I want to know more about our government and i was wondering if you guys could tell me some similarities and differences between republians and democrats, which ones you prefer and why. How are they alike and how are they different. A little compare and contrast between the two please!
Thanks.
It’s simple: Democrats are only half evil. Republicans are totally evil.
I think probably Great Debates is a better place for this thread than GQ, so I’ll move it.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
The short answer is that Democrats tend to be liberal, while Republicans tend to be conservative.
A much better answer can be derived by reading the platforms of each:
Platform of the Democratic National Committee **
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Platform of the Republican National Committee **
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Re political parties, the Big Two are not your only choices. I recommend this brief quiz.
On the list at the left side of the opening page, click on “World’s Smallest Political Quiz”.
Re the Big Two, IMO they are less different from each other then formerly. They’ve both been moving toward the center. The Dems assume that they’ve got the left sewn up; the Repubs assume the same thing about the right. Both figure the way to win elections is to try to appeal to people closer to the center while taking their traditional consituencies for granted. Often, said constituencies feel betrayed, however.
Republicans live in the world as it is. Democrats live in the world as they think it should be.
On many issues, the Democrats tend to favor a federal government regulation of, or solution to, a problem, while Republicans tend to favor a state, local, or individual solution to the problem.
Democrats tend to be associated with “social justice” initiatives, with the government assisting those too weak to help themselves. Republicans tend to favor self-reliance, or private solutions. Democrats tend to adhere to a strict, and all-encompassing, separation of church and state; Republicans often talk about things like returning prayer to public events such as high school graduations.
There are classic cases where this generalization falls apart. Based on the above, you’d probably expect the Democrats to favor a death penalty and the Republicans to oppose it. In general, the reverse is true.
The concept of “protecting those too weak to protect themselves” does not translate to abortion, where, in general, Democrats favor a woman’s right to choose, and Republicans often favor criminalizing killing of unborn babies.
I can tell you it’s a disappointing choice to make, if you happen to be a voter that seeks social justice, is opposed to the death penalty, but is also opposed to abortion, and sees nothing wrong with prayer at graduations. 
- Rick
An alternative configuration: Republicans tend toward less public intervention in the private economic sphere; Democrats tend toward less public intervention in the private social sphere. Both public-private distinctions are inherently indeterminate, but there you go.
Scylla: You’re being ridiculous. One could as easily state the converse–Republicans live in a fantasy world where there is no need for minimum wage laws, discrimination codes, market regulation, or affirmative action; Democrats see the real-world conditions which necessitate the programs above. Kindly step away from the hyperbole.
Repubicans live in the same world as Democrats, and vice versa. Literally. If you were trying to say that Democrats are more idealisitc, that is certainly true.
I think that the reference above to the links to party platforms best describes the official difference.
The reference above to parties besides the big two misses the point of the electoral college, which strongly discourages third parties. For example, suppose we consider Reps to be on the right, Dems to be on the left and Greens to be further left.
If the Greens were not to have a national nominee in the 2000 election, they would probably choose the Dem candidate because his positions were less offensive than the Rep candidate. But with the Greens voting for a Green candidate, it might throw the results in a close state, tipping the whole election to the people the Greens like least. Consider that in 2000, more than 90,000 people voted for Ralph Nader in Florida. The vast majority of those would have voted for Gore, easily putting him over the top, regardless of whether one believes what the close count woulda, coulda, shoulda been.
This is the result of any election when a candidate may win by a plurality rather than a majority.
Gadarene:
Nonsense. I think my description is apt, and isn’t necessarily a condemnation of Democrats any more than it’s an endorsement of Republican views.
Allow me to state it differently, and see if it still cocks your nettles.
Republicans seek to optimize current circumstances, while Democrats seek to install better ones.
You can have my hyperbole when you pry it from my cold dead hands, and, I’m warning you, I’ve pulled the pin on my hyperbole and if you try to struggle with me it’ll most likely go off.
If I may weigh in again, both parties have a strong libertarian streak in them when it comes to personal privacy issues, with notable exceptions (gun registration and abortion), but neither party is anywhere close to being libertarian. I know a number of libertarians whose basic liberalism/conservatism falls about evenly among them. As liberal as I am, if I am forced into the company of a libertarian, I rather prefer a conservative libertarian, because then I at least understand and appreciate their conservatism. Liberal libertarians tend to be a bit sanctimonius when it is really just a rationale for smoking pot and other stuff that they wanna do that “the man” keeps oppressing them about. :rolleyes:
I’m not offended by this, though I would phrase it differently:
Conservatives think “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Liberals think “we can do better.”
However, it should be noted that Republicans and Democrats don’t line up perfectly along conservative/liberal lines. Republicans can be very activist about certain issues like taxes and gun control, while Democrats can be very conservative about things like welfare.
I respectfully beg to differ. This analysis basically breaks down the differences on a conservatism/liberalism divide, and it is a lot more complicated than that. If one wishes to be that simplistic, one could use the much more accurate and inflamatory dichotomy of:
Republicans think that what is best for rich people is best the country and incidentally good for everyone else because it creates jobs, while Democrats think that what is best for working stiffs is best for the country and also good for the everyone else because people having good jobs is a good thing.
The Republicans are strongly in favor of getting Republicans elected to office.
The Democrats, however, are strongly in favor of getting Democrats elected to office.
That’s the real difference.
But this statement isn’t accurate, either. For example, on such social issues as abortion, school vouchers and school prayer, it is the Democrats who try to “optimize” current circumstances, and Republicans who seek to “install” better ones.
'Course, it ain’t your fault - neither the Republican nor the Democratic positions are internally consistent. Personally, it drives me nuts, because it means that I can’t give my allegiance to one or the other.
Sua
I’m with Gadarene and co. If I were more idealistic, I’d be a Republican. I’m all for minimalist government in principle - but I live in the real world, and I understand that it wouldn’t really work. “If men were angels, we would need no government.”
So as far as I’m concerned, Democrats live in the world as it is while Republicans live in the world as they (and I) think it should be. It all depends on your perspective.
“Republicans look to the past, while Democrats look to the future.” Howzat?
I personally think both political parties are nothing more than a bunch of fat cats who play off political interests to protect their own assets. The differences are (a) which interests they play to, and (b) the Democrats don’t cloak themselves in a veneer of “dignity and respect and patriotism” bullstuff.
Sua:
Not really, they’re just seeking to overturn the programs installed by the democrats.
Democrats think Santa Clause is the answer to everything “Try to be good, but don’t worry, Santa gives everyone a present anyway”.
Republicans think God is the answer to everything “You are held accountable and responsible for yourself”.
Difference? There’s no such thing as Santa Clause.
I read something like that but didn’t do it proper justice. It was meant to be funny.
Actually the difference is that Democrats want to let child molesters go free because it violates their civil rights to be locked up. It was the governments fault anyway. They think everyone should get something for free and that anyone who makes a million dollars a year is evil and should give it all back. They like to have abortions so that they can have more sex. THey think you shouldn’t have to work. They basically stick up for lazy people. THey are godless.
The Republicans want to starve school children by taking away their lunches. They want women to be barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen cooking dinner. They think it’s ok to kill black people or gay people. They want to take away everyone’s right to vote who isn’t a white male. They want to make everyone a Christian. They want to take all the poor peoples money and give it to wealthy yacht owners.
Read the platforms. People will try to answer the question but it’s almost impossible without showing your bias.