Traditionally, in the elections in the USA and in the main legislative body of America — Congress — two main parties participate — Republican and Democratic.
In the USA, even the political system is often called two-party, meaning these two political forces.
ICTV Facts explains the difference between Republicans and Democrats and what you need to know about the two main parties in the United States.
Now watching
What are the Republican and Democratic Parties
There are two main political parties in the United States: Democrats and Republicans.
The Democrats are the liberal party, and their presidential candidate in this election is Vice President Kamala Harris.
They are represented by the color blue, and their mascot is a donkey.
The Democrats currently hold the presidency of the United States and have a majority in the Senate. However, the balance of power may change after the vote in these elections.
In turn, the Republicans are a conservative political party in the United States, their candidate in these elections is former President Donald Trump.
Sometimes in the American press you can see that the Republican Party is also called GOP, which is an abbreviation and when deciphered means Grand Old Party.
The party uses the color red, and the symbolic animal that expresses the party is elephant.
Getty Images
What values do Republicans and Democrats stand for
The Republican and Democratic parties can be represented as political forces of the right and left, respectively.
If the Democrats (left-wing political force) represent progressive thinking, then the Republicans (right-wing) — conservative politics.
Both political parties occupy positions on a conditional scale of how they relate to certain important problems in society.
Simply put, Democrats traditionally advocate change, while conservatives want things to stay the same.
However, if you dig a little deeper, the left will argue that the job of government is to make society fairer, in particular by subsidizing services that people can't afford.
On the other hand, the right argues that government should have less influence in people's lives and leave issues like wages and health care to businesses and society.
For example, you can sometimes hear the definition of “far-right” in relation to individual Republicans, and vice versa, “far-left” in relation to the democrats.
Such terms mean that representatives of these political forces have extreme right or left views, which may often not coincide between politicians within the same party.
How Democrats and Republicans feel about certain issues
There are issues on which both parties may have the same position and interact to quickly resolve a particular issue. A striking example is how, at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the majority in both chambers of the US Congress spoke out with strong condemnation of the Russian Federation and support for Ukraine.
In addition, one could also sometimes hear about “bipartisan and bicameral” support for Ukraine in the US Congress, which meant that the two main parties of America support Ukraine.
However, there are many issues on which the two parties have different views, and sometimes quite categorically. Often, they are talking about the internal problems of the country. Here are some of these topics:
Economic Views
Democrats take a social justice-oriented approach to economics, including raising the minimum wage and progressive taxation, where higher incomes are taxed at higher rates.
Republicans, on the other hand, advocate minimal intervention in market processes: they believe that taxes should not be raised for any category of the population, including the wealthiest strata, and wages should be set by the free market.
Social and Humanitarian Views
Democrats base their social principles on the idea of collective responsibility, advocating for increased government spending to support various groups population.
Republicans tend to favor reducing government regulation, which they see as an obstacle to free markets and employment.
Position on the Death Penalty
While the death penalty is generally supported by the Democratic Party, party members are often more critical of the issue and often advocate abolition of the death penalty, citing human rights.
Republicans, on the other hand, generally support the death penalty as an effective means of law and order.
Position on Taxes
Democrats generally support progressive taxation, implying higher rates for those with high incomes and allow tax increases to finance government programs.
Republicans believe that higher taxes and excessive regulation stifle economic growth, hinder the capitalist model, and limit employment opportunities.
Health Policy
The Democratic Party strongly supports government participation in health care, including programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, as well as the Obamacare reforms, which are aimed at creating affordable health care for all citizens.
Republicans prefer private solutions and believe that health care can be provided more efficiently by private companies. They also oppose several provisions of Obamacare, including mandatory insurance and mandatory coverage of contraceptives.
Immigration Policy
Democrats generally support liberal immigration reforms, such as a moratorium on deportations and a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants who have no criminal record and have lived in the country for more than five years.
Republicans have taken a hard line, opposing amnesty for undocumented immigrants and executive orders such as the deportation moratorium. They support increased border security and strict immigration enforcement.
What are red, blue, and purple states
This refers to the colors that Democrats and Republicans use to represent themselves.
States are named after colors to describe which party the majority of voters in them support.
This means that voters in blue states favor Democrats, while voters in red states favor states tend to vote Republican.
For example, California, Massachusetts, and New York are traditionally considered “blue” states, while Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas are — “red”.
This doesn't mean that voters in these states should or will vote a certain way — just that they are more consistent when they go to the polls.
Purple states, also known as “swing states” or “battleground”, — are states where there is no overwhelming preference for Democrats or Republicans and it often happens that the vote in these regions will be decisive for, for example, the presidential election or representation in one or another house of Congress.
