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Political Parties in the United States
Know the Candidates! Know the Issues! Know Your Choices!
How will you vote? Democratic? Republican? Third Party? Or will you vote as an Independent and choose candidates based on their political platform, regardless of party affiliation? When it comes time to vote, most of us have chosen a candidate from one of the two primary parties, Democratic or Republican, and usually vote for the same party for each office, even if we don't vote a straight ticket ballot. But what about the lesser-known third parties? It might surprise you to know that there are nearly fifty recognized political parties sponsoring candidates for various offices. Remember - you don't have to vote for the same party for each office. For instance, if you're a Republican and are committed to voting for a Republican candidate for the office of President in the 2012 Presidential Election, that doesn't mean that in the next general election you can't vote as an Independent and choose a Third Party, such as the Green Party, for the office of Governor in your state. Especially if the Green Party candidate better represents your beliefs and values on state issues. Or, if you want to see a new direction in the Presidential office and have decided to vote for a Republican candidate in the 2012 Presidential Election, you can still vote for your current state Governor in the next general election, even if their affiliation is Democratic. It's all about voting for the candidate that best reflects your views. Remember - no matter what way others are voting, when you step into the voting booth, it's completely confidential, and it's entirely up to you!
For a list of recognized political parties, please see below.
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We thank the following sources:
Wikipedia
www.wikipedia.com
Politics1.com
www.politics1.com
This is a bi-partisan website. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the creators or sponsors and are subject to revision at anytime.
First published on www.electioncountdown.us
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Primary Parties:
There are two Primary Parties, Democratic and Republican. These two parties, founded in the nineteenth century, are the most well-known of all the parties. All of the other recognized political parties were founded in the twentieth century, except for the Socialist Party, which was formed in 1877.
| PARTY STATISTICS | DEMOCRATIC PARTY | |
| Website: Symbol: Color: Ideology: |
www.democrats.org Donkey Blue Liberal |
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. The party under its present name was established by Andrew Jackson in 1828, but it traces its origins to Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party in 1792. It is, along with Great Britain's Conservative Party, one of the two oldest political parties in the world. Currently, the Democratic Party is the minority party in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives. Democrats control 19 state legislatures and 22 governorships. Since 1896, the Democrats have been the more liberal major party (in the modern American sense of the word, i.e. center-left). The pro-working class, activist philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt has shaped much of the party's agenda since 1933; his New Deal coalition controlled the national government into the 1960s. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, championed by the party despite opposition at the time from its conservative Southern wing, has continued to inspire the party's ideas and principles. (Source: Wikipedia Democratic Party Summary) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | REPUBLICAN PARTY | |
| Website: Symbol: Color: Ideology: |
www.rnc.org Elephant Red Conservative |
The Republican Party (often referred to as the GOP, for "Grand Old Party") is one of the two major political parties in the United States' two-party system, along with the Democratic Party. In the modern political era, the Republican Party has been the more socially conservative and economically libertarian of the two major parties. The Republican Party was established in 1854 by a coalition of former Whigs, Northern Democrats, and Free-Soilers who opposed the expansion of slavery and held a vision for modernizing the United States. The party initially had its base in the Northeast and Midwest, but in recent decades it has increasingly shifted to the inland West and the South. Since the party fielded its first presidential candidate, John C. Frémont, in 1856, 18 of the 29 United States Presidents have been Republicans, including current President George W. Bush. It holds 28 out of 50 governorships, and controls 20 state legislatures compared to the Democratic Party's 19. Since 1995, the Republicans have held majorities in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, except for brief periods of Democratic Party majority in the Senate from January 3-20, 2001 and from June 6, 2001 to November 12, 2002. (Source: Wikipedia Republican Party Summary |
Third Parties:
There are nearly fifty Third Parties, all founded in the twentieth century, except for the Socialist Party, which was formed in 1877. The formation of Third Parties generally sprang from feelings of disenchantment and disassociation from a particular party and the desire for a new party more in accord with the disenfranchised individuals' belief system. Third Parties run the gamut from promoting peace, such as the Green Party, to hailing hatred, such as the American Nazi Party, which is not listed here. Although some parties may be offensive to many, the vast majority of the widely ranged spectrum of representation is good intentioned.
