 
the founding fathers who wrote the united states constitution said nothing 
about political parties. 
many agreed with george washington that political parties would do more 
harm than good. 
washington cautioned against rival organizations dividing the country. 
he said that people would then put loyalty to their party above loyalty to 
their country. 
this would divide the country into hostile groups. 
this, washington was convinced, would do no good. 
nevertheless, even though there is not a single word in the constitution 
about them, political parties have become an important part of our lives. 
americans have found that they could not govern the nation without them. 
the following will explain why this is so. 
what is a political party? 
it is an organized group that tries to get its candidates elected to 
office and control the government. 
instead of people acting by themselves in an election, they get together 
in a political party to support a candidate for each office. 
then the members of a political party who are elected work together in the 
government. 
the two major political parties in the united states are organizations 
with national headquarters in washington, d.c., and branches in every part of 
the country. 
they have lasted for over 100 years. 
one good thing about political organizations is that they help voters make 
up their minds. 
for example, during a presidential election political parties do the 
following: 
political parties help narrow the choice of candidates. 
voters who enter the voting booth are not faced with 15 names for 
president. 
