Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your United States Democratic Party shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the United States Democratic Party offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of United States Democratic Party at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a United States Democratic Party? Wrong! If the United States Democratic Party is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about United States Democratic Party then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling United States Democratic Party? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about United States Democratic Party and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your United States Democratic Party wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your United States Democratic Party then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the United States Democratic Party site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about United States Democratic Party, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your United States Democratic Party, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

{{Infobox_American_Political_Party| party_name = Democratic Party| party_articletitle = Democratic Party (United States)| party_logo =| chairman = Howard Dean| houseleader = [Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the United States House of Representatives)
Steny Hoyer (Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives)| foundation = 1824 (modern)
1792 (historical)| colors = Red states and blue states (unofficial)| ideology = Modern liberalism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States
Social liberalism | socialpolicy = [Centre-left | international = None ]
20003| website = www.democrats.org| footnotes =-->

The Democratic Party is one of two major Political party in the United States, the other being the Republican Party (United States). It is the oldest political party in the United States and arguably the oldest party in the world.Democratic Party, Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Accessed August 21, 2007.

Since the 2006 United States general elections, 2006 the Democratic Party is the Two-party system for the 110th United States Congress United States Congress; the party holds an outright majority in the United States House of Representatives and the Democratic Caucus of the United States Senate (including two Independent (politician)) constitutes a majority in the United States Senate. Democrats also hold a majority of List of current United States Governors and control a plurality of List of U.S. state legislatures. It is currently the largest political party with 72 million registered members, 42.6 percent of the electorate. The democratic base comprises two widely diverging Demography of the United States. On one hand, there are those in the working class, who are commonly conservative on social issues. On the other hand, it includes Educational attainment in the United States and relatively Affluence in the United States Liberalism in the United States.

The Democratic Party traces its origins to the Democratic-Republican Party (United States), founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other influential opponents of the Federalist Party (United States)s in 1792. Since the division of the Republican Party in the election of United States presidential election, 1912, it has consistently positioned itself to the Left-wing politics of the Republican Party in economic as well as social matters. The economically left-leaning activist philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which has strongly influenced Liberalism in the United States, has shaped much of the party's economic agenda since United States presidential election, 1932. Roosevelt's New Deal New Deal coalition usually controlled the national government until 1964. The civil rights movement of the 1960s, championed by the party despite opposition at the time from its Southern wing, has continued to inspire the party's liberal principles.

Current structure and composition

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is responsible for promoting Democratic campaign activities. While the DNC is responsible for overseeing the process of writing the Democratic Platform, the DNC is more focused on campaign and organizational strategy than public policy. In presidential elections it supervises the Democratic National Convention. The national convention is, subject to the charter of the party, the ultimate authority within the Democratic Party when it is in session, with the DNC running the party's organization at other times. The DNC is currently chaired by former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) assists party candidates in House races; its current chairman (selected by the party caucus) is Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. Similarly the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) raises large sums for Senate races. It is currently headed by Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), currently chaired by Mike Gronstal of Iowa, is a smaller organization with much less funding that focuses on state legislative races. The DNC sponsors the College Democrats of America (CDA), a student-outreach organization with the goal of training and engaging a new generation of Democratic activists. Democrats Abroad is the organization for Americans living outside the United States; they work to advance the goals of the party and encourage Americans living abroad to support the Democrats. The Young Democrats of America (YDA) is a youth-led organization that attempts to draw in and mobilize young people for Democratic candidates, but operates outside of the DNC. The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) is an organization supporting the candidacies of Democratic gubernatorial nominees and incumbents; it is currently chaired by Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas.

Each state also has a state committee, made up of elected committee members as well as ex-officio committee members (usually elected officials and representatives of major constituencies), which in turn elects a chair. County, town, city and ward committees generally are comprised of individuals elected at the local level. State and local committees often coordinate campaign activities within their jurisdiction, oversee local conventions and in some cases primaries or caucuses, and may have a role in nominating candidates for elected office under state law. Rarely do they have much funding, but in 2005 DNC Chairman Dean began a program (called the "50 State Strategy") of using DNC national funds to assist all state parties and paying for full time professional staffers.

