Political eras of the United States
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Political eras of the United States refer to a model of American politics used in history and political science to periodize the political party system existing in the United States.
The United States Constitution is silent on the subject of political parties. The Founding Fathers did not originally intend for American politics to be partisan. In Federalist Papers No. 9 and No. 10, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, respectively, wrote specifically about the dangers of domestic political factions. In addition, the first President of the United States, George Washington, was not a member of any political party at the time of his election or throughout his tenure as president. Furthermore, he hoped that political parties would not be formed, fearing conflict and stagnation, as outlined in his Farewell Address.
Generally, the political history of America can be divided into eras in which partisan hegemonic control of the federal government (either when there’s unified partisan control of the Presidency and the Congress’ House and Senate, or when a Congress of the opposing party to the President is out of session) occurs for a continuous plurality of time. These hegemonic eras are:
- 1789–1801: Federalist Era, dominated by the nationalist-leaning Federalists, and their ideological predecessors in the Pro-Administration Faction, both based in the Northern United States.
- 1801–1861: Democratic Era, dominated by the conservative-leaning Democrats, and their ideological predecessors the Democratic-Republicans, both based in the more slave sparse Southern U.S areas to the non-coastal Northern counties.
- 1861–1933: Republican Era, dominated by socially liberal and economic conservative Republicans based in New England and the Great Lakes Region (and later the greater Rust Belt region and the Midwestern United States).
- 1933–1969: New Deal Democratic Era, dominated by a coalition of socially conservative Democrats based in the South and economically progressive Democrats based in the greater Rust Belt region, the Sun Belt and the West Coast of the United States. This marks the beginning of the "party switch" – liberals in the North and Urban Cities slowly flip Democratic.
- 1969–Present: Divided Government Era, where the Federal Government is predominantly divided (between Presidency and/or Congress when an oppositional Congress is in session). Power is split between liberal Democrats based in the North and West Coast & conservative Republicans based in the Midwest and South. This marks the finalization of the "party switch" – conservatives in the South and Rurals slowly flip Republican. A process that was completed by the 2010s and the start of the Trump era.
The political significance of these five defined eras can be reinforced by the feature of each era beginning with near-unanimous Electoral College presidential victories that occur alongside the election of a unified trifecta of House, Senate and President for the hegemonic party (or alongside the election of divided government in the fifth era):
- Washington's first unanimous election in 1788–89 was won with a unified trifecta of Pro-Administration members (ideological predecessors to Federalists).
- Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe's re-election landslides in 1804 and 1820 respectively were won with unified trifectas of Democratic-Republicans (ideological predecessors to Democrats).
- Abraham Lincoln's landslide re-election in 1864 as the candidate of the Republican-affiliated National Union Party was won with a unified Republican trifecta.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt's landslide election to a second term in 1936 was won with a unified Democratic trifecta.
- Richard Nixon's landslide re-election and Ronald Reagan's two landslide elections, in 1972, 1980, and 1984 respectively, were won alongside the election of divided governments (Nixon lost both Houses of Congress while Reagan lost the House of Representatives both times).
Using these hegemonic eras as a framework, the more detailed specifics of party realignments and the seven party systems they take place in are described in detail below: