Republican Party
History: Also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), the Republican Party is the second oldest political party, the rival Democratic Party being the oldest. The name "Republican" was chosen because it reminded the people of Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party and it had a sense of peace and equality. The party emerged in 1854 and had its first informal meeting on July 6th, 1854 in Jackson, Michigan. After John C. Fremont was nominated in 1856, the Republicans became a national party with the slogan of "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont." They has to run as a third party because at the time Democrats and Whigs were the dominant parties. Yet despite this, Fremont managed to get 33% of the vote.
The party did not have a heavy influence until four years later in 1860, when leader Abraham Lincoln became president and promoted the party. In his term, he signed to Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves. The Republicans then worked to pass the Thirteenth Amendment which outlawed slavery, the Fourteenth, which enforced equal protection under the laws, and the Fifteenth, which secured voting rights for African-Americans. The Republican Party also played a dominant role in women's suffrage, in fact, in 1896, it was the first major party to favor women's suffrage. Once the Nineteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution, it was a Republican women, Jeanette Ranklin, who was first elected into Congress in 1917.
The party remained dominant until 1932. From 1932 to 964, the Democrats became the top dog under FDR's winning "New Deal" yet it collapsed in the mid-1960's because of white southern democrats disaffection with the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964.
Basic Republican Principles:
Symbol: In 1860, the image of an elephant was featured as a Republican symbol in at least one political cartoon and newspaper illustration during the Civil War. The soldiers used the expression "seeing the elephant" to mean experiencing combat yet the image did not take hold until Thomas Nast,a famous political cartoonist, used the image (seen below in Figure 2) in 1897's Harper's Weekly Cartoon which was titled "The Third-Term Panic" and it mocked the New York Herald, which criticized the rumor that President Ulysses Grant was running for a third term. After the publishing of the cartoon, more political cartoons began showing up and it soon became the symbol for the republican party.
In one of the country's first national political conventions, the Democrats nominated Jackson for president (they needed him to take a stronghold in America) ,drafted a party platform, and established a rule that required party presidential and vice presidential nominees to receive at least a two-third vote of the national convention delegates. The rule was repealed in 1936, but until it effectively yielded power in the selection process to minority factions, and it required conventions to hold multiple ballots to determine who would be the presidential nominee. Jackson easily won in 1832 and two sides split; Jackson and his followers became the Democratic Party and Adams and his followers became the Whigs. From the years 1828 to 1856 the Democrats held supreme power and won all be two of the presidential elections.
In 1844, Southern Democrats, led by Jefferson Davis, wanted to allow slavery in all of the territories while the Northern Democrats, led by Stephen A. Douglas, proposed the idea that each territory should have the choice to chose themselves through referendum. With the Democrats were split, this allowed Abraham Lincoln to swoop in and become president.
In federal elections from the 1870's to the 1890's the Democrats in the south took a stronghold because the people blamed the Republicans for the Civil War and the Reconstruction.
In the 1896 election, the Democrats split again over the free-silver and Populist program of their presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan. Bryan lost to William McKinley, a Conservative Republican who supported high tariffs and the gold standard.
The Democrats held office with Woodrow Wilson from 1913-1921 only because the Republican vote was split between William Taft and Theodore Roosevelt. In light of the stock market crashing in 1929 and the Great Depression following because of it, Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt won in the 1932 election and the Democrats stayed in office till 1952.
The Democrats continued to win and lose in office, and 1992 where Bill Clinton recaptured the White House yet lost both houses in Congress because of Clinton's health care plans. Clinton impeachment, due to his scandal with a White House intern, led to George W. Bush to win over Al Gore, even though Gore had more popular votes than Bush. Now, President Barack Obama, a democrat, is in office.
Philosophy: The party had three major points at the time of Andrew Jackson.
1. Continue taking lands from the Native Americans at whatever cost.
2. Continue slavery, for it made life easy for Jackson and his followers.
3. Expansionary monetary policy- allowed white settlers to borrow money to buy stolen Indian land to work with slaves.
During Jackson's time, the party advocated less-powerful, more decentralized federal government. All in all, the Democratic Party tolerated slavery, and opposed civil rights reforms after the Civil War to keep the support of the Southern states. Yet by the mid-20th century, it underwent a dramatic ideological change switched its views to supporting organized labor, the civil rights of minorities, and progressive reform.