| PARTY STATISTICS | AMERICA FIRST PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.americafirstparty.org Social Conservative |
The America First Party was founded in 2002 and vows to "protect our people and our sovereignty...promote economic growth and independence...encourage the traditional values of faith, family, and responsibility...ensure equality before the law in protecting those rights granted by the Creator...[and] clean up our corrupted political system." In 2006, a branch in Iowa vowed to rebuild the party. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | AMERICAN INDEPENDENT PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.aipca.org Right-wing Populist |
Governor George C. Wallace founded the AIP and ran as its first Presidential nominee in 1968, running on a fiery populist, right-wing, anti-Washington, anti-racial integration, anti-communist platform. The AIP is now a state affiliate party of the national Constitution Party and, for the past several presidential elections, has co-nominated the Constitution Party's nominee. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | AMERICAN PATRIOT PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.oregonpatriotparty.com Conservative Right-wing |
The APP, established in 2003, supports a crackdown on illegal immigration, making English fluency a requirement of US citizenship, abolishing the IRS and repealing the federal income tax, imposing steeper taxes and tariffs on imported goods, abolition of the centralized Federal Reserve System, withdrawing the US from the Untied Nations, imposing a foreign policy of non-interventionism, and ending federal involvement in education. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | AMERICAN REFORM PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.americanreform.org Left-wing Reform |
The ARP splintered from Ross Perot's Reform Party in 1997 due to Perot's desire to maintain total control over the RP. The ARP soon shifted left and opted to "endorse" Green Party Presidential nominee Ralph Nader in the 2000 elections. The ARP has vowed to rebuild, and, since 2004, has even launched a few new state affiliate parties. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | CHRISTIAN FALANGIST PARTY OF AMERICA | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.falange.us Nationalistic Conservative Christian |
The CFPA, founded in 1985, "is dedicated to fighting the 'Forces of Darkness' which seeks to destroy Western Christian Civilization." The CFPA desires to be a "direct action" political movement and promises to "bring excitement to the otherwise boring American political arena." The CFPA fielded it's first candidate in 2004, National Chairman Kurt Weber-Heller, as a write-in Presidential candidate. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | COMMUNIST PARTY USA | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.cpusa.org Democratic Reform Communist |
Founded in 1924, the party calls for free universal health care, elimination of federal income tax on people earning under $60,000/yr, free college education, cuts in military spending, "massive" public works programs, outlawing of "scabs and union busting," abolition of corporate monopolies, public ownership of energy and basic industries, tax hikes for corporations and the wealthy, all other anti-capitalist class programs. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | CONSTITUTION PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.constitution-party.net Conservative Religious Right-wing |
Founded in 1992, the US Taxpayers Party pulled together several of the splintered right-wing third parties into a larger, more visible political entity. Renamed the Constitution Party in 1999, the party is strongly pro-life, anti-gun control, anti-tax, anti-immigration, protectionist, "anti-New World Order," anti-United Nations, anti-gay rights, anti-welfare, and pro-school prayer. The Constitution Party is the third largest third party in the nation. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.dsausa.org Democratic Socialist |
The DSA's mission is "building progressive movements for social change while establishing an openly socialist presence in American communities and politics." Thus, the DSA is like a political education and grassroots activism organization. The DSA split from the Social Democrats USA in 1972 over the Vietnam War - the SDUSA supported the war and the DSA opposed the war. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | FREEDOM SOCIALIST PARTY/RADICAL WOMEN | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.socialism.com Revolutionary Socialist Feminist |
The FSP, formed in 1966 by feminists who broke from the Socialist Workers Party, are a "revolutionary, socialist feminist organization, dedicated to the replacement of capitalist rule by a genuine workers' democracy that will guarantee full economic, social, political, and legal equality to women, people of color, gays, and all who are exploited, oppressed, and repelled by the profit system and its offshoot -- imperialism." (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES (GREEN PARTY) | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.gp.org Leftist Environmentalist |
