The world is full of misinformation. It's hard to find any source of information anymore that isn't biased to some extent.
I've always believed that people need to make the most informed decision, but how do you make an informed decision when you can't form one without one side or the other shoving their opinion down your throat?
Citizens of the United States of America struggle to find accurate information about the people running for office. And voting for the leader of your city, state, or country should not be popularity based - but formed on real and accurate information about the party's ideals. What is that party's goal for you as a small individual?
I preface this now that this page isn't to bash or support the current United States president, Donald Trump.
This page is specifically designed to give you unbiased information from a real person. No AI will be used in my research whatsoever.
But let's start with the basics; Republican VS Democrat.
There are some other parties, but throughout history, the Republicans and the Democrats have had different names and similar values to what they have today.
They're the most stark difference in the political space, red versus blue, left versus right, but at their core, it's conservative versus liberal.
I say that word and that makes some people nervous, but the definition of "liberal" according to Merriam-Webster is "inclined to be open to ideas and ways of behaving that are not conventional or traditional" or "of, relating to, or favoring a philosophy of liberalism". Liberal just means you're outside the box.
Then what does conservative mean?
Going back to Merriam-Webster, the definition for conservative is "of, relating to, or favoring a philosophy of conservatism" or "tending or inclined to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions".
But that's just a bunch of words I copied and pasted into the notes app on my phone, so... what does that actually mean in the concept of Republican and Democrat?
Conservative, or Republican, means the party's goal is to maintain the United State's Constitution as closely to the written words as possible. They don't want to change anything. They're taking it literally, and it's there as a guideline for how the country should be governed. The Constitution says "freedom of speech", that means you have the freedom of speech, exactly as it was written 250 years ago.
Democrats, on the other hand, believe there's room for interpretation. Technology, society, and almost everything about the world has changed dramatically since John Hancock wrote his... well, "John Hancock" on the Declaration of Independence. It's been 250 years, and Democrats believe that the Constitution was written to be interpreted as a changing document.
Regardless of other values, at their core, that is the definition difference between red and blue.
At the end of the day, no matter who you believe is "right", the additions of some amendments were life changing and extremely necessary for society. Such as the 13th Amendment - the Abolition of Slavery. Or the 15th Amendment, your right to vote is no longer defined by race. The 19th Amendment that let women vote, the 24th Amendment that abolished poll taxes. Believe it or not, your life has improved because of Democrats in office and liberalism.
However, that doesn't mean it can be changed willy-nilly. It is historically one of the most difficult documents to change ever. And you may ask why? Well, I give you: conservatism.
The US is built on checks and balances, and not one house, party, branch, or congress can just decide that they'll be adding a footnote on the piece of paper that defines us as a country and a people. The reason we don't have any weird laws or a church ruling a state is because the Republican party is keeping those checks and balances. No matter how good a Democrat's argument is - nothing can happen without a majority vote from everyone involved.
There are two very interesting amendments in the constitution, however. No one wanted to take it off, so they added a new one.
The Alcohol Prohibition.
To be added, everyone in government had to agree that producing, transporting, and selling of alcohol should be prohibited. And in 1919 it was ratified in the 18th Amendment that Alcohol was essentially illegal.
How did this even happen, though? Alcohol has a very prominent place in history and medicine, even to this day, and especially in America.
Well, I introduce you to "Progressives". Not the insurance company, it was and still technically is a political party, gaining prominence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for their support of alcohol prohibition.
They're left-leaning, which basically means they align more-so with democratic ideals. In modern day, they advocate for the Democratic party. However, they have interacted with and expressed some conservative ideas.
Progressives (or "Drys", as they were nicknamed) played a big part in alcohol prohibition, and both the Democratic and Republican parties were able to agree that alcohol should be "outlawed". Their arguments were based mostly in public health and morals. The argument gained most of its traction with the "Women's Christian Temperance Union".
Regardless of the attempts of the... "Wets" (that's literally what they called themselves...), which was mostly comprised of the beer industry and supporters from the Catholic and German Lutheran communities, the 18th Amendment passed in 1919 with a 68% supermajority in the House of Representatives, and 76% support of the Senate. It was ratified by 46 out of 48 states.
The 21st Amendment appealed the prohibition, however some states still have existing laws to this day regarding alcohol transactions.
To date, this is the only example of a US amendment being passed to repeal another. But hopefully that shows you how difficult it is to change the document, and how the people can and still affect the Constitution. That only happened 100 years ago.
In summary, nothing can or should happen in this country without the safety net that is checks and balances. Whether you believe in the ever-changing-document or if what's written is the end-all be-all of American democracy, just make sure your decision is informed and practical.
Sources:
Wikipedia - Prohibition in the United States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States
Wikipedia - Progressivism in the United States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressivism_in_the_United_States
Constitution Center - The Amendments
https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/amendments
Definitions - Merriam-Webster