We can learn important lessons from this condensed review of American partisan history. One of the reasons for the constant switching back and forth between parties appears to be that the country has different needs at different times. The American people chose Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln because of his firm stand against slavery during a critical time in the nation's history. They selected Democratic runner Franklin D. Roosevelt and his increased government spending to mitigate the effects of the Great Depression. In 1980, they chose Republican candidate Ronald Reagan in reaction to economic stagnation and moral decline. And in 1992, American voters picked the Democratic contender Bill Clinton as a result of economic recession.
But though our country has different needs at different times, political parties are not the proper instrument to satisfy these needs. According to George Washington, the constant alternation of two parties in the federal government would be a "frightful despotism". The main reason for this alternation, especially in the past few decades, is that neither party is adequately solving the key problems America faces.
Two factors explain this failure. First, each party represents some of the policies America needs. For example, the Republican Party traditionally stands for the right to life of each human person from conception to natural death; a free marketplace; limited government; a strong (but not bloated) national defense; secure borders; fiscal responsibility; and strict interpretation of the Constitution. The Democratic Party traditionally stands for the right of the poor to government assistance; the rights of ethnic and religious minorities to an equal place in our society; regulation of big business and trade; protection of the environment; multilateral nuclear disarmament; and increased foreign economic aid to impoverished countries. However, the US really needs both sets of policies. We need pro-life laws and multilateral nuclear disarmament, tax cuts and deficit reduction, a free market and social security nets, not one or the other.
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