How do US citizens participate in politics?

• The USA is a democracy.
• US citizens can take an active part in decision making in the US at federal, state or local level.
• The two main US political parties are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
• The Republican Party is economically conservative and traditionally stands for business, small government and low taxation.
• The Democratic Party or the Democrats are, in general, more liberal on social issues such as rights for minorities, abortion and assistance for the poor.

Americans have many opportunities to participate in politics.

The USA is a democracy. US citizens can take an active part in decision making in the US. This can be at federal, state or local level.

There are several ways in which citizens can take part in political decision making:

• nominating candidates to run for public office
• voting for candidates who are nominated
• standing as a candidate at local (mayor), state (state governor) or national level (senator)
• putting forward issues for a referendum (this could be to change a law e.g. to improve environmental protection in a state)
• joining an interest (pressure) group e.g. Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence or the National Rifle Association

The main way most US citizens participate in politics is by voting in elections:

• Presidential elections
• Congressional elections of:
  • Senators
  • Members of the House of Representatives
• State and local elections of:
  • Representatives in the state legislature
  • County council members
  • State governors
  • County executives
  • City mayors
  • Judicial officials including state or local judges

The two main US political parties are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

The Republican Party or the Republicans is the USA’s oldest political party. It is sometimes known as the GOP (Grand Old Party).

It is economically conservative . Traditionally it stands for business, small government and low taxation.

The Republican Party has a strong support base among White Christian voters, many of whom disagree with liberal causes such as abortion rights and same-sex marriage.

Many Republican Party voters are found in the central states of the US/Mid-west (e.g. Iowa, Montana, or Nebraska) and the South of the US in states such as Texas, Mississippi, or Louisiana. Older voters also tended to marginally favour the Republicans over the Democrats.

In the 2020 US presidential elections, the then Republican President Donald Trump lost to his Democratic Party rival Joe Biden. However, Trump won more of the vote from white, older voters than Biden. (Source: BBC News)

After the 2022 mid-term US elections, the Republican Party took control of the House of Representatives with 222 congressmen and women to the Democratic Party’s 213 congressmen and women. (Source: BBC News)

The Democratic Party or the Democrats are, in general, more liberal than the Republicans on social issues such as rights for minorities, abortion access and assistance for the poor.

Economically, Democrats are more likely to believe in a bigger role for government in the economy, for example in providing health insurance.

The trade unions in America are usually a strong base of support for the Democrats, who are more likely to support workers’ rights and issues such as the national minimum wage.

Americans who are environmentalists, anti-war, support a woman's right to choose abortion or support same-sex marriage, are termed “liberals”.

At the 2020 US Presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden received more votes from women, minority groups (87% of Black Americans voted for Biden), younger voters and those with higher education levels than did Republican candidate Donald Trump.(Source: BBC News)

States with large cities like New York tend to have more Democratic Party supporters, as do the New England states. Democrat support is also very strong in the West of the US in states such as California, Oregon and Washington State.

After the 2022 mid-term US elections, the Democratic Party took outright control of the US Senate returning 51 of the Senators to the Republican Party’s 49 Senators.

• The USA is a democracy.

• US citizens can take an active part in decision making in the US, at federal, state or local level.

• They can do this by:

  • nominating candidates to run for public office
  • voting for candidates who are nominated
  • standing as a candidate
  • putting forward issues to for a referendum
  • joining an interest (pressure) group

• The two main US political parties are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

• The Republican Party is the USA’s oldest political party and is economically conservative. Traditionally it stands for business, small government and low taxation.

• The Democratic Party in general, is more liberal on social issues such as rights for minorities, abortion and assistance for the poor