Since there are new political parties forming every day, it is hard to get a concrete list of the registered policial parties in America. From my research I did gather several major and minor parties I had never heard of before. The two major parties--the ones every American hears about--are the Democrat and Republican parties. The Democrat leaning liberal, the Republican leaning conservative. All other political parties compromise with the platforms of these two parties, as to remain a 2 party system. If a minor party decides to nominate a candidate, most likely all that will happen is the vote will split for the party in favor.
There are several obscure minor parties. On the national level the three largest are the Constitution, Libertarian and Green party. The constitution party believes that all problems would be solved if the government went back to a strict contruction of the founding documents of the United States. They believe in small government and that "when the government grows beyond scope, liberty is compromised." The Libertarian party also believes in small governent. It's slogan is, "Minimum Governemnt, Maximum Freedom." Small government mainly is concerned with economic policies, and stresses a very free marked, "laizez-faire" economoic system. The Libertarians also like to think that they focus on the American Heritage as well. The Green Party is the most liberal of the three major minor parties. It's main focus is consistutional reform through ammendments, but it's platform states much about promoting democracy to the masses, gun control, peaceful foreign policy and disarmament etc.
There are many smaller political factions in the US as well, the list include the following and more:
- America First Party (2002)
- American Party (1968)
- American Patriot Party (2003)
- America's Independent Party (2008)
- Boston Tea Party (2006)
- Communist Party of the United States of America (1919)
- Florida Whig Party (2006)
- Independence Party of America (2007)
- Moderate Party (2006)
- Modern Whig Party (2008)
- National Socialist Movement (1959)
- New American Independent Party (2004)
- Objectivist Party (2008)
- Party for Socialism and Liberation (2004)
- Peace and Freedom Party (1967)
- Pirate Party of the United States (2006)
- Progressive Labor Party (1961)
- Prohibition Party (1869)
- Reform Party of the United States of America (1995)
- Socialist Equality Party (2008)
- Socialist Party USA (1973)
- Socialist Workers Party (1938)
- United States Marijuana Party (2002)
- Unity Party of America (2004)
- Workers Party (2003)
- Working Families Party (1998)
A) This week the class examined two seperate and opposite things. To begin the week, we spent a class studying the effect of bias in advertising and the idea of a "brand" name item versus the generic item. The class discussed why people are loyal to certain brands and what makes brands successful. As always, the most discussed topic was food. What is it that makes people trust Fresh Market, Ukrops or Whole Foods more than Food Lion or Kroger? What attracts people to overpriced stores like Freshmarket? What items--not only food--do people tend to be willing to spend more money on and why? These were the questions answered in our discussion. The next day, in celebrance of Veteran's Day, the class viewed "The Way We Get By," the first non-political documentary watched in class this year. The documentary is about the Maine Troop Greeters-- a group of volunteers that live in Bangor, Maine. Together, these people greet incoming and going troops for Bangor International Airport, a hotspot for military transports to Afghanistan and Iraq. We examined the effect volunteering has on a person's well-being, especially veteran's and seniors. Many people in the class had personal ties to family members/loved ones serving in the armed forces. It was by far the most emotional documentary we have watched all year.
B) In the brand debate, we decided that people trust brands that are familiar, have good advertising and look professional. The experience of a Whole Foods or Freshmarket draws people to shop at the overrpriced stores. The rareness and quality of the food there almost makes the grocery store like a "museum of food." In short, we concluded, we trust brand names because we know them, and we are willing to pay for items we care about and use on a day to day basis. The documentary we watched, "The Way We Get By," had an emotional impact on me. Putting aside everything we have learned this year, there was no bias or policial scandal--but only dear men and women setting out to do a good cause. The movie was patriotic in the best way, and not once did it insult. The themes of the film were inspiring, the people they interviewed were wise and likeable and the way they made the film was superb. Learning that volunteering can actually extend your life years does not surprise me at all. I believe the happier you are, the longer life you'll want to live. Many people believe helping people is their first way of becoming happy, especially a man featered in "The Way We Get By", Bill Knight, who believes the only thing left for him to do on this Earth that is beneficial is to help other. In "The Way We Get By" everything from the music, the background on people, the storyline, the topic, the filming techniques of changing up the angles of the interview and voicing over the interview to other scenery made the film more interesting and able to hold a variety of topics. I will take the ideas of this film and use them in my documentary. From this documentary I learned the more interesting interviews a documentary has, the better film it is.
C) Micheal Moores' documentaries are very different from "The Way We Get By." Not just in content, but in style of making a documentary. First of all, in "The Way We Get By" viewers do not see or hear from the documentarien once, the story is told soley through interviews. Micheal Moore is featured in several of his video clips and voices his opinions loudly throughout all of his films. There are no guerilla interview tactics in "The Way We Get By," and not one soldier is bothered to be interveiwed in front of the camera. The documentariens follow the three people who have agreed to be on flim throughout the entire time, and through their encounters a strong story--and most likely a more true one-- is developed.
Question for Next Week:
What is the history being a documentary? Who first came up with the idea? What were the first documentaries to start the genre?
Sources:
Standard, By This. "Constitution Party Platform." Constitution Party National Political Headquarters. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. http://www.constitutionparty.com/party_platform.php.
Libertarian Party | Maximum Freedom, Minimum Government. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. http://www.lp.org/.
"List of Political Parties in the United States." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_the_United_States.
"The Green Party of the United States." Green Party of the United States | Homepage. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. <http://www.gp.org/index.php>.
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