Democratic Party (United States)

The United States Democratic Party is one of the two biggest political parties in the United States. Since the mid-1850's, the party's main opponent has been the Republican Party. Both political parties have controlled American politics ever since.

"Democratic Party" redirects here. For other uses, see Democratic Party (disambiguation).
Democratic Party
LeaderJoe Biden
Deputy LeaderKamala Harris
ChairpersonJaime Harrison
Senate Majority LeaderChuck Schumer
House Minority LeaderHakeem Jeffries
Founders
FoundedJanuary 8, 1828 (1828-01-08)[1]
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Preceded byDemocratic-Republican Party
Headquarters430 South Capitol St. SE,
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Student wing
  • High School Democrats of America
  • College Democrats of America
Youth wingYoung Democrats of America
Women's wingNational Federation of Democratic Women
Overseas wingDemocrats Abroad
Membership (2023)Decrease 45,916,356[2]
Ideology
Political position
Colors  Blue
Seats in the Senate
Seats in the House of Representatives
213 / 435
State governorships
Seats in state upper chambers
857 / 1,973
Seats in state lower chambers
2,425 / 5,413
Territorial governorships
4 / 5
Seats in territorial upper chambers
31 / 97
Seats in territorial lower chambers
9 / 91
Election symbol
Website
democrats.org

The party sits at the centre to centre-left of the American political spectrum, with the Republican Party being positioned to their right.

Every four years the party holds a National Convention where they agree on their candidate for president. The Democratic National Committee coordinates most of the activities of the Democratic Party in all 50 United States. Since Andrew Jackson's inauguration in 1829, there have been 16 Democratic presidents (17 if including John Tyler, who, though originally elected to the vice presidency as a Whig, was expelled from his party shortly after taking office, became an independent, and allied with Democrats), the most recent and current is Joe Biden who took office as the 46th president of the United States in January 2021.

The Democratic Party represents a broad spectrum of liberal and left-wing ideologies,including—but not limited to—classical liberalism, social democracy, progressivism, and social (modern) liberalism.

Philosophy and role in government

Democrats, also sometimes called the left, liberals or progressives make up one of the two main political parties in the United States. A mostly Democratic state is sometimes called a blue state. This comes from the party’s main color, which is blue, referring to a state supporting ‘blue’ candidates.

Democrats believe in a strong government with social assistance programs to help members of society. They prefer diplomatic solutions to conflicts, and take generally multilateralist views on trade, believing that trade must be free, but fair to protect American workers, consumers, local communities, and the environment. Some Democrats are economic centrists.[16][17]

Socially, most Democrats believe in sociocultural liberalism, taking pro-immigration, pro-marriage equality, and pro-choice views.[18][19][20][21]

Democratic Beliefs

Currently, the Democratic Party is identified by progressivism, liberalism, and left-wing policies.

Not all Democrats believe in the same thing, but generally these are the things many Democrats support:

  • Progressive income tax.
  • Higher corporate taxes and recapturing income from overseas profits.
  • Spending on business, education, infrastructure, clean-energy.
  • Expanding spending on government programs.
  • Ending the death penalty.
  • Expanding rights to Abortion.
  • Gun regulations to prevent citizens from hurting themselves and others with firearms.
  • Support Same-sex marriage.
  • Universal healthcare.
  • Declare Washington D.C. an official state.
  • Helping students go to college or university for free without having to pay back the government.
  • Allow undocumented immigrants in the U.S. to stay, pay taxes, and oppose mass deportation.

Most support for Democrats comes from states in the Northeast, Upper Midwest, and the Pacific Coast, as well as from the state of Hawaii.

Symbols

The symbol of the Democratic Party is the donkey.[22] Since the election of 2000, the color blue has become a symbol for Democrats.[23]

Historically, Thomas Jefferson, whom the party claims as its founder, has been often seen as symbols of the Democratic Party, particularly emphasized in the annual celebrations of Jefferson Day Dinners held since the days of Andrew Jackson. As such, the Democratic Party is also often referred to as the “Party of Jefferson.”[24]

