To oversimplify and generalize - Damien isn't wrong in what you're going to see - Democrats believe in an activist government, Republicans do not. Democrats look to solve many problems, like poverty or lack of education, with government funding and programs. This obviously requires money, and so they are in favor of higher government spending that is supported by higher taxes. They also believe in protecting the public with regulations and mandates on business activities, such as environmental protections and minimum wage laws. Republicans see an activist government as getting in the way of a real solution that could be carried out by private citizens. Shrinking the size and role of government provides more leeway for citizens and businesses to conduct their activities, and the money that would otherwise be funding the government would instead stay in the pockets of the people. Regulations are seen as heavy-handed and intrusive into the private sector. The Democrat's critique of the Republican is that his "free market solution" doesn't guarantee distribution of money and services to the most needy people and leaves them open to predatory business practices. The Republican's critique of the Democrat is that his "safety net" ends up entangling the needy by removing their incentive to better themselves, and that bureaucratic government programs are more wasteful and fraudulent in spending taxpayer money.