By Jupiter Polevoi
In George Washington’s farewell address, he warns the citizens of the United States to avoid creating political parties as they will divide America. Spoiler alert; he was right. Let me set the scene for you. It’s election night in America, and every major news company has their top anchors working around the clock, touching interactive boards to show the voting results in each state. You may notice the bright red and blue colors, symbolizing the two main parties in the United States: Democrats and Republicans.
The two party system dates all the way back to 1796, when the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists ran against each other. Despite John Adams being George Washington’s vice president, he decided to run for the Federalists, completely ignoring Washington’s advice. Soon after, the Anti-Federalists adopted the name “Democratic-Republicans,” (which is quite ironic considering those are the main two current parties running against each other). In the 1850’s, the two parties finally split into the GOP (Grand Old Party, a.k.a. republicans) and the Democrats.
Keep in mind that although there are only two main parties who run (and win), this doesn’t mean there aren’t any other parties or political ideologies. The political spectrum is truly what it is —a spectrum— and can range anywhere from Republicans to Democrats to Communists, etc. Just because there are two parties, this doesn’t mean you can’t identify with another political ideology. If you’re curious to find out where you fall on the political spectrum, you can easily take the political compass test. Answer a quick series of questions and find out where you land on the political scale.