Democracy in the United States is based on the indirect representation of the people by elected officials who are usually chosen by direct vote. Almost from the beginning of the United States' history, however, two parties have shared the great majority of the elected positions from the local level to the presidency. The two largest parties have changed, third parties have emerged occasionally, and smaller parties--that win few offices--have continued for decades. But the existing two-party system has become institutionalized and has added a persistent layer of mediation between the people and their government. There are both positive and negative sides to this system, but in recent decades citizens' faith in the two main parties has declined as the Republican and Democratic parties have had difficulty in reconciling the varying interests of the people who make up their memberships. The two-party system will probably continue, however, because it has become a key element in the way federal, state, and local government operates.
The Founding Fathers of the United States did not mention political parties in the Constitution. When George Washington left office he warned the country of the "baneful effects of the spirit of party" and James Madison believed that the new nation's politics would be structured around a greater number of "factions representing various segments of the electorate" rather than the overwhelmingly bi-partisan arrangement that exists today. Yet, by the end of Washington's first term parties had begun to prevail in the Congress and by the third presidential election the candidates ran on the basis of party support. Parties changed more rapidly in the nineteenth century as, for example, Henry Clay's Whig party declined after his death and "the Democracy of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren" dissolved in factional squabbling. But in the twentieth century the Democratic and Republican parties have been...