In FDR's term, there were visible changes such as FDR's New Deal social programs like social security and minimum wage. FDR, under the Democratic Party, managed to bring together small farmers, Northern city people, European immigrants, liberals, reformers, and intellectuals that allowed the Democrats to hold in office until 1952.
In the 1960's the Democrats' were the champions of civil rights and racial desegregation under Truman, JFK, and Johnson- who passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965; this caused the traditional democrats in the south to break away. Since then the Democratic Party generally supports a strong federal government with regulation powers to keep big businesses and industries in check.
Modern Democrats supported welfare programs to help the poor moreover than the Republicans do and they support the protection of civil rights. They also endorse as strong separation of church and state. In regards to foreign policy, Democrats believe in internationalism and multiculturalism. Social issues, they support same-sex marriage over Republicans, Obama signed the law this year that same-sex marriage could happen. Democrats favor affirmative action and gun control.
History: The Green Party hasn't be together for more than 30 years. "In May of 1984, with growing in a possible U.S. Green Politics, David Haenke of the Ozark Area Community Congress convened a Green Movement Committee at the first North American Bio-regional Congress." ("A Short History"). On August 10-12, 1984, a total of 62 people gathered at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota and officially founded the first official national Green organization in the U.S. The three days consisted of "activists from peace, ecology, and justice groups; veterans of the women's, civil rights, and community movements; and farmers, community leaders, church activists and teachers." They agreed on three points.
1. an Inter-Regional Committee was to be established
The First National Green Gathering was held in the July of 1987 at the Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. There was over 600 who attended and there were multiple tensions between the people of the U.S. Green Movement and what views they strongly stood for, for instance 'party vs. movement', 'deep ecology vs. social ecology', and 'New Left vs. New Age'.
Strategic Policy Approaches in Key Areas (SPAKA)
They focused their shift to further designing and "developing a set of policy approaches based upon the Key Values, which might further define and unite U.S. Greens." ("A Short History"). They wanted ideas for issues to address while spreading their name and gaining more followers, so green locals and other sent a total of 190 position papers (SPAKAS) to the leaders in the party. They came up with 19 key issue areas.
1. Energy
2. Forest and Forestry
3. Life Forms
4. Materials Use and Waste Management
5. Water/Air
6. General Economic Analysis
7. Finance
8. Politics
9. Social Justice
10. Eco-Philosophy
11. Spirituality
12. Education
13. Food and Agriculture
14. Health
15. Peace and Non-violence
16. Community
17. Organizing
18. Strategy
19. Land Use
With SPAKA underway, the party wanted to spread so in 1988, they went westward. A conference was held in a redwood grove at the Jones Gulch YMCA camp in San Mateo County, California on September 30- October 2, 1988, and they had a workshop called "Towards a Green Party of the West: Local and Regional Electoral Strategies" which turned out to be a "stepping-stone in the development of U.S. Green electoral politics. ("A Short History").
They held a second National Green Gathering in 1989 which focused on the SPAKA process; all 19 issue areas were identified and conversed about. After establishing their focus, the party moved on to make a more noticeable mark; they ran for local office in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and in New Haven, CT, and got seven elected. Although many members in the GCoC had reservations about moving into the electoral arena, they had made their mark and couldn't turn back. ("A Short History").
Once the U.S. Greens started to grow in electoral politics, Greens/Green Party USA was founded at the August 1991 Green Gathering in Elkins, WV, and they restructured the "Green Committees of Correspondence with the idea that the Green movement and Green Party would operate as part of a single organization A press conference in Washington, DC to announce the new name. Things went well until about a year in, then tensions began to rise over "the new structure fairly represented all state Green Parties...how "membership" was defined." The G/GPUSA required members to pay dues even if the state party didn't. ("A Short History).
In 1996, the Green Party ran Ralph Nader for President. He won 685,297 votes, or .07 percent of all votes cast. They try again in 2000, this time he received nearly 3 million votes, 2.7 percent of all votes cast. It was in this election that the citizens blamed the Green Party of "stealing" votes from the Democrats, resulting in Al Gore losing to George Bush.
