Speaking of political parties, while reading the Globe and Mail website I came across a mention of an account of party development that I don't think I've come across before. And so I looked into it, and thought it was fairly interesting.
First Party System
1792(ish)-1824(ish)
Federalist Party vs. Democratic-Republican Party
During Washington's administration, the Feds collected around Hamilton (the Secretary of the Treasury), the Dems around Jefferson (the Secretary of State). Thus, thanks to Hamilton's political maneuvering and Jefferson's response, the two-party system was born. The fight was bitter, but during the Era of Good Feelings it abated due to serious weakness on the part of the Federalists, which led effectively to the dominance of the Democratic-Republicans.
Second Party System
1824(ish)-1854
Whig Party vs. Democratic Party
The Democratic-Republicans soon had problems of their own; all four of the candidates for the 1824 election were Democratic-Republicans, and intraparty disputes became serious with a hung Electoral College. The decision went to the House of Representatives, where Henry Clay helped put John Quincy Adams in the White House (and was subsequently made Secretary of State). Andrew Jackson denounced this fiercely, and the party split into two parts, the Democrats coalescing around Andrew Jackson and the Whigs, or National Republicans, around Henry Clay. This sees the spread of the two-pary system: regional political differences, although still there, become less noticeable in comparison to the fierce battles of national party politics. Jackson's Democrats put him in power in 1828, and the major showdown of the Second Party System, Jackson's battle against the Second Bank, was on. It is during this era that federal patronage, also called the Spoils System, became prominent. It remained in place until Arthur (one of our best Presidents, in my opinion, even if this were his only accomplishment) reformed the civil service.
Third Party System
1854-1895ish
Republican Party vs. Democratic Party
With the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the opposition of slave states and free states becomes intense; a number of people, fed up with Whig ineffectiveness in handling the matter (they had more or less collapsed in 1852), create the Republican Party to oppose the interests of 'Slave Power' and promote a modernizing free market alternative. Other parties had begun to step in to try to push for a place at the table, but the Republicans quickly beat out their competitors. Charges that the other party is pushing an agenda that guarantees civil war become more frequent on both sides. Buchanan tries to push in a pro-slavery direction; Stephen Douglas, who believed such matters should be decided on a state-by-state basis, breaks with him, and in the 1860 election the Democrats split North-South. Given the split and given their dominance in the Electoral College, the Republicans play a safe and apparently unimpressive moderate candidate who can reasonably be guaranteed not to do anything rash and destructive in the campaign, and who, indeed, did hardly anything at all; thus Abraham Lincoln becomes President. The Civil War and Reconstruction continue the struggle. The Republicans nearly split in 1854 over corruption in Grant's government, but the Liberal Republicans opposing Grant fail to hold together. Economic worries during Reconstruction return the Democrats to power in 1874 and continue to be the primary issue, with debates over tariffs and Free Silver dominating the political scene.
Fourth Party System
1895(ish)-1932
Republican Party vs. Democratic Party
As prosperity seizes the nation, the Republicans enter a phase of nearly complete dominance, and push their progressivist policies forward. Government reform becomes a major issue; investigations are started into corruption in the political parties. Class-based political struggles largely dissipate as different issues come to the fore and the focus turns to political activism. Both women's suffrage and prohibition are passed as part of this activism. World War I increases the importance of foreign policy in party disputes. Republican dominance comes crashing to an end with the fall of the stock market and the rise of the Great Depression.
Fifth Party System
1933-?
Republican Party vs. Democratic Party
With Roosevelt the Democrats enter their phase of dominance and the social engineering policies of the Progressive Era give way to the economic engineering policies of the New Deal Era. This phase of dominance peaks when Johnson resoundingly defeats Goldwater in 1964 and possibly reaches a low point when economic troubles allow Reagan to win in 1980. The big issue, of course, is when this system ends; it is difficult to identify any massive shift in parties, although political scientists have of course made proposals; some suggest the election of Nixon in 1960, some the election of Reagan in 1980, some are currently suggesting the election of Obama in 2008. It has been suggested, for instance, that we have for some time been entering a period of 'dealignment', in which party loyalty plummets and parties have to scramble to woo voters who switch back and forth. Who knows? This will be a matter that will only become clear in retrospect, since we can't currently see what counts as a minor setback and what counts as a devastating defeat.