The Green Party, one of the two largest third parties in the nation, earned major political points when consumer advocate Ralph Nader ran as their Presidential nominee in 1996. When Nader ran in 2000, he raised millions of dollars, mobilized leftist activists and made national headlines with his anti-corporate campaign message, declaring his commitment to build a permanent third party. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | GREENS/GREEN PARTY USA (G/GPUSA) | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.greenparty.org Leftist Marxist |
The G/GPUSA is the older, smaller, and more leftist of the two Green parties, emphasizing direct action tactics over traditional electoral politics. The G/GPUSA maintains formal local affiliates in Chicago, St. Louis and Philadelphia and has fielded a few state and federal candidates over the years -- often running them in primaries against candidates affiliated with the larger Green Party of the US. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | INDEPENDENCE PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.mnip.org Socially Inclusive & Fiscally Responsible |
After leaving the Reform Party, Governor Jesse Ventura and his supporters launched the Independence Party in 2000. The IP calls for campaign refinance and is pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-medical marijuana, pro-gun rights and fiscally moderate. The IP consists of separately organized state affiliates in Florida, Illinois and Minnesota with no central national leadership. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | INDEPENDENT AMERICAN PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.usiap.org Religious Right |
The IAP is a remnant from Governor George Wallace's American Independent Party of the 1968-72 era. In 2000, the IAP's national chairman suggested the IAP limit itself to congressional, state and local races. Now the IAP "adopts" conservative candidates from other parties. Thus, as the party has grown as a network of activists, it has withdrawn from fielding IAP nominees for office. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | LABOR PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.thelaborparty.org Liberal Democratic |
In 1996 a group of labor unions formed the party because "on issues most important to working people - trade, health care, and the rights to organize, bargain and strike - both the Democrats and Republicans have failed." The party adopted a policy of "running candidates for positions where they can help enact and enforce laws and policies to benefit the working class and where we can best advance the goals and priorities of the LP." (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | LIBERTARIAN PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.lp.org Laissez Faire Reform |
Founded in 1971, the party is one of the two largest third parties in the nation. The Libertarians are neither left nor right and believe in individual liberty (pro-drug legalization, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-home schooling, anti-gun control) and economic freedom (anti-welfare, anti-government regulation of business, anti-minimum wage, anti-income tax, pro-free trade). Ron Paul was a former Libertarian Presidential nominee. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | LIGHT PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.lightparty.com Liberal Holistic |
The Light Party is a generally liberal party and appears to be centered around party founder "Da Vid, M.D., Holistic Physician, Human Ecologist & Artist, who was also a write-in candidate for President in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004. The party's platform promotes holistic medicine, national health insurance, organic foods, solar energy, nuclear disarmament and a flat tax. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | NATURAL LAW PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.natural-law.org New Age Holistic |
The Natural Law Party, founded by followers of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, advocates holistic approaches, Transcendental Meditation, and other peaceful "New Age" and "scientific" remedies for our national and international issues. In 2003, the party endorsed Congressman Dennis Kucinich, now running as a Democratic Presidential candidate. In 2004, the NLP dissolved as a national party, but a few state groups remain active. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | PEACE AND FREEDOM PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.peaceandfreedom.org Left-wing Democratic Socialist |
Founded in the 1960s as a left-wing party opposed to the Vietnam War, the party reached its peak of support in 1968 when it nominated Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver for President. Famed "baby doctor" Benjamin Spock, a leftist and staunch opponent of the Vietnam War, was the PFP Presidential nominee in 1972. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | PROGRESSIVE LABOR PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.plp.org Militant Communist |