The party did not have a heavy influence until four years later in 1860, when leader Abraham Lincoln became president and promoted the party. In his term, he signed to Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves. The Republicans then worked to pass the Thirteenth Amendment which outlawed slavery, the Fourteenth, which enforced equal protection under the laws, and the Fifteenth, which secured voting rights for African-Americans. The Republican Party also played a dominant role in women's suffrage, in fact, in 1896, it was the first major party to favor women's suffrage. Once the Nineteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution, it was a Republican women, Jeanette Ranklin, who was first elected into Congress in 1917.
The party remained dominant until 1932. From 1932 to 964, the Democrats became the top dog under FDR's winning "New Deal" yet it collapsed in the mid-1960's because of white southern democrats disaffection with the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964.
Philosophy: The Republican Party was
first run by anti-slavery activists and individuals who believed that the
government should grant, free of charge, western lands to settlers. The party
was first based on Northern white Protestants, businessmen, small business
owners, professionals, factory workers, farmers, and African Americans. It
believed in pro-business, supporting banks, the gold standard, railroads, and
high tariffs to protect factory workers and grow industry. Under the William McKinley and Theodore
Roosevelt, it emphasized foreign policy.
Basic Republican Principles:
1. Belief in Smaller Government
2. Support of the Federalist System of Government- This
brings the power close to the people and the party believes that it's
imperative we restrict the growth of a centralized government, states have the
power.
3. Fiscal Conservatism- support policies of limited taxation
and government spending.
4. Strong National Defense
5. Individual Liberties and Responsibilities- government
must act to preserve freedom but the people of America must exercise their
responsibilities to preserve order.
6. Tolerance, Inclusiveness, and Optimism- the right to
disagree on certain matters of principle and policy; party believes in being an
open and inclusive party respectful of different points of views.
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| Figure 1: Republican symbol, the elephant |
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Figure 2. "The Third-Term Panic" by Thomas Nast
Portrays various interest groups as animals, including
an elephant with the words "the Republican vote" on it's
side, while standing at the edge of a pit with breaking
boards with the words such as reform and inflation.
|
Democratic Party
History: The Democratic Party is the oldest and one of the most dominant political party in America. The name was officially set in 1844. It was founded by Andrew Jackson and based off of him beliefs and principles. In one of the country's first national political conventions, the Democrats nominated Jackson for president (they needed him to take a stronghold in America) ,drafted a party platform, and established a rule that required party presidential and vice presidential nominees to receive at least a two-third vote of the national convention delegates. The rule was repealed in 1936, but until it effectively yielded power in the selection process to minority factions, and it required conventions to hold multiple ballots to determine who would be the presidential nominee. Jackson easily won in 1832 and two sides split; Jackson and his followers became the Democratic Party and Adams and his followers became the Whigs. From the years 1828 to 1856 the Democrats held supreme power and won all be two of the presidential elections.
In 1844, Southern Democrats, led by Jefferson Davis, wanted to allow slavery in all of the territories while the Northern Democrats, led by Stephen A. Douglas, proposed the idea that each territory should have the choice to chose themselves through referendum. With the Democrats were split, this allowed Abraham Lincoln to swoop in and become president.
In federal elections from the 1870's to the 1890's the Democrats in the south took a stronghold because the people blamed the Republicans for the Civil War and the Reconstruction.
In the 1896 election, the Democrats split again over the free-silver and Populist program of their presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan. Bryan lost to William McKinley, a Conservative Republican who supported high tariffs and the gold standard.
The Democrats held office with Woodrow Wilson from 1913-1921 only because the Republican vote was split between William Taft and Theodore Roosevelt. In light of the stock market crashing in 1929 and the Great Depression following because of it, Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt won in the 1932 election and the Democrats stayed in office till 1952.
The Democrats continued to win and lose in office, and 1992 where Bill Clinton recaptured the White House yet lost both houses in Congress because of Clinton's health care plans. Clinton impeachment, due to his scandal with a White House intern, led to George W. Bush to win over Al Gore, even though Gore had more popular votes than Bush. Now, President Barack Obama, a democrat, is in office.
Philosophy: The party had three major points at the time of Andrew Jackson.
1. Continue taking lands from the Native Americans at whatever cost.
2. Continue slavery, for it made life easy for Jackson and his followers.
3. Expansionary monetary policy- allowed white settlers to borrow money to buy stolen Indian land to work with slaves.
During Jackson's time, the party advocated less-powerful, more decentralized federal government. All in all, the Democratic Party tolerated slavery, and opposed civil rights reforms after the Civil War to keep the support of the Southern states. Yet by the mid-20th century, it underwent a dramatic ideological change switched its views to supporting organized labor, the civil rights of minorities, and progressive reform.
