h set out the basic principles of Conservatism; - the necessity in specific cases of reform in order to survive, but an opposition to unnecessary change, that could lead to "a perpetual vortex of agitation". Meanwhile, the Whigs, along with free trade Tory followers of Robert Peel, and independent Radicals, formed the Liberal Party under Lord Palmerston in 1859, and transformed into a party of the growing urban middle-class, under the long leadership of William Ewart Gladstone. The two party system had come of age at the time of Gladstone and his Conservative rival Benjamin Disraeli after the 1867 Reform Act.
History of American political parties
Although the Founding Fathers of the United States did not originally intend for American politics to be partisan, early political controversies in the 1790s saw the emergence of a proto two-party political system, the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party, centred around the differing views on federal government powers of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. However, a consensus reached on these issues ended party politics in 1816 for a decade, a period commonly known as the Era of Good Feelings.
Partisan politics revived in 1829 with the split of the Democratic-Republican Party into the Jacksonian Democrats led by Andrew Jackson, and the Whig Party, led by Henry Clay. The former evolved into the modern Democratic Party and the latter was replaced with the Republican Party as one of the two main parties in the 1850s.
- Schmidt, Steffen W., Shelley, Mack C., Bardes, Barbara A (2008). "American Government and Politics Today 2008-2009". Wadsworth Publishing Company. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
- Wong Chin Huat, fz.com, Jul 29, 2013, When winner takes all, Accessed Aug 12, 2013, “...This "winner-takes-all" characteristic of political contestation then forces political groups to consolidate into two blocs, hence, the two-party system...”
- Regis Publishing, The US System: Winner Takes All, Accessed Aug. 12, 2013, “...Winner-take-all rules trigger a cycle that leads to and strengthens a system of few (two in the US) political parties...”
- The Two Party System, Boundless Publishing, Two-party systems are prominent in various countries, such as the U.S., and contain both advantages and disadvantages, Accessed August 12, 2013 “...There are two main reasons winner–takes–all systems lead to a two-party system...”,
- Eric Black, Minnpost, October 8, 2012, Why the same two parties dominate our two-party system, Accessed Aug. 12, 2013, “...SMDP (single-member districts, plurality) voting system. ... This forces those who might favor a minor party candidate to either vote for whichever of the two biggest parties the voter dislikes the least, or to risk the likelihood that their vote will be “wasted” or, worse, that they will end up helping the major-party candidate whom the voter dislikes the most to win. Minor parties aren’t banned, but they seldom produce a plurality winner, and their lack of success often causes the minor parties to wither and die....”
- History Learning Site, Why America is a two-party state, Accessed Aug. 12, 2013, “...The American electoral system – winner-takes-all – guarantees that any third, fourth party etc has no chance of winning....”
- Patrick Bashan, CATO Institute, June 9, 2004, Do Electoral Systems Affect Government Size?, Accessed Aug. 12, 2013, “...The current system has many disadvantages, most notably its propensity to discriminate against minor parties operating outside the increasingly uncompetitive, cozy two-party system.... America’s winner-takes-all electoral system may be the least bad option for those seeking to limit government involvement in the nation’s economic life....”
- George F. Will, October 12, 2006, Washington Post, From Schwarzenegger, a Veto for Voters' Good, Accessed Aug. 12, 2013, “...That electoral vote system (combined with the winner-take-all allocation of votes in all states but Maine and Nebraska) makes it very difficult for third-party presidential candidates to be competitive...”
- Ashley Fo