The Democratic Party

Historical and Present Ideologies Previous: Since the 1890s, the Democratic Party has favored liberal positions (the term "liberal" in this sense describes social liberalism, not classical liberalism). In recent exit polls, the Democratic Party has had broad appeal across all socio-ethno-economic demographics. Historically, the party has favored farmers, laborers, labor unions, and religious and ethnic minorities; it has opposed unregulated business and finance, and favored progressive income taxes. In foreign policy, internationalism (including interventionism) was a dominant theme from 1913 to the mid-1960s. In the 1930s, the party began advocating welfare spending programs targeted at the poor. The party had a pro-business wing, typified by Al Smith, and a Southern conservative wing that shrank after President Lyndon B. Johnson supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The major influences for liberalism were labor unions (which peaked in the 1936–1952 era), and the African American wing, which has steadily grown since the 1960s. Since the 1970s, environmentalism has been a major new component. Current: In recent decades, the party has adopted a centrist economic and socially progressive agenda, with the voter base having shifted considerably. Today, Democrats advocate more social freedoms, affirmative action, balanced budget, and a free enterprise system tempered by government intervention (mixed economy). The economic policy adopted by the modern Democratic Party, including the former Clinton administration, has been referred to as the "Third Way". The party believes that government should play a role in alleviating poverty and social injustice and use a system of progressive taxation. The Democratic Party, once dominant in the Southeastern United States, is now strongest in the Northeast (Mid-Atlantic and New England), Great Lakes region, and the Pacific Coast (including Hawaii). The Democrats are also very strong in major cities.

Previous Democratic Presidents: Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren James K Polk Franklin Pierce James Buchanan Andrew Johnson Grover Cleveland X2 Woodrow Wilson Franklin D Roosevelt Harry S Truman JFK Lyndon B Johnson Jimmy Carter Bill Clinton Barack Obama

Support Base + Wing Democratic support is similar to the support for the Labour party. Whereas the Labour Party have Trade Unions to support them, democrats have unions which provide money and votes. Similarly democrats appeal to the working and usually middle classes. They work on the principle of larger government and greater government intervention. The idea of Medicare is a perfect example of a stance in which the typical democrat would be in favour of and visa-versa for a republican. Whereas in the UK it is obvious which “wing” both parties are on however because Republicans are so much further right than Labour we say that the democrats have become very central and far from socialism because they have been pulled over by their extreme opposition.

Origin and Reason The history of the Democratic Party of the United States is an account of the oldest political party in the United States and arguably the oldest democratic party in the world. The modern Democratic Party was formed in the 1830s from former factions of the Democratic-Republican Party, which had largely collapsed by 1824. It was built by Martin Van Buren who rallied a cadre of politicians in every state behind war hero Andrew Jackson of Tennessee.

Periods of success and failure for the Democrats. The democrats have never had a period of great success that can be measured with a long period of a democratic president in office. However their most successful period in recent history would be during the Second World War when president Franklin. D Roosevelt served from 1933 to 1945 and who was then succeeded by Harry Truman who served from 1945 to 1953. The Democrats saw their biggest failures in the period between 1869 and 1885 when four republican presidents served back to back. In the post war period their biggest period of failure was between 1981 and 1993 when Ronald Reagan served two terms followed by George H Bush who served one term in office.