In FDR's term, there were visible changes such as FDR's New Deal social programs like social security and minimum wage. FDR, under the Democratic Party, managed to bring together small farmers, Northern city people, European immigrants, liberals, reformers, and intellectuals that allowed the Democrats to hold in office until 1952.
In the 1960's the Democrats' were the champions of civil rights and racial desegregation under Truman, JFK, and Johnson- who passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965; this caused the traditional democrats in the south to break away. Since then the Democratic Party generally supports a strong federal government with regulation powers to keep big businesses and industries in check.
Modern Democrats supported welfare programs to help the poor moreover than the Republicans do and they support the protection of civil rights. They also endorse as strong separation of church and state. In regards to foreign policy, Democrats believe in internationalism and multiculturalism. Social issues, they support same-sex marriage over Republicans, Obama signed the law this year that same-sex marriage could happen. Democrats favor affirmative action and gun control.
 |
| Figure 3: Democratic symbol, the donkey |
Symbol: The Democratic symbol can be traced back to the 1828 presidential election of Andrew Jackson. The opponents allegedly referred to Jackson as a "jackass". Jackson being the good humored person he is, was amused by it and included an image of a donkey in his campaign posters. Thomas Nast helped popularized the donkey (see Figure 4 below) to be the symbol for the Democratic Party as a whole.
![political cartoon: donkey [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]](http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/69/129269-004-046749DA.jpg) |
| Figure 4: Political cartoon by Thomas Nast |
Green Party
History: The Green Party hasn't be together for more than 30 years. "In May of 1984, with growing in a possible U.S. Green Politics, David Haenke of the Ozark Area Community Congress convened a Green Movement Committee at the first North American Bio-regional Congress." ("A Short History"). On August 10-12, 1984, a total of 62 people gathered at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota and officially founded the first official national Green organization in the U.S. The three days consisted of "activists from peace, ecology, and justice groups; veterans of the women's, civil rights, and community movements; and farmers, community leaders, church activists and teachers." They agreed on three points.
1. an Inter-Regional Committee was to be established
2. establish a national information office in
Minneapolis-St. Paul
The First National Green Gathering was held in the July of 1987 at the Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. There was over 600 who attended and there were multiple tensions between the people of the U.S. Green Movement and what views they strongly stood for, for instance 'party vs. movement', 'deep ecology vs. social ecology', and 'New Left vs. New Age'.
Strategic Policy Approaches in Key Areas (SPAKA)
They focused their shift to further designing and "developing a set of policy approaches based upon the Key Values, which might further define and unite U.S. Greens." ("A Short History"). They wanted ideas for issues to address while spreading their name and gaining more followers, so green locals and other sent a total of 190 position papers (SPAKAS) to the leaders in the party. They came up with 19 key issue areas.
1. Energy
2. Forest and Forestry
3. Life Forms
4. Materials Use and Waste Management
5. Water/Air
6. General Economic Analysis
7. Finance
8. Politics
9. Social Justice
10. Eco-Philosophy
11. Spirituality
12. Education
13. Food and Agriculture
14. Health
15. Peace and Non-violence
16. Community
17. Organizing
18. Strategy
19. Land Use
With SPAKA underway, the party wanted to spread so in 1988, they went westward. A conference was held in a redwood grove at the Jones Gulch YMCA camp in San Mateo County, California on September 30- October 2, 1988, and they had a workshop called "Towards a Green Party of the West: Local and Regional Electoral Strategies" which turned out to be a "stepping-stone in the development of U.S. Green electoral politics. ("A Short History").
They held a second National Green Gathering in 1989 which focused on the SPAKA process; all 19 issue areas were identified and conversed about. After establishing their focus, the party moved on to make a more noticeable mark; they ran for local office in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and in New Haven, CT, and got seven elected. Although many members in the GCoC had reservations about moving into the electoral arena, they had made their mark and couldn't turn back. ("A Short History").
Once the U.S. Greens started to grow in electoral politics, Greens/Green Party USA was founded at the August 1991 Green Gathering in Elkins, WV, and they restructured the "Green Committees of Correspondence with the idea that the Green movement and Green Party would operate as part of a single organization A press conference in Washington, DC to announce the new name. Things went well until about a year in, then tensions began to rise over "the new structure fairly represented all state Green Parties...how "membership" was defined." The G/GPUSA required members to pay dues even if the state party didn't. ("A Short History).