Ideology and voter base

Since the 1890s, the Democratic Party has favored "Modern liberalism in the United States" 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. The Democratic base currently consists of a large number of well-educated and relatively affluent liberals as well as those in the socially more conservative working class. The Democratic Party is currently the nation's largest party. In 2004, roughly 72 million (42.6 percent) Americans were registered Democrats, compared to 55 million (32.5 percent) Republicans and 42 million (24.8 percent) independents.

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, that shrank in the 1930s. The Southern Democrats conservative wing shrank in the 1980s. 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.

In recent decades, the party has adopted a Centrism economic and more Social progressivism agenda, with the voter base having shifted considerably. Once dominated by unionized labor and the working class, the Democratic base now consists of social liberalism who tend to be well educated with above-average incomes as well as the socially more conservative working class. Today, Democrats advocate civil liberties, social freedoms, equal rights, affirmative action, fiscal responsibility, and a Capitalism system tempered by government intervention (mixed economy). The economic policy adopted by the modern Democratic Party, including the former Clinton administration, may also be referred to as the "Third Way (centrism)". The party believes that government should play a role in alleviating poverty and social injustice, even if such requires a larger role for government and progressive taxation.

The Democratic Party, once dominant in the Southeastern United States, is now strongest in the Northeast (Mid-Atlantic States and New England), Great Lakes region (North America), as well as along the West Coast of the United States (especially Coastal California), including Hawaii. The Democrats are also strongest in List of United States cities by population. Recently, Democratic candidates have been faring better in some southern states, such as Virginia, Arkansas, and Florida, and in the Rocky Mountain states, especially Colorado and Montana.

Ideologies With over 72 million registered members, the Democartic Party is home to an ideologically diverse base. Progressives form the by far largest and most influential ideological demographic within the party.

Progressives

Social liberalism, also referred to as progressives or Modern liberals, constitute a large part, about 45.6 percent, of the Democratic voter base. Liberals thereby form the largest united typological demographic within the Democratic base. According to the Pew Research Center liberals constitute roughly 19 percent of the electorate with 92 percent of American liberals favoring the Democratic Party. While college-educated professionals were mostly Republican until the 1950s; they now comprise perhaps the most vital component of the Democratic Party. A majority of liberals favor diplomacy over military action, stem-cell research, the legalization of same-sex marriage, secular government, stricter gun control and environmental protection laws as well as the preservation of abortion rights. Immigration and cultural diversity is deemed positive; liberals favor cultural pluralism, a system in which immigrants retain their native culture in addition to adopting their new culture. They tend to be rather divided on free trade agreements and organizations such as NAFTA. Most liberals oppose increased military standing and the display of the Ten Commandments in public buildings.

This ideological group differs from the traditional organized labor base. According to the Pew Research Center, a plurality of 41% resided in mass affluent households and 49% were college graduates, the highest figure of any typographical group. It was also the fastest growing typological group between the late 1990s and early 2000s. Liberals include most of academia and large portion of the professional class.

Many Progressivism in the United States Democrats are descendants of the New Left of Democratic presidential candidate Senator George McGovern of South Dakota; others were involved in the presidential candidacies of Vermont Governor Howard Dean and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio; and still others are disaffected former members of the Green Party (United States). The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a caucus of progressive Democrats, and is the single largest Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives. Its members have included Dennis Kucinich, John Conyers (Michigan), Jim McDermott (Washington), John Lewis (politician) (Georgia), the late Senator Paul Wellstone (Minnesota), Barbara Lee (California), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

Civil libertarians Civil libertarians also often support the Democratic Party because its positions on such issues as civil rights and separation of church and state are more closely aligned to their own than the positions of the Republican Party, and because the Democrats' economic agenda may be more appealing to them than that of the Libertarian Party (United States). They oppose gun control, the "Prohibition (drugs)," protectionism, corporate welfare, governmental borrowing, and an interventionism (politics) foreign policy. The Democratic Freedom Caucus is an organized group of this faction.

Conservatives In the United States House of Representatives, the Blue Dog Democrats, a caucus of fiscal and social conservatives and moderates, primarily southerners, forms part of the Democratic Party's current faction of Conservative Democrats. They have acted as a unified voting bloc in the past, giving its forty plus members some ability to change legislation and broker compromises with the Republican Party (United States)'s leadership. Pro-life Democrats are sometimes classified as conservatives on the basis of social conservatism.

