Comparison and Contrast of the Republican and Democratic Parties

The Republican and Democratic parties both exist in the United States and represent opposing viewpoints, with each aiming to improve the government through its beliefs. The Democratic Party arose from an anti-federalist party during the period of American independence from British domination (Faricy and Ellis 56). The Republican Party, the younger of the two, was created in 1854 in response to the growing antislavery movement (Ball, Dagger, and O'Neill 181). However, after the division of the Republican Party after the elections of 1912, the Democratic Party has always positioned itself to the left of the other party in terms of economic as well as other social matters that affect its citizens.. In the current world, the Republican Party has always supported pro-business platforms whose foundations lie in the economic libertarianism as well as the fiscal and social conservatism. While both parties seek to improve the lives of the people and the state of the government, they stand for dissimilar ideologies and philosophies which have huge differences.

The Comparison

The differences between Democratic Party and Republican Party lies in the policies as well as the political position each holds in major issues such as tax, the role of the government, control of guns and immigration amongst others. Each of the parties stands for distinct ideologies as well as the philosophical view of the government and its people. Although they dominate the political landscape of the American people, each exhibits different philosophies and ideologies (Westfall et al. 147). While the Democrats have a representation of a blue color and donkey as the symbol and referred to as liberals, the Republican Party has color red and a symbol of an elephant and they tend to be more conservative. In addition, the philosophy of the Republican Party inclines towards freedom of individuals, rights as well as responsibility as compared to equality and social responsibility view of the Democrats.

The Role of the Government

The role of the government is one of the fundamental differences between the Republican and the Democratic parties. Each portrays different ideologies on how the government should act as an institution in order to make it better. On the one hand, Democrats in most cases favor a more active role by the government in the society (Ball, Dagger and O’Neill 183). They believe that when the government is involved in the society, the lives of the people would be improved as well as give them support to achieve higher goals such as opportunity as well as equality. On the other hand, the Republican Party inclines to favor a small government in terms of the number of people that get employed by the administration and its roles as well as responsibilities to the society (Faricy and Ellis 59). Their view of a big government is that it would be wasteful and would interfere with the process of getting things done. They employ the Darwin capitalism theory which suggests that a strong business should survive in a free market as compared to government influence and regulations.

For instance, while the Democrats incline to favor environmental regulations as well as discrimination laws for employment, Republicans tend to view such regulations as harm to business due to the intended consequences. In fact, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) which is greatly favored by the Democrats is seen by the Republicans as an agency that does not have little if anything to offer to the citizens (Faricy and Ellis 61). Many of the Republican presidents have condemned such agencies because according to them, the business in the country goes down due to lack of a balance. This makes the parties disagree even in the Congress about how the government should behave in relation to its people.

The food stamps program is another example that demonstrates the differences in both parties concerning the role of the government. While the Republicans in Congress demand cuts in programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance, the Democrats have always lobbied for its expansion (Ball, Dagger and O’Neill 187). The argument of the Democrats is that many families require the assistance accorded by the program due to the high rates of unemployment in the country. However, the Republicans, opposed to the idea, point out that there is fraud in the program that eventually wastes the money of taxpayers (Westfall et al. 149). In addition, they support an emphasized responsibility taken by an individual. In so doing, they emphasize that the beneficiaries undergo strict measures such as mandatory drug testing and more so look for a job instead of depending on the program.

Stance on Controversial Issues

The United States is faced with many controversial issues, each party holding its own views and ideas as to how to control them and make the best out of the situation. The diverse opinions come from the different politicians from the two parties ; the result of their contributions is what the party stands for as pointed out by Faricy and Ellis (63). This means that although the party may stand for a certain position, not all the politicians agree with it but the majority wins. These issues affect the society in one way or another and both parties have contrasting views.

The social ideas of the Democrats are based on the community as well as the social responsibility. On the other hand, the Republicans hold the belief that individual rights, as well as justice, should dominate in the society (Westfall et al. 151). This is mostly contributed to the conservative philosophy it holds. When it comes to issues such as drug policies, minimum wage, and healthcare, the Democrats tend to be progressive while the Republicans are conventional when it comes to the same issues.

Taxes and wages

Progressive taxes are the basic principle supported by the Democrats. A progressive system of tax is characterized by individuals who earn high income paying higher rates of tax as pointed out by Westfall et al. (146). Therefore, the higher the income one gets, the higher the rate of tax required by the federal government. This reflects the system in which the wealthy pay higher taxes in order to support public programs. On the other hand, the Republicans support the cut of tax for every citizen regardless of the social status (Faricy and Ellis 67). In their defense, they argue that a small government requires less funding from taxes in order to sustain itself. They have advocated for the balance of income tax where each citizen would pay the same percentage of tax regardless of their levels of income. They have also argued that high tax rates for the rich is a system of discrimination as well as a form of class welfare. Each party’s beliefs are meant to improve the living standards of the citizens but with different views as well as political grounds.

