Question

Analyze the three aspects of political parties (party organization, party-in-government, and party-in-the-electorate). How strong do the Democratic and Republican Parties appear today? What signs indicate that the parties’ power is decreasing? Increasing?

Answer 1

Answer: In the US, the republican party and the democratic party act more as brands under which coalitions of politicians concur, such as bureaucratic and hierarchical apparatuses, strongly dependent on their leader and their statutes, which operate on this side of the atlantic. The american system focuses on candidates (at any level), candidates who act more or less independently, with their own campaign teams, without party discipline and with a great freedom of conscience. Therefore, and although there are a series of common references depending on whether they belong to one or another formation, the ideological and programatic differences between the different representatives and political aspirants of the same party can become very important.