Parties In The United States

Parties In The United States

Introduction:

There are two major parties in the United States namely the Republican Party and the democrat party; the democrat party is the oldest party in the United States, The Republican Party was founded in the year 1854 by slavery activist; its first president to be elected was Abraham Lincoln in the year 1867. George Bush who is the current president is the 18th republican to hold office; the republicans hold a minority of governorship as president.

This paper discusses the various economic indicators of the performance of the republicans and the democrats, the aim of this paper is to compare the international relations, economic policies, social welfare and health care initiatives of both parties, the paper compares the democrats’ performance and also the republican performance during governance in the United States.

International trade:

Republicans:

In reference to international trade the republicans advocate for free trade rather than fair trade while the democrats advocate for fair trade, free trade refers to zero restriction of imports where there are no tariffs or quotas imposed on goods imported in countries of the members of a trade agreement, Fair trade on the other hand refers to an organized social movement which promotes standards for international labor, environmentalism, and social policy in areas related

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to production of Fair trade labeled and unlabelled goods.

The fair trade movement focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries. Fair trade is an attempt to improve the economic and social welfare of marginalized producers to a position of economic stability and sustainability, its main objective is to help the developing countries to achieve greater economic sustainability and also to improve the social welfare of those countries that experience high poverty levels.

Democrats:

Democrats in the past have recorded the introduction of trade agreements in the United States; this is evident from the introduction of the NAFTA in the Clintons administration. Therefore the republicans will promote and advocate for free trade while the democrats advocate for fair trade, fair trade promotes economic growth and at the same time international relations of a country, therefore the democrats are in a better position when it comes to international trade and relations. Republicans advocate for a free market economy, this is done through the promotion of free market policies, economic liberalization and limited regulations; this is because the republicans use the supply side economics theory in their policy making.

Economic policies:

Republicans:

The republicans economic policies promote social welfare of the population, this is evident from their use of the supply side economic theory and the Reaganomics theory which they use in policy making, Reaganomics was a term used during the administration of Reagan and the theory states that the reduction of income taxes will lead to increased GDP levels and this extra growth will lead to an increase in government revenue.

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The advocacy of reduced income taxes will improve the welfare of the population, this places the republicans in a better position than their counterparts, and they promote the free market economy which improves the growth in businesses and investments in the country.

Democrats:

Democrats on the other hand advocate for progressive taxes in their economic policies, they advocate for alternative tax system that will ensure equality in the United States, this is evident from the work of Charles Rangel who is the committee chairman who intends to push for the adjustment of the alternative minimum tax system

Health care:

Republicans:

The republicans advocate for a single health care system which is referred to as the socialized medicine, this is done through the introduction of the Medicare insurance and social security during the republican rule; they have supported the reduction of deductions made for the purpose of financing Medicare.

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Democrats:

Democrats on the other hand call for quality and affordable health care, as opposed to the republicans who advocate for a single health care system, the democrats advocate for a variety of systems that will provide health care to the population in order to reduce the cost of accessing health care. This is evident from the program by Edward Kennedy known as “Education for All”. The issue of accessing low cost medical care is also evident from the support of the democrats to purchase drugs from Canada which are cheap.

Labor unions:

Republicans:

The republicans in many cases are opposed by the labor unions, the reason being that the republicans oppose the increase in minimum wage rate in the economy, the reason why the republicans oppose the increase in the minimum wage rate is because an increase in the minimum wage rate will lead to increased unemployment and discourage investments, increasing minimum wage rate will also be inflationary as stated by Keynes in his theory of cost push inflation which is demonstrated below:

Democrats:

Democrats on the other hand have a good relationship with labor unions, the democrats believe that labor comprises of a high potential of voters, therefore for this reason the democrats introduced the employee acts, for example the Minimum Wage Act of the year 2007 these acts were intended to increase the minimum wage and at the same time promote social security. Therefore the democrats have association with the labor unions while the republicans are opposed by the labor unions due to the fact that they oppose the minimum wage increase which they argue will result to inflation and increased unemployment.

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Conclusion:

From the above discussion it is evident that the democrats are in a better position as compared to the republicans, the economic policies and their labor relations are better as compared to the republicans, the democrats have association with the labor unions while the republicans are opposed by the labor unions due to the fact that they oppose the minimum wage increase which they argue will result to inflation and increased unemployment.

The republicans advocate for free trade while the democrats advocate for fair trade, fair trade promotes economic growth and at the same time international relations of a country, therefore the democrats are in a better position when it comes to international trade and relations.

Republicans advocate for a free market economy, this is done through the promotion of free market policies, economic liberalization and limited regulations. Therefore in conclusion the democrats perform well when in power than the republicans and this is evident from the above discussion.

