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Monday 7 September 2009

A republic is at its healthiest when it has political parties that can stand in opposition to each other on policy matters, but cooperate when necessary. Within that, though, it is imperative that both parties have clearly defined agendas with intellectual foundations that speak to the core principles of their respective followers. In cases where a country has only a two-party system, it is especially important for the opposition party to have a clear set of policies with which it can challenge the majority group. Right now the United States doesn’t have that. We have one party in power that is attempting to forward the set of policies on which it was elected. This party has not done the best job of framing the debate, to be sure. However, while it may not be clear what the Democrats will eventually settle for in negotiations, it is pretty clear what the Democrats stand for—health care reform, environmental policies, greater regulations, great power to labor instead of management, and a whole array of other reforms. Republicans used to have a clear ideology, framed by people like Russell Kirk and William F. Buckley. These were people who actually attacked the founders of the John Birch society for being too wingnutty. Such a thing would be unimaginable in today’s so-called conservative environment. Progressive Historians

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