When it comes to wages, the Democrats have always maintained their stance that a minimum wage should be increased for all citizens on the one hand (Ball, Dagger and O’Neill 189). This is intended to help the working people in order to support them in making a better life. On the other hand, the Republican Party has always opposed the increment of Minimum Wage by the government administration. In their argument, they suggest that an increase in the Minimum Wage would result into hurting many big businesses in the country.

Gun Control

Gun control has always been an issue that sparks debate between the Republicans and the Democrats. It has been a major dispute which has always been advanced to the court levels (Faricy and Ellis 70). Although the Supreme Court of the United States has not given concrete directions about the issue, it remains a source of debate for both parties as pointed out by Faricy and Ellis (70). The laws of gun control are not supported by the Republicans while the Democrats favor them mostly because of the shootings that have previously happened in the United States. Both parties have ideas that each believe to be of help to the nation. Each of them believes that their stance on gun control would enhance the safety of the Americans. To the Democrats, the safety of the U.S residents would be assured by fewer guns in the country, yet to the Republicans, people would be secure if they owned guns to protect themselves.

The Republicans believe that the citizens should be able to protect themselves in case of a terrorist attack. Therefore, they advocate for everyone having or owning a gun for protection purposes. They also stand by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution which accords the right to own a gun to every citizen. During the 2016 presidential campaigns, different politicians had contrasting views concerning how the security of the citizens would be imposed. While the Republicans continued to oppose gun control laws amidst many shootings in the country, the Democrats fought for stricter laws that would reduce violence related to guns as pointed out by Westfall et al. (147).

Foreign Policy

The foreign policy of the United States has been consistent traditionally between the Democratic as well as the Republican administrations as pointed out by Faricy and Ellis (72). The allies of the administration have been Western powers such as the United Kingdom and France and in the Middle East, countries such as Israel, Saudi Arabia as well as Bahrain (Ball, Dagger and O’Neill 197). However, since the administration of former President Obama, the parties started to have different views and ideologies on the foreign policy of the country. For instance, for a long time, the United States and Israel had strong ties but this was affected by the administration of Obama especially during the first term as asserted by Ball, Dagger and O’Neill (199). The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu was not in good terms with the president of the United States. This was due to the beliefs held by the Democratic Party that supported the tightening of sanctions in countries such as Iran. The Republicans did not favor the idea of tightening of the sanction but instead proposed a better relationship with the countries.

The Democrats also favored the normalization of relations with Cuba, therefore, reversing the policy between the two countries (Westfall et al. 157). This led to unfreezing of relations with Cuba. In contrast, Republicans such as Marco Rubio as well as Ted Cruz greatly opposed the normalization of the relations between Cuba and the United States (Westfall et al. 157).

Immigration

The immigration system in the United States has been a contentious aspect for a long time and each party has pointed out flaws in it. In general, the Democrats have always demonstrated a sympathetic tone towards undocumented immigrants (Westfall et al. 158). Democrats support the DREAM Act of the U.S. Constitution which gives conditional residency to immigrants as well as a permanent placement after meeting certain qualifications to those that are undocumented. This was to be done to those who migrated to the country while they were minors. On the other hand, the Republicans do not support the Act and did not vote for it. As a result, both parties have favored the deportation of undocumented immigrants but the Democratic administration of Obama issued some protections to some undocumented immigrants who were considered qualified in some way (Ball, Dagger and O’Neill 203).

Conclusion

The Republican Party and Democratic Party are both focused on making the United States a better place but have different ideologies as well as principles that guide them. The two sides endeavor to adhere to the philosophies that were introduced by their founders in order to find a solution to problems in the environment as well as the society (Ball, Dagger and O’Neill 179). Although they may agree in some aspects, they portray notable differences in what they stand for, and the means with which they try to accomplish different strategies. The parties have exhibited different in ideologies such as the role of the government, and regarding social concerns including immigration, taxes and foreign policy of the United States. The two political sides have distinct as well as contrasting views on many issues that directly affect the citizens. 

Works Cited

Ball, Terence, Richard Dagger, and Daniel I. O’Neill. Political ideologies and the democratic ideal. Taylor & Francis, (2016): 179-205.

Faricy, Christopher, and Christopher Ellis. "Public attitudes toward social spending in the United States: The differences between direct spending and tax expenditures." Political Behavior 36.1 (2014): 53-76.

Westfall, Jacob, et al. "Perceiving political polarization in the United States: Party identity strength and attitude extremity exacerbate the perceived partisan divide." Perspectives on Psychological Science 10.2 (2015): 145-158.