GDP levels and the party under rule:

GDP in billions of current dollars

GDP in billions of chained 2000 dollars

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republican or democrat

difference

1929

103.6

865.2

R

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74.5

1930

91.2

790.7

R

50.8

1931

76.5

739.9

R

96.2

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1932

58.7

643.7

R

8.2

1933

56.4

635.5

R

-68.7

1934

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66.0

704.2

D

-62.7

1935

73.3

766.9

D

-99.7

1936

83.8

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866.6

D

-44.5

1937

91.9

911.1

D

31.4

1938

86.1

879.7

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D

-71.0

1939

92.2

950.7

D

-83.4

1940

101.4

1,034.1

D

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-177.0

1941

126.7

1,211.1

D

-224.3

1942

161.9

1,435.4

D

-235.5

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1943

198.6

1,670.9

D

-135.6

1944

219.8

1,806.5

D

20.2

1945

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223.1

1,786.3

D

196.9

1946

222.3

1,589.4

D

14.9

1947

244.2

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1,574.5

D

-68.7

1948

269.2

1,643.2

D

8.6

1949

267.3

1,634.6

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D

-142.7

1950

293.8

1,777.3

D

-137.7

1951

339.3

1,915.0

D

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-73.3

1952

358.3

1,988.3

D

-91.2

1953

379.4

2,079.5

D

14.1

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1954

380.4

2,065.4

R

-147.4

1955

414.8

2,212.8

R

-43.0

1956

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437.5

2,255.8

R

-45.3

1957

461.1

2,301.1

R

21.9

1958

467.2

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2,279.2

R

-162.1

1959

506.6

2,441.3

R

-60.5

1960

526.4

2,501.8

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R

-58.2

1961

544.7

2,560.0

R

-155.2

1962

585.6

2,715.2

D

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-118.8

1963

617.7

2,834.0

D

-164.6

1964

663.6

2,998.6

D

-192.5

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1965

719.1

3,191.1

D

-208.0

1966

787.8

3,399.1

R

-85.5

1967

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832.6

3,484.6

R

-168.1

1968

910.0

3,652.7

R

-112.7

1969

984.6

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3,765.4

R

-6.5

1970

1,038.5

3,771.9

R

-126.7

1971

1,127.1

3,898.6

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R

-206.4

1972

1,238.3

4,105.0

R

-236.5

1973

1,382.7

4,341.5

R

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21.9

1974

1,500.0

4,319.6

R

8.4

1975

1,638.3

4,311.2

R

-229.7

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1976

1,825.3

4,540.9

R

-209.6

1977

2,030.9

4,750.5

R

-264.5

1978

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2,294.7

5,015.0

D

-158.4

1979

2,563.3

5,173.4

D

11.7

1980

2,789.5

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5,161.7

D

-130.0

1981

3,128.4

5,291.7

D

102.4

1982

3,255.0

5,189.3

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D

-234.5

1983

3,536.7

5,423.8

R

-389.8

1984

3,933.2

5,813.6

R

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-240.1

1985

4,220.3

6,053.7

R

-209.9

1986

4,462.8

6,263.6

R

-211.5

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1987

4,739.5

6,475.1

R

-267.6

1988

5,103.8

6,742.7

R

-238.7

1989

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5,484.4

6,981.4

R

-131.1

1990

5,803.1

7,112.5

R

12.0

1991

5,995.9

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7,100.5

R

-236.1

1992

6,337.7

7,336.6

R

-196.1

1993

6,657.4

7,532.7

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R

-302.8

1994

7,072.2

7,835.5

D

-196.2

1995

7,397.7

8,031.7

D

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-297.2

1996

7,816.9

8,328.9

D

-374.6

1997

8,304.3

8,703.5

D

-363.4

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1998

8,747.0

9,066.9

D

-403.4

1999

9,268.4

9,470.3

D

-346.7

2000

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9,817.0

9,817.0

D

-73.7

2001

10,128.0

9,890.7

D

-158.1

2002

10,469.6

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10,048.8

R

-252.2

2003

10,960.8

10,301.0

R

-374.8

2004

11,685.9

10,675.8

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R

-327.6

2005

12,433.9

11,003.4

R

-316.0

2006

13,194.7

11,319.4

R

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11,319.4

The above table summarizes the GDP levels of the years and the party that was in rule, D means democrats while R means republican. Data retrieved from www.neatideas.com/data/ind ex.htm

References:

US GDP (2007) the US GDP series, retrieved on 10th September, available at www.neatideas. com/data/index.htm

Wikipedia the free encyclopedia (2007) democrats and the republicans, retrieved on 10th September, available at

www.en.wikipedia.org

Financial forecast (2007) Economic performance, retrieved on 10th September available at ww w.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp

Democrats (2007) the objectives and manifesto of democrats, retrieved on 10th September

available at ww w.democrats.org

Republicans (2007) the objectives and manifesto of Republicans retrieved on 10th September available at

www.republicans.org

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