Centrists Though centrism Democrats differ on a variety of issues, they typically foster a mix of political views and ideas. Compared to other Democratic factions, they are mostly more supportive of the use of military force, including the war in Iraq, and are more willing to reduce government welfare, as indicated by their support for welfare reform and tax cuts. One of the most influential factions is the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), a non-profit organization that advocates centrism positions for the party. The DLC hails President Bill Clinton as proof of the viability of Third Way (centrism) politicians and a DLC success story. Former Representative Harold Ford, Jr. of Tennessee is its current chairman.

Professionals While professionals, those who have a college education and whose work revolves around the conceptualization of ideas, have supported the Democratic Party by a slight majority since 2000. Between 1988 and 2000, professionals favored Democrats by a 12 percentage point margin. While the professional class was once a stronghold of the Republican Party it has become increasingly split between the two parties, leaning in favor of the Democratic Party. The increasing support for Democratic candidates among professionals may be traced to the prevalence of social liberal values among this group.{{web cite |url=http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:bueazvJ1K7IJ:www.prospect.org/cs/articles%3Farticle%3Dback_to_the_future061807+liberals+demographic&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=14&gl=us|title=Judis, J. B. & Teixeira, R. (19 June, 2007). Back to the Future. The American Prospect.|accessdate=2007-08-19-->

A study on the political attitudes of medical students, for example, found that "U.S. medical students are considerably more likely to be liberal than conservative and are more likely to be liberal than are other young U.S. adults. Future U.S. physicians may be more receptive to liberal messages than conservative ones, and their political orientation may profoundly affect their health system attitudes." Similar results are found for professors and economists, who are more stronly inclindes towards liberalism and the Democratic Party than other occupational groups.

Economists American Economist#United States strongly support the Democratic Party, with their views on policy being largely in accordance with the Democratic platform. The vast majority, 63%, identify as Modern liberalism in the United States and less than 20% as Conservatism in the United States/libertarian.Boxx, W. T. & Quinlivan, G. M. (1994). The Cultural Context of Economics and Politics. Lanham, MA: University Press of America. In a 2004 survey of 1,000 Economist#United States, registered Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans by a 2.5 to 1 ratio. The majority of economists favored "safety regulations, gun control, redistribution, public schooling, and anti-discrimination laws," while opposing "tighter immigration controls, government ownership of enterprise and tariffs." Other surveys have found Democrats to outnumber Republicans 2.8:1 among members of the profession. A study in the Southern Economic Journal found that "71 percent of American economists believe the distribution of Income in the United States should be Income inequality in the United States, and 81 percent feel that the redistribution of income is a legitimate role for government."

Academia Academicians, intellectuals and the highly Educational attainment overall constitute an important part of the Democratic voter base. Academia in particular tends to be Modern liberalism in the United States. A 2005 survey, nearly three quarters, 72%, of full-time faculty members identified as liberal, while 15% identified as conservative. The social sciences and humanities were the most liberal disciplines while business was the most Conservatism in the United States. Male professors at more advanced stages of their careers as well as those at elite institutions tend be the most liberal. Another survey by UCLA conducted in 2001/02, found a plurality, 47.6% of professors identifying as liberal, 34.3% as moderate, and 18% as conservative. Percentages of professors who identified as liberal ranged from 49% in business to over 80% in Political Science and the humanities. The liberal inclination of American professors is largely attributed to the liberal outlook of the highly educated. Among those with graduate degrees overall, the majority voted Democrat in the 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2006 elections. Social scientists, such as Brett O'Bannon of DePauw University, have pointed out that the liberal opinions of professors seem to have little, if any, effect on the political orientation of students.

Labor Since the 1930s, a critical component of the Democratic Party coalition has been Labor unions in the United States. Labor unions supply a great deal of the money, grass roots political organization, and voting base of support for the party. The historic decline in union membership over the past half century has been accompanied by a growing disparity between public sector and private sector union membership percentages. The three most significant labor groupings in the Democratic coalition today are the AFL-CIO and Change to Win Federation National trade union center, as well as the National Education Association, a large, unaffiliated teacher union. Both the AFL-CIO and Change to Win have identified their top legislative priority for 2007 as passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Other important issues for labor unions include supporting industrial policy (including protectionism) that sustains unionized manufacturing jobs, raising the minimum wage and promoting broad social programs such as Social Security (United States) and universal health care.

Working class .