The PLP is a New York-based, militant, Stalinist-style communist party dedicated to bringing about a world-wide, armed, communist revolution. The PLP abhors democracy, elections, freedom of nearly any sort, capitalism and religion -- while praising dictator Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union as their role model. Because they denounce all elections as "frauds," the PLP vows to never field any candidates for public office. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | PROHIBITION PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.prohibition.org Ultra-conservative Christian Socialist |
Founded in 1869, the PP has an ultra-conservative Christian social agenda with anti-drug and anti-communist views. Party activist Earl Dodge has run as the party's presidential nominee since 1984; however, the Partisan Prohibition Historical Society, run by a group of PP activists, took over the party and are supporting Gene Amundson as their nominee, though Dodge remains as the party's "provisional" nominee for President. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | REFORM PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.reformparty.org Social Conservative |
After running as an Independent in 1992, billionaire Ross Perot founded the Reform Party as his vehicle for converting his independent movement into a political party. The party traditionally reflected Perot's center-conservative fiscal policies, while avoiding taking official positions on social issues. In 2002, the party shifted far to the right and gave their 2004 Presidential nomination to Ralph Nader. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNIST PARTY USA | |
| Website: Ideology: |
Communist_Party Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Communist |
The RCP is based upon the teachings of the late Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Tse-tung - a form of communism derivative of Leninist-Stalinist Marxism. The party denounces capitalism and advocates a "Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Programme" as "a battle plan for destroying the old and creating the new [and] is a kind of road map for how to win the revolution." The RCP advocates change through revolution, not elections. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | SOCIAL DEMOCRATS USA PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.socialdemocrats.org Centrist Democratic |
The SDUSA is a group more ideologically centrist, more anti-communist and more directly aligned with the Democratic Party than the more traditionally leftist Democratic Socialists of America. In fact, the views of the SDUSA in 1972 caused the DSA to splinter away in an ideological rift when the SDUSA refused to support George McGovern for President that year because of his opposition to the Vietnam War. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | SOCIALIST ACTION PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.socialistaction.org Socialist Communists |
Socialist Action is a Trotskyist political party originally founded by expelled members of the Socialist Workers Party. The SA states that they "oppose the Democrats and Republicans, all capitalist political parties, and all capitalist governments and their representatives everywhere ... [and] Stalinist and neo-Stalinist regimes from the ex-Soviet Union to China." (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | SOCIALIST EQUITY PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.socialequality.com Marxist Socialist |
The Socialist Equality Party, founded in 1966 as the Workers League, campaigned to "present a socialist alternative to the demagogy and lies of the establishment parties and the mass media." The SEP vows to remove all US soldiers from the Middle East, "dismantle the Pentagon war machine" and eliminate weapons of mass destruction held by the US, and adopt "a socialist foreign policy based on international working class solidarity." (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | SOCIALIST LABOR PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.slp.org Democratic Socialists |
Founded in 1877, the SLP is a militant democratic socialist party. More moderate members of the SLP left to create the Socialist Party USA in 1901. The SLP ran Presidential tickets in every election between 1892 and 1976, but the high cost of fielding a Presidential ticket and restrictive ballot access laws caused the SLP to abandon Presidential races in favor of nominating candidates for lower offices. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | SOCIALIST PARTY USA | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.sp-usa.org Democratic Socialists |
The SPUSA are true democratic socialists, advocating left-wing electoral change versus militant revolutionary change and staunchly anti-communist. Founded in 1900 by labor union leader, ex-Democratic elected official, and pacifist, Eugene V. Debs, the SP was once a national third party. Activist from the old SP reconstituted the party in 1976 and began to again field SP national tickets for the first time in over two decades. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.themilitant.com Marxist |
Originally a pro-Trotsky faction within the Communist Party USA, the SWP was formed in 1938 after the CPUSA, acting on orders from Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, expelled the American Trotskyites. Since the 1980s, the SWP has drifted away from Trotskyism and moved towards the brand of authoritarian politics espoused by Cuban leader Fidel Castro's style of Marxism. The SWP has run candidates for President in every election since 1948. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | THIRD PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.3rdparty.org Centrist |
