What are the parties like?

There is less difference between the two main US parties than there is between parties in some other countries. Both parties are moderate and close to the political centre, but the Republicans are to the right and Democrats are to the left of centre.

Typically, the Democrats support government spending on social welfare programmes, while the Republicans are against this. The Republicans are usually in favour of spending money on the armed forces and believe there should be few laws restricting business and trade. Republicans are sometimes called the GOP, or Grand Old Party, and have an elephant as their symbol. The Democrats’ symbol is a donkey.

Traditionally, the Democratic Party has drawn its support from poor people, workers with low-paid jobs, African Americans, and many people in the southern states. People with more money and jobs in the professions, and those who live in the central parts of the US, have tended to vote for the Republicans. Many white southerners are closer in their political beliefs to the Republicans but do not want to vote for them because it was a Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, who fought the Civil War against the South. As a compromise, they elect politicians who are on the right of the Democratic party, sometimes called ‘Dixiecrats’.

In the 20^th century the Republicans have elected presidents such as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George Bush. Democratic presidents have included Franklin D Roosevelt, John F Kennedy and Bill Clinton.