While the American working class has lost much of its political strength with the decline of labor unions, it remains a stronghold of the Democratic Party and continues as an essential part of the Democratic base. Today roughly a third of the American public is estimated to be working class with circa 52% being either members of the working or American lower class.{{cite book | last = Thompson | first = William | authorlink = | coauthors = Joseph Hickey | year = 2005 | title = Society in Focus| publisher = Pearson | location = Boston, MA | id = 0-205-41365-X--> Yet, as those with lower Social class in the United States are less likely to vote, the working and lower classes are underrepresented in the electorate. The working class is largely distinguished by highly routinized and closely supervised work. It consists mainly of Clerk#United States and blue collar workers.Even though most in the working class are able afford an adequate standard of living, high economic insecurity and possible personal benefit from an extended social safety net, make the majority of working class person left-of-center on economic issues. Most working class Democrats differ from most liberals, however, in their socially more conservative views. Working class tend to be more religious and likely to belong to an ethnic minority. Socially conservative and disadvantaged Democrats are among the least educated and lowest earning ideological demographics. In 2005, only 15% had a college degree, compared to 27% at the national average and 49% of liberals, respectively. Together socially conservative and the financially disadvantaged comprised roughly 54% of the Democratic base. The continued importance of the working class votes manifests itself in recent CNN exit polls, which show the Democratic Party garner the majority of votes from those with low Income in the United States and little education.

Ethnic Minorities A large portion of the Democratic voting base are Ethnic Minority. The Democrats positions on affirmative action, labor unions, and immigration have a strong appeal to many ethnic minorities.

African Americans From the end of the Civil War, African Americans favored the Republican Party. However, they began drifting to the Democratic Party in the 1930s, as Franklin D. Roosevelt New Deal programs gave economic relief to all minorities, including African Americans and Hispanics. Support for the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s by Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson helped give the Democrats even larger support among the African American community, although their position also alienated the Southern strategy population.

Hispanics The Hispanic population, particularly the large Mexican American population in the Southwest United States and large Puerto Rican American and Dominican American populations in the Northeast United States, have been strong supporters of the Democratic Party. Hispanics tend to be working class and, therefore, have left-leaning economic but socially conservative views. They are commonly opposed to homosexuality and abortion, but favor liberal views on immigration. In the 1996 U.S. Presidential Election, Democratic President Bill Clinton received 72 percent of the Hispanic vote. Since then, however, the Republican Party has gained increasing support from the Hispanic community, especially among Hispanic Protestants and Pentecostalism. Along with Bush's much more liberal views on immigration, President Bush was the first Republican president to gain 40 percent of the Hispanic vote (he did so in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election). Yet, the Republican Party's support among Hispanics eroded in the United States House elections, 2006, dropping from 44 to 30 percent, with the Democrats gaining in the Hispanic vote from 55 percent in 2004 to 69 percent in 2006. The shift in the Hispanic population's support back to the Democratic party was largely dued to the 2006 United States immigration reform protests which was sparked by H.R. 4437, a Republican supported enforcement only bill concerning illegal immigration.

Asian Americans The Democratic Party also has strong support in the small but growing Asian American population. The Asian population had been a stronghold of the Republican Party until the 1992 United States Presidential Election in which George H. W. Bush won 55% of the Asian vote, compared to Bill Clinton winning 31%, and Ross Perot winning 15% of the Asian vote. Originally, the vast majority of Asian Americans consisted of Vietnamese American and Filipino American, the latter being economically and socially conservative. The Democratic party made gains among the Asian American population starting with 1996 and in 2006, won 62% of the Asian vote. This is dued to demographic shifts in the Asian American community, with growing numbers of Chinese American and Indian American immigrants that are typically economic centrist and Social progressivism.

Others The Democratic Party also has strong support among the Native Americans in the United States population, particularly in Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Jewish communities tend to be a stronghold for the Democratic Party, with more than 70% of Jewish voters having cast their ballots for the Democrats in the 2004 and 2006 elections.

Recent issue stances Economic issues Minimum wage Democrats favor a higher minimum wage, and more regular increases, in order to assist the working poor. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 is an early component of the Democrats' agenda during the 110th Congress. In 2006, the Democrats supported six state ballot initiatives to increase the minimum wage; all six initiatives passed.

Renewable energy and oil Democrats have opposed tax cuts and incentives to oil companies, favoring a policy of developing domestic renewable energy. Democratic governors have led the way in this issue, such as Montana state-supported wind farm and "clean coal" programs.