List of democratic presidents
# President Portrait State Term start Term end Years in office
7 Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) Tennessee March 4, 1829 March 4, 1837 8 years, 0 days
8 Martin Van Buren (1782–1862) New York March 4, 1837 March 4, 1841 4 years, 0 days
11 James K. Polk (1795–1849) Tennessee March 4, 1845 March 4, 1849 4 years, 0 days
14 Franklin Pierce (1804–1869) New Hampshire March 4, 1853 March 4, 1857 4 years, 0 days
15 James Buchanan (1791–1868) Pennsylvania March 4, 1857 March 4, 1861 4 years, 0 days
17 Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) Tennessee April 15, 1865[lower-alpha 3] March 4, 1869 3 years, 323 days
22 Grover Cleveland (1837–1908) New York March 4, 1885 March 4, 1889 8 years, 0 days
24 March 4, 1893 March 4, 1897
28 Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) New Jersey March 4, 1913 March 4, 1921 8 years, 0 days
32 Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) New York March 4, 1933 April 12, 1945[lower-alpha 4] 12 years, 39 days
33 Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) Missouri April 12, 1945 January 20, 1953 7 years, 283 days
35 John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) Massachusetts January 20, 1961 November 22, 1963[lower-alpha 4] 2 years, 306 days
36 Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) Texas November 22, 1963 January 20, 1969 5 years, 59 days
39 Jimmy Carter (born 1924) Georgia January 20, 1977 January 20, 1981 4 years, 0 days
42 Bill Clinton (born 1946) Arkansas January 20, 1993 January 20, 2001 8 years, 0 days
44 Barack Obama (born 1961) Illinois January 20, 2009 January 20, 2017 8 years, 0 days
46 Joe Biden (born 1942) Delaware January 20, 2021 Incumbent 3 years, 139 days

List of famous Democratic politicians

Independents who caucus with Democrats

List of former Democrats
President Ronald Reagan

References
  1. Cole, Donald B. (1970). Jacksonian Democracy in New Hampshire, 1800–1851. Harvard University Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-67-428368-8.
  2. Winger, Richard (December 29, 2023). "December 2023 Ballot Access News Print Edition". Ballot Access News. Archived from the original on December 28, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  3. Arnold, N. Scott (2009). Imposing values: an essay on liberalism and regulation. Oxford University Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780495501121. Archived from the original on October 2, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 2020. Modern liberalism occupies the left-of-center in the traditional political spectrum and is represented by the Democratic Party in the United States.
  4. "President Obama, the Democratic Party, and Socialism: A Political Science Perspective". The Huffington Post. June 29, 2012. Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  5. Hale, John (1995). The Making of the New Democrats. New York: Political Science Quarterly. p. 229.
  6. Dewan, Shaila; Kornblut, Anne E. (October 30, 2006). "In Key House Races, Democrats Run to the Right". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  7. Irwin, Lauren (October 13, 2023). "Democratic centrists offer to back McHenry as temporary House leader".
  8. "Centrist Democrats target Lauren Boebert and Derrick Van Orden in 2024".
  9. Stein, Letita; Cornwell, Susan; Tanfani, Joseph (August 23, 2018). "Inside the progressive movement roiling the Democratic Party". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 13, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  10. Trudo, Hanna (August 26, 2023). "Progressives see promise in more diverse candidates, voters ahead of 2024".
  11. "Progressives focus on local-level wins to reshape Democratic Party from the bottom up". PBS NewsHour. April 17, 2023.
  12. Trudo, Hanna (November 13, 2022). "Progressives' ranks — and plans — expand after midterms".
  13. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/09/democrats-progressive-candidates-races-wins-midterms-congress
  14. Hanna Trudo, Mychael Schnell (November 14, 2022). "Progressives eye new Congress emboldened by midterm wins".
  16. Gould, Joe (2021-05-13). "Bernie Sanders wants to cut defense spending. Not all Democrats agree". Defense News. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  17. "Biden's sweeping — and fluid — tax plans are making some congressional Democrats nervous". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  18. Paul Starr. "Center-Left Liberalism". Princeton University. Archived from the original on March 3, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  19. Frumin, Aliyah (November 25, 2013). "Obama: 'Long past time' for immigration reform". MSNBC.com. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  20. "Changing Views on Social Issues" (PDF). April 30, 2009. Retrieved May 14, 2009.
  21. "Pew Research Center. (May 10, 2005). Beyond Red vs. Blue, p. 1 of 8". May 10, 2005. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
  22. see "History of the Democratic Donkey"
  23. Farhi, Paul (November 2, 2004). "Elephants Are Red, Donkeys Are Blue". Washington Post. p. C01. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  24. Trotter, Bill (February 11, 2008). "Obama sets sights on November battle". Bangor Daily News. Archived from the original on February 28, 2008. Retrieved February 12, 2008.
  25. Tom Murse (July 20, 2019). "Was Donald Trump a Democrat?". ThoughtCo. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  1. There are 48 senators who are members of the party; however, three independent senators, Angus King, Bernie Sanders, and Kyrsten Sinema, caucus with the Democrats, effectively giving the Democrats a 51–49 majority.
  2. The mayor of the District of Columbia is also a member of the Democratic party, but is not counted as a State governor.
  3. Elected as Vice President with the National Union Party ticket in the 1864 presidential election. Ascended to the presidency after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Rejoined the Democratic Party in 1868.
  4. Died in office.

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