could the congress organize itself without political parties?

Question

can you please help me answer this question for my political science class it would be VERY helpful if you could give an explanation for your answer thank you!

Answer 1

They actually tried that in the early days. In fact, "party spirit" and factionalism were considered horrible things to be avoided at all costs.

Alexander Hamilton, however, had a pretty uncanny grasp on how government should work, and he quickly figured out that the system only required 51% of the folks to support something. He organized his supporters and they became the Federalists.

Prior to the Revolution, Americans kind of divided themselves along "court" and "country" lines. "Court" was the group of people who were centered around the British governor and tended to be a bit more urbane and tied to England. "Country" was the group of people who lived in more rural areas. They thought the court people were snobs. This division somewhat transmuted into the Federalists and Democrats, but not completely since John Adams was more aligned with "country" prior to the Revolution, but ended up being a Federalist.

I think the important thing to draw from this is that historically, the U.S. has tended to break toward politically parties by necessity. There is nothing in the Constitution which requires political parties, but ever since the days of Alexander Hamilton, and owing to the majority requirement to pass anything legally, only a political party has the kind of "jack" to get anything done.

In actuality, our parties are coalitions of smaller groups that band together to jointly push their issues forward. For example, prior to the 1930's, the African American vote went almost overwhelmingly to the Republicans as the party of Lincoln. After Roosevelt, however, that vote goes just as heavily Democratic. The group that is labeled the "Religious Right" generally supports Republicans, but they will sit out an election if they don't "feel the love" from the party.

Hopefully that gives you a springboard for discussion.

Answer 2

I can't think of a democracy where parties have not formed. In many democracies there are many small parties, and they form coalitions to secure a stable majority.

Answer 3

no, if you destroyed the dems and gop, the next vote would lead to people takening sides, trading influence to get their way, the pparties would be back. all you can change are the names