Fiscal responsibility Democrats believe that theirs is the party best able to achieve Balanced budget. Democrats increasingly call for responsible tax policies and government spending that keeps the budget deficit under control. The Democratic-led House of Representatives reinstated the PAYGO (pay-as-you-go) budget rule at the start of the 110th Congress. DNC Chairman Howard Dean has cited Bill Clinton's presidency as a model for fiscal responsibility.

Health care and insurance coverage Democrats call for "affordable and quality health care," and many advocate an expansion of government intervention in this area. Many Democrats favor a national health insurance system in a variety of forms to address the rising costs of modern health insurance. Some Democrats, such as Rep. John Dingell and Senator Edward Kennedy, have called for a program of "Medicare (United States) for All." Medicare for All (PDF). Retrieved on 2007-01-25.

Some Democratic governors have supported purchasing Canada drugs, citing lower costs and budget restrictions as a primary incentive. Recognizing that unpaid insurance bills increase costs to the service provider, who passes the cost on to health-care consumers, many Democrats advocate expansion of health insurance coverage.

Environment The Democratic Party generally sides with Environmentalism and favors conservation of natural resources together with strong environmental laws against pollution. Democrats support preservation of endangered lands and species, clean land management and regulation on pollutants.

The most contentious and concerning environmental issue championed by the party is global warming. Democrats, most notably former Vice President Al Gore, have pressed for stern regulation of greenhouse gases.

College education Most Democrats have the long term aim of having low-cost, publicly funded college education with low tuition fees (like in much of continental Europe) which should be available to every eligible American student, or alternatively, with increasing state funding for student financial aid such as the Pell grant or college tuition tax-deduction. Economic Prosperity and Educational Excellence. Retrieved on 2006-11-25.

Trade agreements The Democratic Party has a mixed record on international trade agreements that reflects a diversity of viewpoints in the party. The liberal and Cosmopolitanism wing of the party, including the intelligentsia and college-educated professionals overall tend to favor globalization, while the organized labor wing of the party opposes it.Rorty, R. (1997). Achieving Our Country: Leftist Though In Twenthieth Century America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. In the 1990s, the Clinton administration and a number of prominent Democrats pushed through a number of agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Since then, the party's shift away from free trade became evident in the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) vote, with 15 House Democrats voting for the agreement and 187 voting against.

In his 1997 Achieving Our Country, philosopher Richard Rorty, professor at Stanford University states that economic globalization "invites two responses from the Left. The first is two insist that the inequalities between nations need to be mitigated... The second is to insist that the primary responsibility of each democratic nation-state is to its own least advantaged citizens... the first response suggests that the old democracies should open their borders, whereas the second suggests that they should close them. The first response comes naturally to academic leftists, who have always been internationally minded. The second comes naturally to members of trade unions, and to marginally employed people who can most easily be recruited into right-wing populist movements." (p. 88)Rorty, R. (1997). Achieving Our Country: Leftist Though In Twenthieth Century America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Alternate Minimum Tax While the Democratic Party is in support of a progressive tax structure, it has vowed to adjust the Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT). The tax was originally designed to tax the rich but now may affect many mass affluent households, especially those with Income in the United States between $75,000 to $100,000. The party proposed to re-adjust the tax in such manner as to restore its initial intention. According to a 2007 Reuters News Report, "House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel has said he will push for permanent AMT relief for those taxpayers who were never meant to pay it."

Social issues Discrimination The Democratic Party supports Equal Opportunity Employment for all Americans regardless of sex, age, race, sexual orientation, religion, creed, or national origin.

The Democratic Party mostly supports affirmative action as a way to redress past discrimination and ensure equitable employment regardless of ethnicity or gender, but opposes the use of quotas in hiring. Democrats also strongly support the Americans with Disabilities Act to prohibit discrimination against people on the basis of physical or mental disability.

