AQA Government and Politics Chapter 19: US Political Parties (Essay Plans)
Updated 2023/2024
This Resource includes 14 9-Mark Question Plans and 2 25-Mark Question Plans collectively for the ‘US Political Parties' topic - also including a list of key definitions alongside a specification c...
Ideology – Core beliefs and ideas of political parties
Factionalism – Different groups within the same party that compete
for power/influence
Party Decline – Parties have become weak, little real power or grip on
US politics
Party Renewal – Parties remain central to US politics and have grown
in importance
Party Organisation – Formal structures of a Political Party
Third Parties – Parties other than the Republicans or Democrats
Independent Candidates – Candidates not affiliated with long-
established parties
,“Explain and Analyse three key values / policies of the
Democratic Party”
Desire to help the less well-off
- Expansion of affordable healthcare to all Americans, being a disgrace that
millions of Americans remain uninsured – e.g., Obamacare (Affordable
Care Act 2010)
- TISB this partly reflects some of the party’s core support base, such as
African-Americans and. Blue-collar workers – although geography, race,
and religion make this a little more complex
Views on this throughout the party do range though, from the
Democratic Socialists of America to the more fiscally conservative Blue
Dog Coalition
Pro-Choice Stance
- Democrats strongly opposed and criticised Alabama’s Human Life
Protection Act (2019) as well as Texas’s ‘Heartbeat Bill’ in 2021 –
arguing that this severely restricted the reproductive rights of women and
violated the precedent set by Roe v Wade
- TISB this stance has become more prominent in recent times, with very
few pro-life Democrats left in office (e.g., pro-life Catholic Dan Lipinski,
who was defeated in January 2021)
Democrats also tend to support other rights and justice-based politics,
such as those for LGBTQ+ Americans and black Americans, thus
reflecting their more liberal social outlook
Growing support for further Gun Control
- 2019 = House Democrats unveiled a Bill that would expand background
checks on gun ownership and distribution – their first move since taking
control of the House in the 2018 Midterms to tighten the nation’s gun
laws
- Less significant – such reforms have been tricky to implement even in the
wake of mass shootings, e.g., after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary
School shooting Obama proposed stricter gun control legislation yet
Congress (divided) rejected it by 60-40
Although there is a growing support for reform and increased
spending by gun control groups, such as Everytown, who largely endorse
and back Democrat candidates
, “Explain and Analyse three key values / policies of the
Republican Party”
Second Amendment should be upheld in principle and
practice
- After the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting Obama proposed stricter
gun control legislation yet this was rejected by 60-40 due to
overwhelming influence of Republicans in the House
- TISB even moderate gun-control measures are viewed by many
Republicans as a step towards restricting gun rights and
therefore the constitutional Second Amendment to all
Americans
Party also has strong connections to the NRA (2016 = 98%
of the NRA’s funding went to Republican candidates)
Pro-life position on Abortion
- Alabama’s Human Life Protection Act (2019)
- Texas’s ‘Heartbeat Bill’ in 2021
- TISB the white evangelical vote = strong core voter group of the
Republicans who think the ‘unborn life is precious’
Many were rejoiced to see Roe v Wade (1973) overturned in
Dobbs v Jackson (2022)
Strong antipathy to LGBTQ+ rights agenda
- Despite how many Republicans accepted the reality of
Obergefell v Hodges (2015) they oppose liberals who wish to
push the agenda further
- May 2023 = Florida Republicans pass ‘Bathroom Bill’
restricting transgender bathroom use, making it an offense for
someone to use certain bathrooms that don’t align with their
assigned sex at birth
- TISB this demonstrates a Republican attempt to slow down the
LGBTQ+ rights agenda, as well as linking to a core voter bloc
of theirs, the white evangelicals, who are sometimes firm
believers of homosexuality being a sin
“Explain and Analyse three key organisational features of
political parties in the USA”
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