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| Ralph Nader running for the 2000 presidential election |
Philosophy:
Attendees from the first meeting approved a statement
“concerning the formation of a Green political organization in the USA”,
stating: “It is essential that this organization have a bio-centric vision—one
which puts the needs of all life forms at the center of decision-making … As
individual bio-regionalists, we recognize the need for bio-regional principles
and practices to be secured and protected, cooperatively and in a decentralized
manner, through a Green political organization. Such an organization should
focus on open, democratic planning and political action supportive of local and
regional autonomy and interdependence as reflected in the bio-regional model.”
("A Short History"). There are 10 key points that have slightly changed since the birth of the party.
Original Ten Key Values of CoC (adopted 1984)
Symbols:
Original Ten Key Values of CoC (adopted 1984)
Ecological Wisdom
Grassroots Democracy
Personal and Social Responsibility
Non-violence
Decentralization
Community-Based Economics
Post-patriarchal Values
Respect for Diversity
Global Responsibility
Future Focus
Ten Key Values of GPUS(adopted 2000)
Grassroots Democracy
Social Justice and
Equal Opportunity
Ecological Wisdom
Decentralization
Community-Based
Economics and Economic Justice
Feminism and Gender
Equity
Respect for
Diversity
Personal and Global Responsibility
Future Focus and
Sustainability
Information from http://gp.org/greenpages-blog/?p=3515
Symbols:
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| Symbol for the Greens/ Green Party. It represents a sunflower and the earth being the center. The sunflower represents pure and lofty thoughts. |
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| Symbol for the Green Party of the United States. Earth is shown blooming within a flower, giving the idea of birth and growth while incorporation the Earth, all common graphic design used in environmentalism. The font uses serifs and blocky shapes to make this party seem like an authority. (Top 10). |
Socialist Party:
History: The party "was founded by Eugene V. Debs and Victor Berger (Mrs. Berger are you a socialist??) from the remnants of the American Railway Union and the Brotherhood of the Cooperative Commonwealth.. on June 15, 1897." (The Socialist Party). The party's initial policy was that of colonization. The "Colonization Committee" was three members, them being Richard J. Hinton, Wilfred P. Borland, and Cyrus Field Willard. They wanted to try and set up a colony to start the future of "Cooperative Commonwealth" in Tennessee. This notion proved to be a matter of conflict in the organization for two different sides, the "colonizationists" and the "political action wing", couldn't agree on a set course of action for the colony. The first group wanted to gain socialism through the power of example, the second wanted to gain socialism through political organization and the electoral process. ( "The Socialist Party"). June 1898 the political action wing of the Social Democracy in America have the groups 2nd convention where they became the Social Democratic Party of America. Some broke off from the SDR and became the Socialist Labor Party, lead by Morris Hillquit and Algernon Lee. The "kangaroos" or the Socialist Labor Party (SLP) held a convention in 1899. ("The Socialist Party"). Debs ran for presidency in 1900 with the support of the more moderate wing of the SLP, and in "1901 this group, led by Hillquit, united with the Social Democratic party to form the Socialist Party." The party did not show much electoral strength until about 1910 when their candidates managed to win numerous state and local elections.
In 1912- Debs received nearly 900,000 votes, which is about 6% of all the votes cast. In 1916 and 1920, they had Allan Benson and Debs run again. In 1919, the faction that "advocated that the organization drop its evolutionary and reformist position and work instead for the immediate overthrow of the capitalist system" broke away and became the Communist Party. ( "The Socialist Party").
The Socialist Party of America (SPA) held conventions every 4 years so they could pick their presidential nominee.
Philosophy: The socialist have an underlying philosophy that is both, as they would say is "both coherent and radical. Coherent in the sense that while the members have different views on some of the details, they all believe and support the fundamental principles; radical in the sense that all the members see that there needs to be a change in the fundamentals in our society. There are many different points that the Socialist Party focuses on such as:
Production for Use Instead of Profit- seek society where the production and distribution of goods and services are based on pubic need instead of private profit. They believe that if a companies and corporations main purpose is to get a profit, instead of the citizens needs, then it leads to harm of the public welfare; "this is especially true where irreplaceable natural resources are concerned."