Same-sex marriage and LGBT rights The Democratic Party is divided on the subject of same-sex marriage. Some members favor civil unions for same-sex couples, liberals commonly favor legalized marriage, and others are opposed to same-sex marriage on religious grounds. The 2004 Democratic National Platform stated that marriage should be defined at the state level and it repudiated the Federal Marriage Amendment. Almost all agree, however, that discrimination against persons because of their sexual orientation is wrong, support adoption rights for same sex couples, and also oppose the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Reproductive rights Most members of the Democratic Party believe that all women should have access to birth control, and supports public funding of contraception for poor women. The Democratic Party, in its national platforms since 1992, has called for abortion to be "safe, legal and rare"—namely, keeping it legal by rejecting laws that allow governmental interference in abortion decisions, and reducing the number of abortions by promoting both knowledge of reproduction and contraception, and incentives for adoption. When Congress voted on the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 2003, Congressional Democrats were split, with a minority—including current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid—supporting the ban, and the majority of Democrats opposing the legislation.

The Democratic Party opposes attempts to reverse the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which declared abortion to be a Constitutionally-protected right, and Planned Parenthood v. Casey which lays out the legal framework in which government action alleged to violate that right is assessed by courts. As a matter of the Privacy and of feminism, many Democrats believe all women should have the ability to choose to abort without governmental interference. They believe that each woman, conferring with her conscience, has the right to choose for herself whether abortion is morally correct. Many Democrats also believe that poor women should have a right to publicly funded abortions.

Stem cell research The Democratic Party has voiced overwhelming support for all stem cell research with federal funding. In his 2004 platform, John Kerry affirmed his support of federally funded stem-cell research "under the strictest ethical guidelines." He explained, "We will not walk away from the chance to save lives and reduce human suffering."

Foreign policy issues Invasion of Afghanistan Democrats in the House of Representatives and United States Senate near-unanimously voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force against "those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States" in Afghanistan in 2001, supporting the NATO coalition invasion of the nation. Most elected Democrats continue in their support of the Afghanistan conflict, and some have voiced concerns that the Iraq War is shifting too many resources away from the presence in Afghanistan.

Iraq War In 2002, Democrats were divided as most in the Senate voted for the Iraq Resolution while a majority of Democrats in the House (81 for, 126 against) voted against it. Since then, many prominent Democrats have expressed regret about this decision, such as former Senator John Edwards, and have called it a mistake, while others, such as Senator Hillary Clinton have criticized the conduct of the war but not repudiated their initial vote for it. Amongst lawmakers, Democrats are the most vocal critics of the Iraq War and the President's management of the war. Democrats in the House of Representatives near-unanimously supported a non-binding resolution disapproving of President Bush's decision to send Iraq War troop surge of 2007. Congressional Democrats overwhelmingly supported military funding legislation which included a provision that set "a timeline for the withdrawal of all US combat troops from Iraq" by March 31 2008, but also would leave combat forces in Iraq for purposes such as targeted counter-terrorism operations.. After a veto from the president, and a failed attempt in Congress to override the veto, the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 was passed by Congress and signed by the president after the timetable was dropped.

Unilateralism Democrats usually oppose the doctrine of unilateralism, which dictates that the United States should use military force without any assistance from other nations whenever it believes there is a threat to its security or welfare. They believe the United States should act in the international arena in concert with strong alliances and broad international support. This was a major foreign policy issue of John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign; his platform attributed rifts with international allies to unilateralism.

In a general sense, the modern Democratic Party is more closely aligned with the international relations theory of liberal international relations theory, neoliberalism in international relations, and functionalism in international relations than realism (international relations) and neorealism, though realism has some influence on the party.

Legal issues Torture Democrats are opposed to use of torture against individuals apprehended and held prisoner by the military of the United States, and deny that categorizing military prisoners as unlawful combatants excludes them from the rights granted under the Geneva Conventions. Democrats contend that torture is inhumane, decreases the United States' moral standing in the world, and produces questionable results.

USA PATRIOT Act All Democrats in the U.S. Senate except for Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold voted for the original USA PATRIOT Act legislation. After voicing concerns over the "invasion of privacy" and other civil liberties restrictions of the Act, the Democrats split on the renewal in 2006. Most Democratic Senators voted to renew it, while most Democratic Representatives voted against renewal. It should be noted renewal was only allowed after many of the most invasive clauses in the Act were removed or curbed.

Right to privacy The Democratic Party believes that individuals should have a right to privacy, and generally supports laws which place restrictions on law-enforcement and intelligence agency monitoring of U.S. citizens. Some Democratic Party officeholders have championed consumer-protection laws that limit the sharing of consumer data between corporations. Most Democrats believe that government should not regulate consensual non-commercial sexual conduct (among adults), as a matter of personal privacy.

