American Politics

            Ronald Formisano brings up the interesting point that many scholars believe that the development of the two-party system in this country created greater democratization and gave rise to grass root causes.  This would give individual citizens from the frontier areas in the early 1800s.  This time period would see the rise of the Democratic party and the seeds of what would become the Whig party. 

            During The Era of Good Feeling is often cited as the period of United States history that America had only one party, this is untrue.  Looking at the presidential race of 1824 it is easy to see the fracturing or the Republican Party.  I would go even further and say that this country was founded on a two party system.  Certainly not formally declared factions but since before the Constitutional Convention the issue of strong federal government versus “state rights” has consumed the American political scene.  This issue consumed politics all through the Era of Good Feeling and was a major stance during the election of 1824 under the guise of “internal improvements.”  This issue is with the U.S, even today as this is a major platform piece for the Democratic and Republican Parties of today.

            The debate of “state rights” and “strong federal government” started with the debates of the Constitutional Congress and moved along into the early 1800s with the debates for internal improvements and the Bank of the U.S. and later into the slave debate.  The debate continues today with Gun rights and Gay marriage, asking “should these issues be solved by the state or should the Federal government.”  As long as America has a democratic system it will be a two party system one to represent the state argument and one to represent the federal argument.  In this sense Formisano and other scholars are correct in feeling that the multiple-party system created greater democratization.

Formisano, Ronald P. “Deferential- Participant Politics:  The Early Republic’s Political Culture, 1789-1840.” American Political Science Review 68 (1974): 473-487 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/1959497)

Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought. New York: Oxford University Press. 2007.