Politics.

To those of you regular readers and those of you who participate in the BipolarNation.com political forums, I’m going to go ahead and trust that you’re of above average intelligence and don’t need an introduction into politics.

The superior demographic of BPN readers aside, there are a lot of people out there, particularly youngsters, who don’t have a clue about politics or what it means.

This used to be me - for decades I spent life on Earth wandering around, asking “what’s the difference between a liberal and a conservative?”

I particularly remember one time Flarking Smoo’s (a member of our site and old friend) cousin said “that sounds like liberal talk!” I didn’t know what liberal talk was.

If you’re a young person, or a rookie when it comes to politics, the average total idiot, you’ve come to the right site. Time to find out what American politics are all about.

The Government and How It Is Set Up

To sum up how our government was started, a group of really intelligent, late 1700’s landowners set up the American government as a necessary evil. If you passed sixth grade, you’re probably aware of this. That is to say, they set up our government so no one man could have the power, dividing it into three branches:

-The executive branch. The President, Vice President, and the President’s cabinet all comprise this. The President has the power of the military, but not the power to declare war (which is reserved by Congress, the legislative branch). In turn, the President can balance out Congress’ power by vetoing its proposed laws. This way no one man can become “king.”

-The judicial branch. The Supreme Court and smaller, federal-level courts are included here. The Supreme Court checks the other branches by ruling whether or not what they are doing is “constitutional,” which is sort of another word for “legal.” The other branches exert power over the court by nominating who gets to be the judges, and then voting to confirm their appointment.

-The legislative branch. Congress, which includes the Senate and the House of Representatives. They make laws and declare war, but their powers can be checked by the President in the form of a veto.

The President and Congress generally rule over our affairs, but they are limited to how often we, the people, elect them to represent us.

There was quite an argument back in the late 1700’s about how the represenatives in Congress would be elected. Populous states like Pennsylvania wanted it to be based on how many people the state had - the more people a state had, the more they should be represented.

Little states like Delaware wanted a consistent number of representatives for each state - that way, they could have a fair share of the power.

How did we compromise?

We did both!

The Senate has two representatives from every state, and the House of Representatives has an ever-changing number of representatives from states depending on the distribution of population. As of the writing of this post, California has the most representatives with 53. Each division is a section of Congress.

Political Parties

In America, at any given time, there are usually about two major political parties, usually separated by issues which they disagree on. Currently, the Democrats and Republicans constitute the major political parties, and they have for over 100 years.

A political leader - whether he/she be a President, Representative, or Senator - allies with a political party for a number of reasons. Usually, their beliefs align with the political beliefs of most members of their party. Republicans, for example, started out as being a party against slavery.

What do the current political parties believe on current issues? Let’s check it out.

Democrats:

• Abortion: Pro-choice (allowing abortion generally)
• Immigration: Less restrictions
• Spending: Should be higher and should be spent domestically on education, healthcare, etc. Lower on military
• Gay rights: Allowing more gay rights and even marriage
• Taxes: Generally higher, with more on the wealthy who can afford to pay more

Republicans:

• Abortion: Pro-life (restriction abortion generally)
• Immigration: More restrictions
• Spending: Should be lower, except on military
• Gay rights: Restrictions on gay marriage
• Taxes: Generally lower, with a stabler percentage of taxes

There are lots of other issues, of course, but that’s a basic primer.

Now, when you see someone appear on CNN with their name followed by a (D - Maine) after their name, you’ll know wht the D means and generally where they stand politically.

Current office holders

We hear a lot of names these days, and unless you keep track closely, you might not really be sure who many of them are. So here’s a quick list.

Executive Branch

President: George W. Bush (R)
Vice President: Dick Cheney (R)
Secretary of Defense: Condalleeza Rice

Legislative Branch

Senate Majority Leader: Harry Reid (D - Nevada)
Senate Minority Leader: Mitch McConnell (R - Kentucky)
Speaker of the House: Nancy Pelosi (D - California, would become President if Bush and Cheney suddenly died)

Judicial Branch

Supreme Court Chief Justice: John Roberts

So What are Conservatives and What are Liberals?

Generally, the two political parties follow the lines of “conservative” and “liberal.” Democrats are the more liberal party, and Republicans are the more conservative. Someone who is in between each is considered a “moderate.”

It’s not easy to define either one, as there are different ideas and branches to each philosophy. Generally, however, here are some defining points.

Conservatives generally believe in traditional religious values, a smaller government that taxes and spends in modest amounts, more self-reliance and free market competition in health care and education, and a strong national military.

Liberals generally favor a strong separation of church and state, a larger government that taxes more and spends more, and more federally-funded programs to assist the poor, the sick, and the elderly.

Both Republicans and Democrats, and Liberals and Conservatives believe in restrictions in some areas and not in others. When it comes to a believe in the value of government restrictions and government presence in your life, that is the difference between libertarians (less government interference; more toward anarchy) and authoritarianism (more government rule).

What is “left-wing” and what is “right-wing”?

Liberals are the left wing, and conservatives are the right wing. A person isn’t only left or right wing, though. They can also be “up” or “down” and support a strong government (authoritarian) to impose their politics, or a weaker government (libertarian) to let the people be. It looks like this:

So which one are you?
I don’t know. That’s up to you. As for me, I consider myself a conservative, but I also have leanings that aren’t included in typical Republican thought - for example, I’m against the death penalty (like the Democrats). On the other hand, I side with very conservative fiscal Republicans who want a flat tax rate for all Americans.

You have to decide what you believe without the pressure of putting a label on it.

Okay, I know how the government works and what the political parties are. So what is “politics?”

Politics is basically the battle for power over the government - the efforts by the major political parties to win your vote, to win control of the government, and go about their business the way they see fit. Because of the wide-ranging views Americans have, from very liberal to very conservative, and the system of checks and balances we have in place, it’s hard for any one party to hold on to power too long.

To enter politics on a local level would mean to run for something like alderman, mayor, governor, or state representative. Each state in America functions as a sort of mini-government in which politics are often the same: the governor acts like the President of each state while still being under the national umbrella of power.

I hope this guide provided some value to you if you’ve never understood politics before. If you’re new to this site, check out the BipolarNation Political forums to join the discussion and to learn even more about politics and what Americans are saying about the world around them.

Visit the BPN Political Discussion Boards

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