Crime Democrats often focus on methods of crime prevention, believing that preventive measures save taxpayers' money in prison, policing and medical costs, and prevent crime and murder. They emphasize improved community policing and more on-duty police officers in order to help accomplish this goal. The party's platform in 2000 and 2004 cited crackdowns on gangs and Illegal drug trade as preventive methods. The party's platforms have also addressed the issue of domestic violence, calling for strict penalties for offenders and protection for victims.

Gun control With a stated goal of reducing crime and homicide, the Democratic Party has introduced various Gun politics measures, most notably the Gun Control Act of 1968, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 and Crime Control Act of 1994. However, many Democrats, especially rural, Southern, and Western Democrats, favor fewer restrictions on firearm possession and warned the party was defeated in the 2000 presidential election in rural areas because of the issue. In the national platform for 2004, the only statement explicitly favoring gun control was a plan calling for renewal of the 1994 Federal assault weapons ban.

History

The Democratic Party evolved from the Anti-federalist factions that opposed the Hamiltonian economic program of Alexander Hamilton in the early 1790s when Thomas Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party (United States). The party's favored states' rights, strict construction of the Constitution, opposition to a national bank, and opposition to moneyed interests. It ascended to power in the United States presidential election, 1800. After the War of 1812, the party's chief rival, the Federalist Party (United States), disbanded. The party faction that supported many of the old Jeffersonian principles was later led by Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, and the Whig Party (United States) became the chief rival of the Democrats until the 1850s. As the Democrats became increasingly associated with "The Slave Power," and the Whigs splintered over the issue of slavery and faded away, the Republican Party (United States) emerged in the 1850s in opposition to the expansion of slavery and in support of modernization.

The Democrats split over the choice of a successor to President James Buchanan along Northern and Southern lines, while the Republican Party gained an ascendancy in the United States presidential election, 1860. As the American Civil War broke out, Northern Democrats were divided into War Democrats and Peace Democrats. Most War Democrats rallied to President Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans' National Union Party (United States). The Democrats benefited from white Southerners' resentment of Reconstruction after the war and consequent hostility to the Republican Party. After Redeemers ended Reconstruction in the 1870s, and the disenfranchisement of African Americans took place in the 1890s, the South, voting Democratic, became known as the "Solid South." Though Republicans continued to control the White House until 1884, the Democrats remained competitive. The party was dominated by pro-business Bourbon Democrats led by Samuel J. Tilden and Grover Cleveland, who represented mercantile, banking and railroad interests, opposed imperialism and overseas expansion, fought for the gold standard, opposed bimetallism, and crusaded against corruption, high taxes, and tariffs. Cleveland was elected to non-consecutive presidential terms in 1884 and 1892.

Agrarian Democrats demanding free silver overthrew the Bourbon Democrats in 1896 and nominated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency (a nomination repeated by Democrats in 1900 and 1908). Bryan waged a vigorous campaign attacking Eastern moneyed interests, but he lost to Republican William McKinley. The Democrats took control of the House in 1910 and elected Woodrow Wilson as president in 1912 and 1916. Wilson led Congress to, in effect, put to rest the issues of tariffs, money, and antitrust that had dominated politics for 40 years with new progressive laws. The Great Depression in 1929 that occurred under Republican President Herbert Hoover and the Republican Congress set the stage for a more liberal government; the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives nearly uninterrupted from 1931 until 1995 and won most presidential elections until 1968. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, elected to presidency in 1932, came forth with government programs called the New Deal. New Deal liberalism meant the promotion of social welfare, labor unions, civil rights, and regulation of business. The opponents, who stressed long-term growth, support for business, and low taxes, started calling themselves "conservatives."

Issues facing parties and the United States after the Second World War included the Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement. Republicans attracted conservatives and white Southerners from the Democratic coalition with their resistance to New Deal and Great Society liberalism and the Republicans' use of the Southern Strategy. African Americans, who traditionally supported the Republican Party, began supporting Democrats following the ascent of the Franklin Roosevelt administration, the New Deal, and the Civil Rights movement. The Democratic Party's main base of support shifted to the Northeastern United States, marking a dramatic reversal of history. Bill Clinton was elected to the presidency in 1992 and 1996 and governed as a New Democrat while the Democratic Party lost control of Congress in the Republican Revolution to the Republican Party; the Democratic Party United States general elections, 2006. Some of the party's key issues in the early 21st century have included the methods of how to combat terrorism, homeland security, labor rights, environmentalism, and the preservation of liberal government programs.

