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Difference between Democrats and Republicans

General

The democrats and republicans remain the major parties of United States since forever. Even though there has been emergence of many other political parties, these two continue to remain the prominent ones, not just in the United States of America but in the entire world. These two hold the lion’s share in the political seats in the parliamentary house of US and in the Senate. While both the parties individually have various laurels to their credit, however most of the ideologies namely, economic, political, social, military, social security etc, can be easily differentiated.

The saga and symbols of the parties

The history of the democrats go way back to 1828. What was conceived as an anti-Federal faction is known today to be the leading left leaning, liberal and equality supporter party in the United States.

The alphabet ‘D’ in United States are widely popular for two reasons. One for obviously the Democrats and two for the Donkey. Interestingly, the two are associated. When the popular democrat Andrew Jackson appeared in the campaign for presidential purposes, the opposition tried to call out to him, by calling him a donkey. Being an optimist, this motivated Jackson inturn decided to use the image of a donkey for his campaign posters. He reasoned that donkey is a very strong willed, smart and brave animal and thus is apt for his campaign. The symbol gained more importance and came in highlight when the renowned cartoonist Thomas Nast used a donkey in his cartoons for a newspaper.

Comparatively, the Republican party is newer and was started 26 years after the Democratic Party, i.e., in 1854. Ironically it is still popularly known as the Grand Old Party. The primary objective of the Republican Party was to abolish Slavery, which was then viewed as unconstitutional. The Republican associated themselves to the grandeur and magnificence of an Elephant which is also known as the Republican Elephant. Interestingly, the reason for the widespread popularity of the Elephant as a symbol for the Republicans is also because of Thomas Nast, who in 1874, introduced Elephant in one of his cartoons which easily resonated with the strong and dignified ideologies of the Party.

Key Differences between Democrats and Republicans

The difference between the two parties can be listed down as under:

Political Orientation

The major difference between the parties is certainly the two political ideologies and the ideas with which the parties were conceived. While the Democrats are viewed as liberal and progressive, the Republican Party is right winged, traditional and believes in the economic upliftment with the motto “survival of the fittest.”

 


 

This affiliation makes Republicans a little more stringent in terms of taxes, Gun Laws, Voter ID laws, , Homosexual Relationships, Abortion, Immigration etc. However, Democrats support and favour more liberal views on the same.

Needless to say, that both the parties have different views and it is difficult to evaluate where the two stand on different spheres. However, both the parties equally support evolution and development of the national and international assets. The reality on the ground is, both of them are a part of world’s big brother and have their respective positions to keep the same intact. The demarcation in the end, stands blurry.

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