Frustrated by traditional partisan politics and the quality of national media coverage of elections, this party proposes to seek "direct input" from the public to mold this new politically centrist party into a vehicle that unifies America in the 21st Century. In the interests of promoting an informed electorate, the Third Party's site even provides links to the web pages of all the competing US political parties. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | U.S. MARIJUANA PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.usmjparty.com Libertarian |
Founded in 2002, the USMP states: "The civil rights of Americans have been compromised by the war on drugs. Because the vast majority of citizens who use any illegal substance use only marijuana, the war on drugs is basically a war on marijuana. If you can pull the plug on the war on marijuana...You shut down the prison industrial complex, and you restore the liberties that have been eroded because of this futile war on marijuana." (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | U.S. PACIFIST PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.uspacifistparty.org Left-wing Pacifist |
The USPP opposes military actions in all circumstances, vows to transform the US military into "a non-violent defense and humanitarian service corps," and wants to slash the military budget to "zero." The USPP believes that "unless nuclear weapons are deactivated, and nonviolent means developed to take the place of military violence for achieving justice and peace, civilization is doomed." (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | VETERANS PARTY OF AMERICA | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.veteransparty.us Centrist |
The Veterans Party, founded in 2003, vows to "give political voice for the first time since 1776, to the men and women who were willing to give the ultimate sacrifice for this country. No longer will they have to grovel and beg and fill out paperwork for years just to get what they proudly earned and were promised." The party, not limited to veterans, also advocates for the families of US veterans. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | WE THE PEOPLE PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.wethepeople-wtp.org Centrist Independent |
The WTP bills itself as "the American People's Party." Founder, Jeffrey Peters, competed in the 2000 New Hampshire Democratic Presidential primary to capture media attention for the WTP's "campaign reform" platform but complained the media ignored him. In October of 2000, Peters held a "Boston TV Party," vowing to dump TV sets into Boston harbor to protest the exclusion of third party candidates from the Presidential Debate. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | WORKERS PARTY USA | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.workersparty.org Marxist-Leninist |
The WP-USA is a hardcore Marxist-Leninist political party founded in 1992. The party was established to "bring the working class out as an independent class force." The WP-USA shares much of the CPUSA's ideology, and likely is a splinter group with CPUSA origins. The Chicago-based party publishes a bi-weekly newspaper named The Worker and a quarterly theoretical journal named The Worker Magazine. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | WORKERS WORLD PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.workers.org Communist Socialist |
The WWP, formed in 1959 by a communist faction that split from the SWP, supports worker revolutions, although they supported Soviet actions that halted worker uprisings in Hungary in the 1950s, Czechoslovakia in the 1960s, and Poland in the early 1980s. The WWP believes "capitalist democracy produces nothing but hot air" and "the power of the workers and the oppressed is in the streets, not in Washington." (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | WORKING DEMOCRACY PARTY | |
| Website: Ideology: |
www.newunionparty.org Militant Democratic Socialist |
Founded in 1980 by defectors from the Socialist Labor Party, this DeLeonist militant democratic socialist party "advocates political and social revolution" but denounces violence and is "committed to lawful activities to overthrow the capitalist economic system." The NUP fielded its first candidates in 1980 and ran party leader Jeff Miller as a US Senate candidate in Minnesota in 2006. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |
| PARTY STATISTICS | WORLD SOCIALIST PARTY OF THE USA | |
| Website: Ideology: |
http://wspus.org Marxist Socialists |
The WSP-USA are utopian Marxists who believe true socialism can only work when it is established worldwide. They renounce violence, totalitarianism, money and all forms of leadership, and they advocate a classless, "wageless, moneyless, free access society" without any national borders. They don't endorse candidates because they believe a vote for any candidate under the current system is a vote in support of capitalism. (Please See: www.politics1.com/parties.htm) |