Politics of the United States and Political ideologies in the United States

Parties and ideology

Main articles: Politics of the United States and Political ideologies in the United States

Current president Barack Obama taking the presidential oath from Chief Justice John Roberts, January 20, 2009

The United States has operated under a two-party system for most of its history.^[100] For elective offices at most levels, state-administered primary elections choose the major party nominees for subsequent general elections. Since the general election of 1856, the major parties have been the Democratic Party, founded in 1824, and the Republican Party, founded in 1854. Since the Civil War, only one third-party presidential candidate—former presidentTheodore Roosevelt, running as a Progressive in 1912—has won as much as 20% of the popular vote. The third-largest political party is the Libertarian Party.

Within American political culture, the Republican Party is considered center-right orconservative and the Democratic Party is considered center-left or liberal.^[101] The states of the Northeast and West Coast and some of the Great Lakes states, known as "blue states", are relatively liberal. The "red states" of the South and parts of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains are relatively conservative.

The winner of the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama, is the 44th U.S. president; although, he is the 43rd person sworn into office, as Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms and is counted chronologically as both the 22nd and 24th president.

The 2010 midterm elections saw the Republican Party take control of the House and make gains in the Senate, where the Democrats retain the majority. In the 112th United States Congress, the Senate consists of 51 Democrats, two independents who caucus with the Democrats, and 47 Republicans; the House consists of 242 Republicans and 192 Democrats—one seat is vacant. There are 29 Republican and 20 Democratic state governors, as well as one independent.^[102]

Since the founding of the United States until 2000s, the country's governance has been primarily dominated by White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs). However, the situation has changed recently and of the top 17 positions (four national candidates of the two major party in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, four leaders in 112th United States Congress, and nine Supreme Court Justices) there is only one WASP.^{[103][104][105]}