What are political parties? Basically they are groups that want to gain political power and influence public policies. Political parties were created to represent the people of our nation and their ideas on public policies. Over time they have developed and become a big part of our democratic government. Our American political party system is based on a two-party system, meaning there are two major parties that dominate elections. Political parties are important to our nation because they help the voices of the governed to be heard.

Political parties derived from the conflict over ratifying the Constitution. It was then, when the first two political parties were created. They were called the Federalists and Democratic Republicans. Today, our two major parties are the Democrats and the Republicans. Republicans usually tend to be more conservative while Democrats are more liberal. Our two-party system is important because it provides balance and keeps the nation from going to one extreme or the other.

Although we have two major parties, third parties do exist. Third parties are known as minor parties, they are parties that play a small role in politics and elections but never win. There are different types of minor parties such as: Ideological parties, single-issue parties, economic protest parties, and splinter parties. For example, the Free Soil party was a single issue party which opposed the spread of slavery in the 1840s and 1850s. Even though these parties n ever win elections they still play a major role like: pulling votes away from the major parties (spoiler role), draw attention to controversial issues, and innovate solutions to problems. Third parties can be important because if any of the two major parties doesn’t fit a person’s ideas they will always have more options like third parties.

Our political system is not perfect, but has worked throughout many years. Our two major parties have different views but that’s what their job is, not everyone in our nation has the same points of view. No matter what our system will always have its pros and cons. On the positive side people will always have a choice from different party ideas. On the negative side there will always be debates over ideas and public policies. For example, three years ago president Obama wanted to pass “Obamacare” which meant that it was mandatory for everyone to have healthcare, but the Republicans didn’t really agree with it. Things like this are what gives people political representation because there will be times when people don’t agree with laws that are being passed.

Overall our party system is what keeps stability with the nation. Our two-party system is important so that people’s opinions can be taken into consideration. Without our party system there would be chaos and bigger conflicts than the ones we have today. There will always be debates on public policies but through political parties we can all find ways to compromise.