Extension of Democracy from Politics to the Economy- "believe that in order for political democracy to work well in a post-industrial society, it must be complemented by economic democracy."They think that in order to ensure political democracy, the "commanding heights of the economy" need to be social owned and democratically controlled.
Defense of Civil Liberties- To Socialists, civil liberties and political democracy are the highest achievements of our society yet they can be ineffective under capitalism. They helped start the American Civil Liberties Union.
Worker's Internationalism- All of the people who earn their money through hard work and determination, "whether by hand or brain, have a common interest in transforming our economic system from capitalism to socialism. "
Opposition to Militarism and War- Throughout history, socialists have worked long and hard for disarmament and oppose war, believing that the only way to abolish it is to rid the economic causes of war.
Socialist-Feminism- Recognize that economic, class oppression is just one type of oppression; others include sexism and racism.
The Struggle Against Racism- Work to eliminate prejudice and discrimination in all forms.
An International Third Force- Opposed to all forms of minority rule and all forms of authoritarianism and oppression.
All information found at ("Who We Are").
Symbol: The significance of the logo is to help the reader identify the organization and illustrate the organization's intended message that words alone could not explain.
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| Socialist Party Symbol- Represents the people around the world working together, hints the "Workers of the world unite!" at the bottom of the badge. |
Libertarian Party
History: The Libertarian party began with a small group of activists in Colorado and now is the third largest party and one of the fastest growing party. It was founded in December of 1971 due belief that politicians had strayed from America's original libertarian foundation. The Libertarians wanted to regress back to the time of America's founders-- a place where the citizens were unrestricted and could follow their dreams however they wanted, a world full of "peace, harmony, opportunity, and abundance."
In 1971, Eight activists, after meeting in the home of David F. Nolan, decided to found the Libertarian Party on December 11 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Following in 1972, the first national convention was held in June in Denver, Colorado. A philosophy professor at the University of Southern California, John Hospers, gets nominated as the presidential candidate and Libertarian Party vice presidential candidate Tonie Nathan was the first woman in U.S. history to receive an electoral vote. By 1976, according to news week magazine notes, the Libertarians were gaining a "unique appeal on both the left and right." Then in 1980, presidential nominee, Ed Clark, appeared on the ballot in all 50 states and earns 1 million votes.
The Libertarian Party begins picking up speed and recognition and sweep the city council race in Big Water, Utah, winning every single seat. Former Texas Republican, Ron Paul, resigns from the GOP and joins the Libertarian Party in 1987, then in 1991, New Hampshire state legislators Cal Warburton and Finlay Rothhaus resign as well and join.
In 1993, the LP National Director, Stuart Reges, testified before Congress, recommending legislation to make it easier for third party candidates to be in presidential debates. The LP moves to its national headquarters to the Watergate Office building in 1995. The LP have recording break years in 1996-1997, 1996 being the year the LP becomes the first third party in U.S. history to earn ballot status in all 50 states two presidential elections in a row and then in 1997 they had 39 elected Libertarians in office.
At the Anaheim, California convention in 2000, they nominate Harry Browne for president and Art Oliver for vice president. For the first time in 80 years a third party contested a majority of Congressional seats; head a ticket of 1,436 LP candidates including 256 candidates for U.S. House. In 2001, they have a record "off-year" election because the party runs about 300 candidates and a record 76 Libertarians are elected. Then in 2002, the party has a record slate of third-party candidates since before World War 2.
The LP nominated former congressman Bob Bar for president at the national convention in 2008, and throughout the year 201318 Libertarians were elected or re-elected to public office. By the end of the year, 149 Libertarians held elected offices.
At the Anaheim, California convention in 2000, they nominate Harry Browne for president and Art Oliver for vice president. For the first time in 80 years a third party contested a majority of Congressional seats; head a ticket of 1,436 LP candidates including 256 candidates for U.S. House. In 2001, they have a record "off-year" election because the party runs about 300 candidates and a record 76 Libertarians are elected. Then in 2002, the party has a record slate of third-party candidates since before World War 2.
The LP nominated former congressman Bob Bar for president at the national convention in 2008, and throughout the year 201318 Libertarians were elected or re-elected to public office. By the end of the year, 149 Libertarians held elected offices.
