In an earlier column, I discussed Elon Musk’s plan to create a new political party. His idea is unlikely to succeed, since he wants to replace the Republicans, and his main issue – cutting government spending – is a long-time component of the Republican platform.
But that column got me thinking – is there a potential opening for a new political party in our two-party system?
I believe there is. All indications are that the Democrat Party is in big trouble.
Let’s look back at American political history. This country has had a tradition of having two broad and ideologically fluid coalition parties that contest with each other across the nation. Over our history, two of these American parties have disappeared from existence – the Federalists and the Whigs.
How and why did this happen?
The Federalists
The Federalist Party was heavily centered in New England, and its leader was Alexander Hamilton. Its general philosophy was the “big government” party, although back then, that meant promoting small national improvements, like building new waterways and roads, raising some federal taxes (but not income taxes), creating an army and navy, establishing banks, and favoring the implementation of tariffs. The Federalists were also known as the party of the educated American elites; they famously were disdainful of the common workers and farmers. As a result, they were often characterized as monarchists by their opponents, the Democratic-Republicans.
The Federalists fell apart because: 1) they had weak and fratricidal leadership; 2) no control over the federal government from 1801 on, and thus, no patronage; 3) focused on elite opinion and were disdainful of the common man; and 4) were promoting policies that the (expanded) voter pool was simply not buying. Part of their problem was that the first President, George Washington, was basically a Federalist, but he refused to join them to stay non-partisan. When he left office, John Adams, who was a party member, became president. But Adams was not the Federalist leader, and he and Hamilton famously did not get along.