The authors review the bipartisan politics ofthe United States in the last two centuries and describe the broad differences between the respective positions and worldviews of the Democrats and Republicans as they were acted upon by presidents from both parties. While the Republicans may manifest more nationalistic and aggressive leanings in their foreign policies and antipathy to state intervention in society and the economy at home, Democrats are equally prone to go to war but usually stand on a platform of'social welfare liberalism domestically and multilateralism on the global scene. Democrat Administrations as a whole have yielded better economic performances than their GOP rivals but the article reminds us that policies are shaped by the views of presidents and their chosen advisers whose decisions owe much to the specific circumstances they deal with.
