Democrats and Republicans Switched Platforms Fact
Democrats and Republicans Switched Platforms - Fact or Myth?
The American political parties, now called
Democrats and
Republicans, switched
platform planks,
ideologies, and
members many times in
American history. These switches were typically spurred on by major legislative changes and events, such as
the Civil War in the 1860’s, and
Civil Rights in the 1960’s. The changes then unfolded over the course of decades to create what historians call the “
Party Systems“.
Bottomline: The parties changed over time as platform planks, party leaders, factions, and voter bases essentially switched between parties. Third parties aside,
the Democratic Party used to be favored in the rural south and had a “small government” platform (which southern social conservatives embraced), and the Republican party used to be favored in the citied north and had a “big government” platform (which northern progressive liberals embraced). Today it is the opposite in many respects. Although what happened is complex and some voter bases and factions never switched, you can see evidence of the “big switches” by looking at
the electoral map over time (where voter bases essentially flipped between
1896 and
2000). Or, you can see it by comparing which congressional seats were controlled by which parties over time (try comparing
the 115th United States Congress under Trump to
the 71st United States Congress under Hoover for example). Or, you can see the “solid conservative south switch” specifically by looking at
the electoral map of the solid south over time. Or, you can dig through
the historic party platforms. Any of those links will give you a look at the basics of what did and didn’t change, but the details are as complex as U.S. party history. Below we cover the details of what changes occurred and what they mean in context… and explain the history of the Democratic and Republican party in the process. To do that, we’ll start with an overview of the party systems.
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This is a good article on the changes in American political parties over time.