Philosophy: The "Libertarians believe the answer to America's political problems lies in the same commitment to freedom that earned America its greatness." This means that they want to have a free market economy, dedication to civil liberties and personal freedom, and a foreign policy of non-intervention, peace, and free trade. On their wed site, the Libertarian's have a "Libertarian Option" which have four major points.
The next set of principles fall under Economic Liberty:
The third set is under Securing Rights:
- Reduce the size and intrusiveness of government and cut all taxes
- Let people offer their goods and services to customers without government involvement
- Let people decide for themselves what to intake (food, drink, smoke) and how to dress, medicate themselves, read, and make love, without fear of criminal penalties
- Have the U.S government defend Americans and their property and let the U.S. taxpayer "off the hook" for the defense bill of wealthy countries like Germany and Japan
Furthermore, the Libertarians believe in Personal Liberty which includes:
Self-ownership- right of own body, freedom and responsibility to decide what they knowingly consume.
Expression and communication- full freedom of expression and oppose government censorship, regulation or control of communication.
Privacy- individual privacy and government transparency.
Personal relationships- Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the government's treatment of individuals and such cases as current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration, or military service laws.
Abortion- government keep out of the matter.
Crime and justice- government exists to protect the rights of every individual including life, liberty, and property.
Self-defense- believe the only legitimate use of force is in defense of individual rights.
The next set of principles fall under Economic Liberty:
Property and Contract- respect for property rights is fundamental;want to free property owners from government restrictions on their rights to control and enjoy their property.
Environment- support a clean and healthy environment and sensible use of our natural resources. "Governments, unlike private businesses, are unaccountable for such damage done to our environment and have a terrible track record when it comes to environmental protection." There should be free markets and property rights for it will stimulate the technological innovations and behavioral changes needed to help the environment.
Energy and Resources- government should not be subsidizing and forms of energy.
Government Finance and Spending- all people are entitled to keep the fruits of their labor. They want to repeal the income tax and abolish the internal Revenue Service and all federal programs and services not required under the Constitution. They support "Balanced Budget Amendment".
Money and Financial Markets- free-market banking with unrestricted competition among banks
Marketplace Freedom- Support free-markets and "oppose all forms of government subsidies and bailouts to business, labor, or any other special interest."
Labor Markets- Libertarians believe that "employment and compensation agreements between private employers and employees are outside the scope of government..."
Education- best provided for by the free-market which allows achievement with quality, accountability, and efficiency with more diversity of choice.
Health Care- favor a free market health care system.
Retirement and Income Security- responsibility of the individual and not the government.
The third set is under Securing Rights:
National Defense- support the maintenance of a capable military to defend the U.S. against aggression.
Internal Security and Individual Rights- Need good intelligence to detect and counter threats to domestic security and oppose the government's use of secret classifications to keep from the public information that it should be allowed to have.
International Affairs- The "foreign policy should emphasize defense against attack from abroad and enhance the likelihood of peace by avoiding foreign entanglements."
Free Trade and Migration- Support the removal of governmental impediments to free trade and while supporting unrestricted movement to ensure economic freedom, they also support control over entry into the country that could pose a threat to security, health, or property.
Rights and Discrimination- Embrace the concept that all people are born with certain inherent rights. The government shouldn't be allowed to deny individual human rights based on sex, wealth, ethnicity, creed, age, national origin, personal habits, political preference, or sexual orientation.
Representative Government- Support election systems that are more on the representative side of the electorate at the federal, state, and local levels.
Self-Determination- Whenever the government violates individual liberty, it is the right of the people to oppose and abolish it.
All information above found at http://www.lp.org/platform
Symbol: There have been several symbols for the Libertarian Party over the years. The official symbol is the image below but it use to be an upward trending arrow with the abbreviation "TANSTAAFL" in the middle to stand for the first slogan the party had, "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch" which was taken from Robert Heinlein's Book, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. For a few years, there has been a small inquiry to adopt the Liberty Penguin as the official mascot, like the Republican elephant or the Democratic donkey.
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| The Libertarian Party Logo- prides itself on its focus on social and civil liberties so that's why they used the Statue of Liberty, and he gold and dark blue color scheme has a sense of being patriotic without being overly cliche. |
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| Ama-gi symbol |
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| The Libertarian porcupine icon that was designed by Kevin Breen in 2006 mimics the Republican Elephant and Democratic Donkey. |
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