Political parties today are defined as a group of like-minded people who band together in an attempt to attain and maintain power within government.  This simple definition captures the true purpose of political parties– to take control.  Their hunger for power provides support for the commonly held idea that parties work for themselves rather than for the people who elect them, and in the process hurt the democratic process rather than help it.  Political parties have put democracy at stake and with each election the situation only worsens.

The negative effects of political parties are initially seen in the electoral process.  In terms of voting, party representatives are elected to represent their party’s supporters when they vote in the electorate.  The representation method is not democracy because there are people who do not agree with what their party’s elected representatives believe, and so their own opinion is lost.  The two major political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, formed into what they now represent today by separating themselves from parties in the past that did not do so well.  It seems that now it is impossible for another minor party to ever gain popularity (as did the Democratic party when they were a third party) because the major political parties have turned the Democratic process into a  two-party system.  Every other minor party, such as the Green party, has no chance against the major parties and this creates a problem that is invisible to most.  Political parties have insidiously created a winner-take-all method where if a vote is not made for a major party, then it is practically wasted because either the Republicans or Democrats are bound to win.  Second place is not represented in the electoral process because of political parties.  Democracy means that everyone votes for what they want, and with the parties’ method of doing things, some voices are never heard.

Political parties ruin politics and what they stand for all together.  The concept is more about getting into office than anything else.  Rather than represent the people and do work for them, the party politicians seem to always fight for a way to get into or stay in office.  Writer Matthias Caton agrees says that, “parties only want power, they abuse government and look after themselves rather than the public good.”  Then comes into play the fact that parties elaborately change how voters vote. Instead of voting for a candidate based on their qualifications and experience, citizens tend to vote for those who represent the party they stand in.  At an informing American Heritage speech, Professor Nicholson made the point that by using party labels, facts no longer speak for themselves because citizens tend to vote for their parties regardless of anything.  Votes such as these are what can lead the nation into disaster, and it is all because of a political label.

Eventually the negative effects seen in the electoral process create new ones and spread into the entire Democratic process or governance of America. “The most important political task facing the out-of-power party – the Democrats for now- is creating a villain to run against.  It’s certainly easier than developing some grand new ideas or policies on which to campaign,” says television personality Pat Sajak.  The country lacks guidance and is unable to solve problems when all they focus on is defeating the other party, and progress is made impossible; the entire process is hindered.  Our Founding Father, James Madison, wrote in the Federalist No. 10 that in some degree it is true that “our governments are too unstable; that the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties.”  Even years before, Madison was able to predict the trouble with factions.

Rival parties are so obsessed with control of the government that once one of them is elected, the Democratic process in a way becomes a tyranny of the majority.  Since half of the voters are still against the party in power, they remain unrepresented for the next four years, or rather ignored, and democracy is questioned.  The nation’s first President, George Washington, warned the people of this situation when he stated in his Farewell Address that, “they (political parties) serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community.”  If the constant goal for each party is victory, then they wouldn’t oppose the dissolution of the other party; the underlying aim of the two party system is to have a one party system.  If there were a multi-party system instead, more laws could be passed more easily without disagreement, and things would actually get done.  Progress would be made.   In some perspectives this situation turns the government into something less than a democracy.

In his Farewell Address, Andrew Jackson questioned the American people “What have you to gain by division and dissension?”  He was referring to the split between the country of the North and the South, and how it was caused by different ideas formed by separate political parties.  Rival parties create problems that can eventually lead to more serious problems and Andrew Jackson realized this.  A major problem with modern political parties is that they create division and separation between the nation.  Even today, during an economic crisis, when unity is necessary more than ever,  political parties try their best to split the nation up.  The people on one side do not accept the other side’s ideas even if those ideas are obviously necessary or useful.  As Mark Twain once put it, “Men think they think upon the great political question, and they do; but they think with their party, not independently; they read its literature, but not that of the other side.”  Political parties cause the partition between Americans, and the lack of agreement caused by the lack of unity hurts the entire Democratic process.

In the end it’s all about the ends, and political parties seem to be paving the way.  The carrying capacity for success for the Unites States of America is unreachable because of parties.  They hinder the Democratic process in more than just the electoral vote and can influence major negative changes.  Political parties are like hockey moms, the more they are able to get involved, the more trouble occurs.