Platforms of Different Party Systems Essay

The Libertarian Platform, as presented by the Libertarian National Committee, Inc. placed a high value on the individual freedom and restricts possible limitations that the government or any authoritarian power might inflict. The sovereignty lies upon the individual and not in the government; meaning the individual has a complete control of their lives. â€Å"Freedom† is defined as not being subjected or forced to do something by anyone else. It is further supplemented that the government exist to protect and respect the individual’s freedom and individual rights. The three basic individual rights that libertarians aim to uphold are the right to life, the right to liberty of speech and action and the right to property. The platform further discussed that Libertarians ‘oppose all interference of the government in the areas of voluntary and contractual relations between individuals’ Furthermore, the government reserves no right to force individuals to do’ sacrifices to benefit other people’. The platform also highlighted that the Libertarian supports ‘free trade and free market’. In a more detailed discussion of Individual Rights, Personal Liberty is defined under the consideration that individual freedom requires the individual to accept any possible consequence that may result to his execution of such freedom. To this end, the Libertarians support the proliferation of ‘full freedom of expression and communication, personal privacy, personal relationships (whatever gender or relationship a person may want to engage in), and abortion’. It also supports to recompense the victim to the fullest extent that is achievable at the cost of the criminal and against any possible cutback of legal safeguards of the accused’. The Libertarian party upholds the ‘common-law right’ of the juries to help or guide them in their judgment, not just of the ‘facts alone, but also justice of law’. In terms of Economic liberty, Libertarians oppose any form of ‘redistribution of wealth or control of trade’ by the government and its representative/s. In specific details, concerning property rights and contracts—the individual may engage and may do anything that he/she wants with and/or within his/her property provided that his/her action/s will not infringe the rights of other people. The Libertarian Party Platform also mentioned that the Libertarians oppose possible ‘violations of liberty of contract, right to private property as well as freedom to trade (not to trade)’. Concerning the environment, Libertarians explained in their platform their belief that the ‘free markets and property rights motivate and encourages individuals and companies as well to protect the environment’. Government- the Libertarian claims holds no responsibility for the damage done to the environment. Also, Government according to the Libertarian platform should not ‘subsidize energy’ thus; government shall have no control on the pricing and regulation of energy and its sources. Another issue under Economic Liberty deals with Government finance and spending. The platform stated that the party ought to ‘call for a repeal of the Income tax’ and that the Libertarians support the ‘Balanced Budget Amendment’ which will cut on governmental expenditures instead of collecting taxes. The Libertarians are also not in favor of incurring debts under the assumption that this will burden the future generation. Other Economic concerns deals with free-market banking, opposing government subsidies to businesses, promotion of employment by repealing laws that ‘possibly impede’ employment and oppose other governmental interference in the labor market, non-interference in the children education, re-establishing a free market health-care system and private-voluntary retirement system. In terms of issues surrounding the Security of Liberty, the Libertarian Platform highlights that providing ‘security’ shall be the only ‘purpose of the government’. In regards to National Defense, the Libertarian platform mentioned that they will support ‘sufficient military’ that shall be able to defend the country from aggressor/s; nonetheless, they do not intend to promote or to continue any form of ‘compulsory national service’. In line with the priority of individual tights, the platform described that intelligence agency should be transparent and open to public scrutiny. The libertarians are also against foreign intervention policies specifically providing any military and economic aid/s. Also the platform mentioned that Libertarians are against bigotry and/or any form/s of discrimination. The Libertarians also promotes a more representative form of government to encourage people from all walks of life to participate in the government. Lastly, the platform mentioned ‘self-determination’ which shall support the people if they want to replace the current government with another which shall further protect the people’s liberty. The Democratic Party The Democratic Party Platform is pushing towards the concept of ‘unity in diversity’ with the primary goal of the people and their way of life while helping to construct a more peaceful, more prosperous, safer and more democratic world. The platform includes security policies that are focused on military and supporting national freedom. The platform also includes several criticisms about the Bush administration and the use of force instead of diplomacy in most situations. The democratic platform also encourages that weapons of mass destruction shall be eliminated since it is a threat to the country. The Democratic Party believes that the promotion of democracy, the rule of law and human rights are all vital to the country’s long-term security. The Democrats according to their platform in 2004 would like to uphold an international standard for ‘treatments of Prisoners’ specifying that ‘torture is unacceptable’. The democratic platform also talked about Iraq’s military and political situation, Africa’s health and human rights issues, Europe nations as America’s Atlantic ‘allies’, Asia’s economy and support, securing Israel in the Middle East, help in establishing and/or maintaining peace in Northern Ireland, cooperating with Russia in terms of proliferation of –democracy, rule of law and human rights, reinforcement of democratic values to the Latin America and the Caribbean. The Democratic Party would like to address with the global health issues which the democrats believed to be a ‘humanitarian obligation and a national security imperative’. The platform also mentioned the promotion of international economic development as an imperative which shall spread ‘peace across the globe’. Another focus of the platform is the ‘strengthening of the military’ by expanding ‘active duty personnel’ with an approximate of more or less 40,000 new soldiers. Another proposed strategy was the creation of the ‘New Total Force’ which will be a group of Special Forces that has double capacity than before. Then the democratic platform also suggests the creation of 21st century weapons which will use the modern-day technology. There is also a mention of the best possible training for soldiers, enactment of ‘Military Family Bill of Rights’ and better use of national guards. Other focus of the platform includes independence in Energy resources by finding a way to create renewable energy, building energy-efficient vehicles, finding other alternatives of producing electricity, moving beyond OPEC, cutting energy used by the federal government and promoting conservation among others. The platform also vows to create more good jobs, supporting the middle class, reforming health care system, improving education by making college more affordable and protecting the environment through acts and government programs.