Democrats

History

Origins (1820s)

  • Founded by supporters of Andrew Jackson
  • Emerge from Democratic-Republican party split
  • Emphasised states’ rights and limited federal government

Pre-civil war (1830s-1860s)

  • Dominated by Southern interests and support for slavery
  • Opposed high tarrifs and centralised banking
  • Split over slavery in 1860

Post-civil war (1865-1920)

  • Struggled during Reconstruction as party of the former Confedaracy
  • Opposed Republican policies on civil rights
  • Shifted toward progressive reforms in early 1900s unde Woodrow Wilson

New Deal (1930s-1940s)

  • FDR’s New Deal caused party to advocate for federal govenrment
  • Coalition of urban workers, immigrants, African Americans, white Southeners
  • Economic regulation and social welfare programs

Civil Rights (1950s-1970s)

  • Party split over civil rights, Northern Democrats supported reform
  • “Solid South” left after Civil Rights Act 1964
  • Party championing civil rights, social liberalism, expanded government programs
  • LBJ’s (Lyndon B. Johnson) Great Society
    • Reducing poverty and increasing equity

Modern era

  • Supports social safety net, environmental protection, civil rights
  • Tensions between progressive and moderate wings
  • Diverse coalition in urban areas and among younger educated voters

Key policies

  • Large government programs to lift the poorest out of poverty
    • Bigger government to enable individual enterprise and freedom
  • Higher tax on the wealthiest to fund social welfare
  • Expansion of affordable healthcare for all (Affordable Care Act)
  • Civil rights for minorities, LGBTQ+
  • Pro-choice on abortion and reinstatement of rights
  • Separation between church and state
  • Gun control measures
  • SCOTUS justices who favour a “living” Constitution and judicial activist, discovering new rights and protections through interpretation
  • Humane and sensible reforms to the immigration system
    • DACA: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
    • DREAM: Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors
  • Work with international organisations and cooperate with other nations in areas like climate change, nuclear nonproliferation
  • Environmentalism and climate change

Core voting groups

  • Public sector labour unions
    • Increasing minimum wage
    • Greater investment in public services, e.g. education
    • Protection of worker’s rights: healthcare, pensions
  • African Americans
    • Continued support for civil rights
    • Opposition to voter suppresion such as Voter ID laws
    • Tackling poverty
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