Comparison Of Political Party Issues: Republicans, Democrats, And Libertarians

Abstract

In this paper, the following issues: abortion, immigration, gun control and substance abuse are addressed and each of the three parties: Republican, Democrat and Libertarian’s views are compared and contrasted. Each of the Parties can agree that certain things are issues but most of the time they cannot agree on their stances or resolutions. It is shown that they can agree on some things and that they just can’t come to a consensus on other things. In the beginning, the belief was that the parties couldn’t agree on anything and after reading and taking in all that these platforms said it’s just not true. They can agree that certain things are an issue, and sometimes they even agree that it can be solved a certain way but there always seems to be one party that disagrees. In each case there was shocking information, on every issue, one party believe differently than one might expect.

A Comparison of Political Parties: Republicans, Democrats, and Libertarians

While the Democratic, Libertarian and Republican parties can agree that immigration, gun control, abortion, and combating substance abuse are important issues in American society. So, what do they say, is the best solution? If a person were to look at the platforms they would see that while they do agree that these things are issues, how they would fix them are completely different.

Immigration was one of the central points of then-candidate Donald Trump’s campaign, the border wall was his solution. In 2018, Trump had the approach of “Zero Tolerance” towards illegal immigrants that was met with controversy and was abandoned (Ponnuru, 2019). The “Zero Tolerance” Policy and two government shutdowns, only solidified the Democrat’s attitudes about cooperating with Trump on immigration (2019). Is the border wall a good idea, is it a feasible idea? Most Republicans seem to think that it is, and in their platform, they say, “ Our highest priority, therefore, must be to secure our borders and all ports of entry and to enforce our immigration laws (Republican, 2016). That is why we support building a wall along our southern border and protecting all ports of entry (2016).” They also promote the system for legal immigrants and what they do not promote are the people that come over illegally, a specific focus on those that come over illegally and commit crimes or use someone else’s identity.

The Democratic Party, while they agree that illegal immigration should be stopped, they have a few methods that are different than the Republican Party. Generally speaking, the Democratic and Libertarian parties haven’t been supportive of the border wall, of course, there are some exceptions but that is the case with anything. If someone were to look at the Democratic Platform, they would see that the platform states the following in regard to Immigration, “The Democratic Party supports legal immigration, within reasonable limits, that meets the needs of families, communities, and the economy as well as maintains the United States’ role as a beacon of hope for people seeking safety, freedom, and security (Democrats, 2016). People should come to the United States with visas and not through smugglers (2016). Yet, we recognize that the current immigration system is broken (2016).” The Libertarian Party: “condemns and opposes efforts to build a governmental border wall, be it through congress or gross abuse of authority in an ill-founded declaration of emergency (Johnston, 2019).” It makes sense for the Libertarian party to feel this way about immigration. That’s why they don’t support the border wall, they believe that it is ethically wrong to close off the southern borders of the United States.

Another one of the major issues in our country that is addressed in all three platforms is combatting drug abuse. In this case, the parties seem to agree more on what they would do to solve the problem. This is what the republicans have to say about the issue, “We look for expeditious agreement between the House and Senate on the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which addresses the opioid epidemic from both the demand and supply sides of the problem (Republican, 2016).” The war on drugs has been a recurring issue and though they have made progress it has started to deteriorate either because of lack of national intervention or cultural reasons (2016). The Democratic party “The Democratic Party is committed to assisting the estimated 20 million people struggling with addiction in this country to find and sustain healthy lives by encouraging full recovery and integration into society and working to remove common barriers to gainful employment, housing, and education (Democrats, 2016).” Statistically speaking, “about 5.1 million young adults age 18 to 25 battled a substance use disorder in 2017, which equates to 14.8% of this population and about 1 in 7 people (Thomas, 2020). Of the 2.3 million people in American prisons and jails, more than 65% meet the criteria for addiction (2020). The Libertarians want to repeal the creation of victimless crimes that cover the abuse of drugs for medical reason. (Libertarian, 2018)

Gun control has been somewhat of a major issue in the past few years, especially with the prospect of possibly repealing the second amendment. Most American’s weren’t so pleased with the idea of the government taking away their guns. In the Libertarian platform, they say that “We oppose all laws at any level of government restricting, registering, or monitoring the ownership, manufacture, or transfer of firearms or ammunition (Libertarian, 2018).” The libertarian party is generally more motivated by what the people want and so this wasn’t very surprising.

