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| This map shows in blue the states that voted Democrat and in red the states that voted Republican in the last US presidential election. |
It is normal for international students to not know much about politics in the US for a while but eventually people start forming an opinion. This post obviously has all the potential to attract controversy regardless of how merely informative I try to be and how hard I try to compensate for my own political leanings. Also, since this is an article about bare essentials I will inevitably paint a perhaps too simple picture about some very complex issues but take into account that this is supposed to be a minimal introduction to politics in the States.
- First thing you need to know is that there are two major political parties in the States, the Democratic Party (democrats) and the Republican Party (republicans). The Republican Party is also referred to as the GOP (Grand Old Party). These two parties are not the only parties in this country but the vast majority of citizens vote for one of these two parties. Perhaps you already know these two parties through their leaders, here is the list of recent presidents of the United States with their respective party: Barack Obama (democrat), George W. Bush (republican), Bill Clinton (democrat), George H.W. Bush (republican). While these two parties are not the only ones, they are the majority and the president is highly unlikely to be anyone outside these two parties. As the time of this writing, the next president is going to be either Hillary Clinton (democrat) or Donald Trump (republican) who are the current nominees from each party.
- What do democrats stand for? This is difficult to answer because there is some diversity in the people who vote for the Democratic Party. People who support this party are more likely to be socially liberal, meaning they support issues like gay marriage or the right for women to decide when to stop their pregnancy (pro choice). A lot of democrats are also economically liberal, meaning they support the free market but with some government regulation to prevent things like abuse by private corporations. Democrats are also more likely to support social programs like public health insurance, unemployment benefits, and in general are more likely to agree that the government should play a bigger role in society than do republicans.
- What do republicans stand for? This is difficult to answer as well because there is also diversity in the people who support this party. People who support this party are more likely to be socially conservative, meaning they oppose redefining marriage laws, are against abortion (pro life) often including stem cell research, and are also more likely to oppose immigration. They are also more likely to be supportive of the free market but with minimal government intervention, including less regulations and less taxes. They are therefore also less supportive of government sponsored social programs. People in this party are also more likely to support the use of guns by private citizens on the principle that this might be a good way to empower people against an eventual abusive government.
- Where are the democrats and the republicans geographically? The democratic party usually gets more support in large cities and urban areas while the republican party dominates rural areas and smaller towns. The republican party has a strong support in the Southern states, especially those known as the Deep South comprising states like Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Arkansas. The democratic party is favorable in the North East and the West, prominently in big states like New York and California. Voters in college towns are also known for voting democrat even in some of the Southern states as observed in recent presidential elections. This means that as a student you will probably meet more democrat leaning people than republicans regardless of where you are studying. There are some states know as Swing States because they are neither strongly democrat nor republican like Ohio or Iowa. Politicians will put a lot more effort in these states when campaigning.
- There are also many other political identities that sometimes do not fit well any of the two major parties. For instance, there are the Libertarians who are people that believe strongly in the free market with minimal government intervention. Taken to the extreme imagine a country where even the roads are built and owned by private companies, and all institutions of education are private. The idea is that private companies each acting in their own interests also benefit society as a whole. This is more consistent with the republican party but libertarians can also be socially liberal which puts them at odds with the socially conservatives of the republican party. This is why there is a Libertarian Party but is not one of the major political parties and my guess is that most libertarians end up voting republican. On the other hand, people who believe in some form of socialist society or are strongly to the left end up compromising by voting democrat.
