. Also, it formulates the structure of the debate (Harrison, Jean & Deardorff 374). Contrary, the Senate has no committee that works as the House’s Rules Committee. Instead, the Senate comes to a unanimous agreement on the guid...