在美国政坛，没有哪一天没有关于两大政党之间政策分歧和激烈辩论的报道, the Democrats and the Republicans. 我们现在是一个通常被称为极端党派的国家-政治领导人及其支持者强烈地认为，在我们的治理制度的这个阶段，如此根深蒂固，以至于以无党派的方式达成妥协和共识的努力几乎是不可能的. 毫无疑问，民主党和共和党是我们当前国家分歧和政治两极分化的主要根源.
In many respects this division and polarization is not a new development. 从建国之初，乔治·华盛顿(George Washington)和詹姆斯·麦迪逊(James Madison)等领导人就警告过，当时所谓的“派系”可能会造成潜在的问题.乔治·华盛顿(George Washington)在1796年的告别演说中警告说，不允许政党或“派系”在公共领域形成和运作. The concerns of Madison and Washington, 然而, 在接下来的几年里，随着政党的形成和繁荣，政党领导人试图控制政策进程，推进他们对美国的愿景，这些原则没有被遵循吗.
在共和国的早期，华盛顿和麦迪逊的联邦派支持强大的中央政府，最终演变成辉格党, 而像杰斐逊和杰克逊这样支持国家权力的领导人则组成了民主共和党(后来成为民主党). 直到南北战争前，以亚伯拉罕·林肯为首的共和党才出现，为美国选民创造了两党制的选择. In the post-Civil war period, 共和党成为支持北方大企业和强势政府的政党，而民主党则成为支持南方农村的政党, accenting states’ rights.
In the 20th century, especially during the administrations of Woodrow Wilson and later Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 两党的分歧变得更加明显，民主党更倾向于全国和进步主义的诉求，利用政府作为推动社会和经济变革的力量，而共和党则坚持亲商立场, 反规则, low tax positions. 上世纪20年代末，赫伯特·胡佛(Herbert Hoover)总统领导下的共和党未能避免一场毁灭性的大萧条，这为民主党在1932年至1952年期间掌控政府打开了大门. 富兰克林·罗斯福的大政府新政和他在二战期间的总统任期使共和党处于美国政治的边缘. It was not until Dwight Eisenhower, 战争英雄, was able to capture the White House in 1952 and move the Republicans back into the mainstream. Yet Republican control only lasted eight years as John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson continued the Democrat model of big government programs like Medicare into the 1960s.
A major shift in political party politics occurred as Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in 1980. With the Democrats embracing civil rights laws and the Black vote, 共和党人制定了一项“南方战略”，以削弱民主党在南方的控制，并将该地区的白人选票转向共和党。. The Reagan revolution allowed the GOP to control political power, especially in the Congress. The Democrats did win the White House with Bill Clinton and Barack Obama in the 1980s and 1990s, 但共和党赢得了国会的控制权，使民主党的公共政策提案即使不是不可能通过，也很难通过. 克林顿在做出相当大的妥协后才得以通过福利改革法案，而奥巴马的医疗保健计划在国会以最微弱的优势获得通过. 共和党人意识到，他们可以通过建立一个由南部和中西部白人组成的联盟来限制民主党的影响力, 农村居民, 福音派, and small and big business, while the Democrats became a coastal political party made up of educated suburbanites, women and minorities. 这些地区的, educational and socio-economic separations became the basis for political party partisanship, ideological polarization and national division that eventually led to the election of Donald Trump. 特朗普成为共和党的主导力量，因为他吸引了他的保守派基础，使得党内更多的温和派几乎不可能挑战他的人气.
在今天的政治舞台上，两大主要政党因政策分歧——债务——陷入了一场极端党派之争, 通货膨胀, regulation and the size and role of the federal government. There is little interest in finding middle ground, and few instances of friendly debate. 可悲的是, 这种超党派之争存在于两次总统弹劾和对前总统的刑事起诉的背景下. 两党处于这场政治冲突的中心，因为他们在争夺政治杠杆，要么支持针对唐纳德·特朗普的刑事指控，要么帮助他辩护. There is little room for honest debate, only charges and countercharges.
It is important to note that the two parties have evolved over time. 而在我国的早期，政党是组织松散的“俱乐部”，为全国选举提供候选人，并促进公认领导人的政策利益, 直到内战结束和世纪之交，政党才具有了更多的地方性和区域性特征. 纽约的特威德老板(Boss Tweed)和波士顿的詹姆斯·迈克尔·柯利(James Michael Curley)等党派大佬出现在竞选城市或州的舞台上, control the reins of the bureaucracy, provide jobs for loyal members, and amass considerable power to ensure the financial rewards that accompanied governmental control continued unabated.
In the current era the parties are not as central to the political process as social media, corporate donor support, huge private staffs, 民意调查和个性化的竞选活动在国家和地方政治进程中占据了中心位置. 此外, increasingly Americans are shedding the Democrat and Republican labels and registering to vote as Independents. Candidates for public office still call themselves Democrats or Republicans, convene conventions and maintain party organizations, but labels and major gatherings have become less important. In today’s America, personal qualities or perceived strengths, campaign consultants and speech writers, media optics and private fund raising are more important than whether a candidate is a D or an R.
政党不会从公共舞台上消失，许多美国人将继续用传统的标签来定义候选人, 但麦迪逊和华盛顿所担心的对“派系”的恐惧并不重要，重要的是互联网和电视上对公职候选人的看法, 他们筹集和花费了多少资金，他们的竞选顾问和工作人员是否制定了一个可以获胜的策略. Political parties have in a real sense become modernized.