Republicans and Democrats: what's the difference?

• Author: Dolack, Pete
• Position: Thinking Politically

Many times in United States history, power has shifted from one major political party to the other. Predictably, the winners hail a "new era" and the losers warn of disaster. Sooner or later the roles reverse, but little seems to ever change.

This is "democracy in action," we are invariably told by solemn voices. Rather than taking this at face value, let's instead ask the real questions that need to be asked: Why are there two political parties? What are the differences between them? Isn't it advisable to settle for the lesser of two evils? To answer the last question first, the short answer is "no." To flesh out that one-word answer, we'll discuss the first two questions, which should provide the answer to the third.

To answer the first question--why do two different political parties exist?--we need to go beyond the obvious. Yes, parties exist to achieve and hold power, but that obvious statement doesn't really answer the question. Political parties don't exist in a vacuum. They represent either the interests of social groups or at least a specific area on the spectrum of political opinion. The myth of the "wide differences" between Republicans and Democrats the corporate media continually bombards us with is rooted here. The Republicans try to obliterate the fact that they represent the richest men and women in the country. Instead, the Republicans make their arguments on ideological bases and love to claim their "ideas" represent "common sense." There is logic here. After all, saying "I'm rich and I'm going to screw you to stay that way" would not win many elections.

The much bigger myth, however, is the front presented by the Democratic Party. Democrats love to claim they represent working people and are against the ongoing massive upward flow of money into the hands of the richest people of society. This myth also serves the Republican Party, which then can scream "that's class warfare!" at the empty rhetoric of Democrats.

Despite the low comedy that this ongoing act provides, we should keep in mind that there are two crucial differences between Republicans and Democrats. These two differences are entirely splits in the ruling class and represent competition among various ruling-class blocs. These differences are real, and it is on this basis that the two major parties compete and that accounts for the bitterness between the two parties.

US run by rich elite

When we use terms like "ruling class" and "super rich" and "captains of industry," it is important to remember that these terms are not rhetorical flourishes. The United States, even more so than other countries dominated by the Capitalist economic system, is run by a rich elite that enjoys...