A question about US politics?

Question

I'm a Brit and have a general interest in politics. Our major parties include Labour (who are supposed to represent the working class), conservative (you represent the wealthly), and the Liberal Democrats (who believe in equality across the country). What is the US equivilant and what do they stand for?

Answer 1

I'll try to explain...

All parties in the United States claim to be for the "Working Man," and the party that can create the greatest good for all. The Democratic party is seen as the party of the working man, but the truth is those days are long gone. The Democratic party is currently controlled by left wing ideologues who see average people as incompetents, and a burden to society. "Useful idiots" so to speak. The Democrats are usually identified as the Liberal Party.

The Republican party is generally viewed as the Conservative party. They place far more emphasis on national security, free market economics, lower taxes, and moral values. Once the party of limited government, those currently holding office must now be classified as big spenders.

The Libertarian party is the true party of government minimalism. They advocate a return to the limited role the Federal Government played when it was first created. They are not anarchists, but are sometimes perceived that way.

The Green Party is I imagine pretty much the same as you see in Europe, central planning advocates who believe that command economies can work if only THEY are in charge. In other words, your basic communist idiot.

Leaving out the two minor parties for now, I see the fundamental difference between the Republicans and the Democrats as this: The Republicans believe in individual rights and responsibility, while the Democrats believe in the primacy of the Group.

Liberals see society as an extended family. Within our families we share things, even food when food is scarce. We're all prepared to willingly make sacrifices for our loved ones. Liberals expand and extend this idea to encompass all people. Within that context, Liberals view anyone how accumulates wealth and resources as a traitor to the group, someone who is hurting the extended "family." Voluntary contributions are not sufficient in their view. All must be compelled to share so that all can receive a "fair" share. Conservatives disagree with that of course.

What are the assumptions then, that underlie the Liberal obsession with redistribution? At the root I believe, is a basic misunderstanding of economics. Within their mental model of a family, resources are finite. They see it as a zero-sum game, and for one to have more, others must have less. That family analogy, that temporal snapshot of a group with finite resources, breaks down COMPLETELY at the macro-economic level.

Conservatives point out (quite fairly) that wealth is increasing over time. Each person is free to compete in the market, and to create some of that new wealth for him or her self.

It is I believe this difference in economic outlooks, that drives the policy differences on a plethora of other topics.

Answer 2

People are really making this harder than it needs to be. Here you go.

1. Labour Party = U.S. Democratic Party. Before "new Labour" this was a bit iffy ("old Labour" was more socialistic then the Democratic party in the U.S.)

2. Conservative Party = U.S. Republican Party. Since Thatcher moved the Conservative Party in the UK to the right on economic issues, the party has been very similar in ideology to the Republican Party.

3. Liberal Democrats = No real U.S. equivalent. First, we don't have a third party in the U.S. that is as strong as the Liberal Democrats in the UK. The Liberal Democrats don't win enough to pick the PM, but they are able to get MPs. No third party in the U.S. gets representation. Second, the Liberal Democrats have moved further to the "left" to take up the space vacated by the Labour Party. We don't have a party like that here.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

It has changed over time. Prior to the 1920's, the Democratic Party generally stood for the landed classes, agriculture, legal alcohol, and religious conservatism. Republican candidates stood for business, urban life, American traders, and alcohol prohibition.

Democratic candidates won very few Presidential elections after the Civil War because their base of strength was the South. The only reason Woodrow Wilson won in 1912 was that Theodore Roosevelt split the Republican vote by running as an independent (Bull Moose Republican).

By the 1932 election, the Democratic Party had reinvented itself. It realized that while the Republicans got alot of immigrant and minority votes by default, it's big-business focus meant it wasn't really serving the interests of the working classes (evidence of this can be seen by how well the Socialist party did in the 1920s). The Democratic Party became the party of the urban working classes, Catholics, minorities, etc. and in the 1920s we see a clear left vs right difference between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. After the Democratic win in 1932, the Democratic/Republican split is much as it is today. The Democratic party did have many hangers-on from the days of Southern Conservatism right up into the modern day. Strom Thurmond, originally a Democrat but became a Republican after his 1948 Presidential run where he ran under an aparthied platform. Zell Miller is another conservative southern democrat who became a Republican, just in 2004.

Today, Democratis believe that there is a role for government to provide essential services and regulations that, if left to the private sector, would not be done at all or done in a way that does not serve the nation. They're in favor of public education, environmental legislation, public support for health care, gender, race, creed, and sexual equality, pro-choice on abortion, progressive taxation, etc.

Republicans believe in relying more on Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand" of the market. While both parties are capitalist, the Republicans believe in applying market structures to many different aspects of life, including education. There is also a strong evangelical christian component to the Republican party, and a strong dose of social conservatism, to include anti-abortion, closer media censorship, support for parochial schools, less support for special protections of minorities and other sexualities. Republicans are also opposed to progressive taxation and especially capital taxation (like capital gains taxes and estate taxes).

Answer 4

The two main parties in the States would be the Republicans and Democrats.
The Republicans generally take the conservative, traditional views. They are against abortion and mainly support the war.
The Democrats, on the other hand, are the liberals of the country. They are for abortion and gay marriage. They are against the war in Iraq and even more so against Bush (in case you somehow didn't know, he is Republican).
There are also those who call themselves Independents and support various ideas combined by the aforementioned parties.
There is also the Green party, but I don't think anyone is actually sure of what they support. I think it has something to do with the enviroment, but they never get voted in.

Answer 5

The Democratic party -- closet socialist, believe in spreading misery equally. The leadership are elitist. Republican party -- party platform stands for fiscal and social conservatism but the leadership can't seem to do it. Libertarians -- party stands for complete personal responsibility under the constitution. This parties big hangup and why they haven't become more popular is the leagalization of drugs.

Answer 6

About the same, I believe (though some have the Republican title as well), but they all turn into Conservatives in the end!!

Answer 7

Liberals here stand for higher taxes, abortion, shorter prison sentences, no death penalty, increased entitlements, no social security reform, weak national security, affirmative action, an open border, and so on.

Answer 8

All stand for money, I think...