The Republican Party has a similar take on what they believe, “We support firearm reciprocity legislation to recognize the right of law-abiding Americans to carry firearms to protect themselves and their families in all 50 states. We support constitutional carry statutes and salute the states that have passed them (Republican, 2016).” This means that if a person has a permit to carry a gun then they will be okay but it says nothing about assault rifles or military-grade weapons. They also oppose the licensing and restricting the manufacturing, ownership, and transfer of firearms for law-abiding citizens.

The Democrats state that, “To build on the success of the lifesaving Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, we will expand and strengthen background checks and close dangerous loopholes in our current laws; repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to revoke the dangerous legal immunity protections gun makers and sellers now enjoy; and keep weapons of war—such as assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines (LCAM’s)—off our streets (Democrats, 2016).” Here the Democrats are wanting to strengthen the laws on gun control, it’s opposite of what the other two parties are saying. Yes, they agree that military-grade weapons should not be on the streets, but they want to have extensions on bills that restrict even small weapons.

The Fourth and Final issue that each party believes is a major concern is Abortion. In this instance, both the Libertarian and the Democrats agree and the Republicans disagree. Abortion is a touchy subject to a lot of people but there are instances that it could be the best option, don’t just do it because you are not ready to raise a child. Republicans have this to say in regards to Abortion, “ We strongly oppose infanticide. Over a dozen states have passed PainCapable Unborn Child Protection Acts prohibiting abortion after twenty weeks, the point at which current medical research shows that unborn babies can feel excruciating pain during abortions, and we call on Congress to enact the federal version (Republican, 2016).” Pointing this out is a tremendous thing if a baby inside the womb can feel pain is it any less of a human being than the mother or father? So what should be the limit if there is one on when a woman can get an abortion? Some say that the latest time can be at 10 weeks.

Democrats state in their platform the following, “We believe unequivocally, like the majority of Americans, that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion—regardless of where she lives, how much money she makes, or how she is insured (Democrats, 2016). We will continue to oppose—and seek to overturn—federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment (2016).” From this, someone could draw the conclusion that maybe there are illegal ways that women abort a child. It’s possible that women might have to go somewhere that isn’t safe, to get a procedure done that could save her life.

Libertarians agree that women should have access to these safe places. In their platform they give the following statement, “Recognizing that abortion is a sensitive issue and that people can hold good-faith views on all sides, we believe that government should be kept out of the matter, leaving the question to each person for their conscientious consideration (Libertarian, 2018).” They believe that the government shouldn’t be involved at all, which it is the person’s individual right to what they would like to do with their bodies.

It’s hard for the parties to agree on anything, but if they would sit down and talk to each other, it might make a real difference. Really talk, not sit and argue, yell or be dismissive of each party’s ideas. Many of the founders were not keen on the idea of parties, George Washington warned against them. Maybe they were right and that’s the whole problem with the government today.

References

1. Democrats. (2016). THE 2016 DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. Retrieved from https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/
2. Johnston, B. (2019, March 22). LNC resolution supports immigration, opposes border wall. Retrieved from https://www.lp.org/lnc-resolution-supports-immigration-opposes-border-wall/
3. Libertarians. (2018) LIBERTARIAN PARTY PLATFORM. Retrieved from: https://www.lp.org/platform/
4. Ponnuru, R. (2019). Stuck at the Border. National Review. 71(17), 17-18.
5. Republicans. (2016). REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 2016. Retrieved from https://www.gop.com/platform/
6. Thomas, S. (2020, February 3). Addiction Statistics: Drug & Substance Abuse Statistics. Retrieved from https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/addiction-statistics