Chad Dembiec

February 8th 2016

English 3-Vos
JRP Draft
Political Parties Effect on Constitutional Adaptation
It is very easy for people today to get caught up in politics, especially around the
time of an election. Every candidate has different policies and ideas that cater to
different groups of people, splitting the public on certain opinions. These policies
and ideas all stem from an overall political ideology of some political party. Political
parties dictate how most citizens think based on what is in their partys best
interest. If something goes against their own partys ideas, the people of the party
will also say it goes against their own ideas due to their desire to align their views
with their respective parties.
Political parties carry a lot of power but are also open to be interpreted
differently. There is no real template or structure for anyone in a political party; it is
more following your own beliefs that happen to align with your respective partys.
Today, not everyone has to be a part of a certain party, they can like ideas from one
party and also some from the opposite party, making them politically independent.
In fact, Originally political parties were thought to be evil and wrong but they were
unavoidable according to James Madison. This meant we would see the government
trying to check political parties powers to ensure one was not too powerful with too
many people (Soward paragraph 2). It was intended for people to be politically
independent and political parties were formed from basic ideas and human
organization. People who identify themselves as politically independent and can
often be the most free thinking and fair because they have no particular bias to
align their ideas with their partys ideas.
Unfortunately an independent candidate never wins the election due to lack of
support, and the strong support of the two major political parties, republicans and
democrats. Smaller groups like Libertarians who strives to expand the
responsibilities of an individual for their own happiness while reducing obligation, a
very self reliant structure of living where the government stays relatively out of your
personal business, They believe in ideas derived from the words of civil
disobedience by Henry Thoreau, once the government's powers are diminished the
individual can gain full moral and intellectual development (Hammond Paragraph 6).
Although groups like this can have a decent following they are just too small to
compete. "Today, most people in the United States identify themselves as a
Republican or a Democrat. These two parties completely dominate the U.S. political
system and have since the 1860s," (Why Political Parties overview). Republicans are
one of two major political groups that carries a philosophy with roots in classical

and Renaissance thinking, stresse[s] the idea of citizen participation in government

and the need for citizen virtue (Vile paragraph 5). Democrats are often described
as being based heavily on individual rights and the idea that the individual has
power over the state. It is a social ideology that is based on support for civil
rights, social and political change, and government intervention to promote the
general welfare of citizens (Vile Paragraph 6 &1). Both of these parties and people
have conflicting ideas and motives but are alike in a way that they unite a group of
people who think similarly.
The two major parties contain the most people but that does not mean they all
agree on the same issues. There is never 100% unity on a subject within a political
party. This is due to the idea that one title does not define exactly how one thinks.
For example, a person can identify as a republican but can be very liberal when it
comes to social aspects, making them not a true republican nor a true liberal. This
is because when discussing political parties it is important to mention that it is a
spectrum and not a template. Far right leaning would be people who are more for
republican ideals while more left leaning would be people who are more democratic.
The point of the spectrum is to show that there is more to ones political party than
just the title.
Not only are political parties important to discuss issues and align with others but
the whole point of them is for congress to implement their own ideas. People select
leaders who campaign for senate or presidency that best reflect a certain parties
values (not to say an independent could not be in congress or president but they
are less common.) and will do the best they can to create and pass legislation. This
is all political parties aim to do, create legislation they support and see it
implemented into the country. They can achieve this by controlling the senate or
controlling the house and all this means is that a certain party holds majority
within congress. When a party holds majority they can more easily pass legislation
through congress and vote against the other partys desired legislation.
Passing legislation is not necessarily that easy either because our own constitution
makes it difficult to change. The constitution is the law above all else within the US
which clearly defines the laws and rights of the American people. The constitution is
also one of the oldest living documents and one of the reasons it has lasted for
more than 200 years is that an effective means of altering the document is built into
it, (Amending the Constitution Overview). The idea of altering it has made it last
but has also made it very confusing for every new president, congress, and supreme
court justice. This is due to the fact that not everyone interprets 200 year old
writing similarly. Some see its words as strict rules that must be interpreted
verbatim while others have a more loose interpretation that leaves room for
adjustment. It is unclear in many aspects including its own limit of power, in article
1 section 8 it states its own job as To make all Laws which shall be necessary and
proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested
by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department

or Officer thereof ," (Madison Article 1 section 8). Much like before people who
interpret it differently align with respective political parties. If someone is more
conservative (like a republican) than they will try to preserve the constitution and
not alter it as best as they can. If someone is more liberal (like a democrat) they
want to implement change and shifts from the exact wording. This means different
political parties adapt the constitution differently based on their ideals. This idea
was intended as the document is subject to personal interpretation which leads to
large debates and arguments all the time within congress. The constitution is a
document malleable enough that the respective socio-political ideologies of political
parties in power can manipulate it to shape the American public.