By David Robb ——Bio and Archives--April 24, 2024

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Two political parties, two philosophies of government and now two divisions struggling for the power to determine the future of this nation. How did we get here? What does each advocate? Who belongs?

The names originate from the names of the two basic approaches to decision making within a system of government. The Democrat name arises from DEMOCracy, where decisions are made through a process of majority vote. In its basic form, results are determined through 50% plus one vote, although the majority required may be set to some other fraction. The word "democracy" comes from the Greek word "demos", which means "people".

Likewise, the Republican party derives its name from the idea that REPresentatives of the PUBLIC can best guide and choose appropriate government policies and actions, based on the desires of those people who have chosen them as their representatives. The Latin word "publus" means "people" or "the public".

Neither system is perfect, being of human creation, but are the two that, throughout history, have been those most responsive to the will of the people, rather than the will of some small number of powerful elites such as kings or dictators. To understand the positions of the groups today, it is necessary to see how they came to be and how they differ in their ideas and ideals.

We can begin with Democrats. Andrew Jackson was the first Democrat President in 1828. In many ways, the Democrat party began well, advocating limited government and supporting individual rights and liberties. It is from a cartoon of Jackson's time that the donkey became the symbol of the Democrat party.

It was Jackson, though, who supported the Indian Relocation Act that forced five Indian tribes to be removed from their traditional homes in the Eastern US to new territories in Oklahoma and other western lands foreign to them. Due to the suffering the forced relocation caused, it became known as the "Trail of Tears".

While the Democrat party continued in its opposition to corporate influence in government, it also supported the institution of slavery. Throughout its history, a common thread is the belief that some races are........

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