Presidential tickets Resigned from office.
Died in office.
Died before the electoral votes were cast.
Thomas Eagleton was the original vice presidential nominee, but withdrew his nomination less than a month after receiving it.


2008 nomination 2004 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee John Edwards, New York Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton, former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel, Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (politician), Illinois Senator Barack Obama, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio have declared their candidacies for the Democratic presidential nomination. Other possible candidates include 2000 Democratic Presidential nominee Al Gore as well as retired General Wesley Clark. Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack became a candidate and later withdrew his candidacy. 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry, former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, and Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, once considered possible candidates, have announced that they will not be seeking the party's presidential nomination in 2008.

Senator Clinton has a lead in recent national Opinion polling for the Democratic Party (United States) 2008 presidential candidates. Many recent polls have put Senator Obama, and former Senator Edwards behind Clinton.

Symbols and name , January 19, 1870.In the 1790s, the Federalist Party (United States) deliberately used the terms "Democrat" and "Democratic Party" as insults against Jeffersonians. For example, in 1798, George Washington wrote that "you could as soon scrub the blackamore white, as to change the principles of a profest Democrat; and that he will leave nothing unattempted to overturn the Government of this Country." Transcript. By the 1830s, however, the term that had once been considered an insult became the party's name. In the late 19th century, the term "The Democracy" was in common use for the party.

The most common symbol for the party is the donkey, although the party itself never {{Infobox_American_Political_Party| party_name = Democratic Party| party_articletitle = Democratic Party (United States)| party_logo =| chairman = Howard Dean| houseleader = [Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the United States House of Representatives)
Steny Hoyer (Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives)| foundation = 1824 (modern)
1792 (historical)| colors = Red states and blue states (unofficial)| ideology = Modern liberalism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States
Social liberalism | socialpolicy = [Centre-left | international = None ]
20003| website = www.democrats.org| footnotes =-->

The Democratic Party is one of two major Political party in the United States, the other being the Republican Party (United States). It is the oldest political party in the United States and arguably the oldest party in the world.Democratic Party, Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Accessed August 21, 2007.

Since the 2006 United States general elections, 2006 the Democratic Party is the Two-party system for the 110th United States Congress United States Congress; the party holds an outright majority in the United States House of Representatives and the Democratic Caucus of the United States Senate (including two Independent (politician)) constitutes a majority in the United States Senate. Democrats also hold a majority of List of current United States Governors and control a plurality of List of U.S. state legislatures. It is currently the largest political party with 72 million registered members, 42.6 percent of the electorate. The democratic base comprises two widely diverging Demography of the United States. On one hand, there are those in the working class, who are commonly conservative on social issues. On the other hand, it includes Educational attainment in the United States and relatively Affluence in the United States Liberalism in the United States.

The Democratic Party traces its origins to the Democratic-Republican Party (United States), founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other influential opponents of the Federalist Party (United States)s in 1792. Since the division of the Republican Party in the election of United States presidential election, 1912, it has consistently positioned itself to the Left-wing politics of the Republican Party in economic as well as social matters. The economically left-leaning activist philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which has strongly influenced Liberalism in the United States, has shaped much of the party's economic agenda since United States presidential election, 1932. Roosevelt's New Deal New Deal coalition usually controlled the national government until 1964. The civil rights movement of the 1960s, championed by the party despite opposition at the time from its Southern wing, has continued to inspire the party's liberal principles.

Current structure and composition

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is responsible for promoting Democratic campaign activities. While the DNC is responsible for overseeing the process of writing the Democratic Platform, the DNC is more focused on campaign and organizational strategy than public policy. In presidential elections it supervises the Democratic National Convention. The national convention is, subject to the charter of the party, the ultimate authority within the Democratic Party when it is in session, with the DNC running the party's organization at other times. The DNC is currently chaired by former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) assists party candidates in House races; its current chairman (selected by the party caucus) is Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. Similarly the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) raises large sums for Senate races. It is currently headed by Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), currently chaired by Mike Gronstal of Iowa, is a smaller organization with much less funding that focuses on state legislative races. The DNC sponsors the College Democrats of America (CDA), a student-outreach organization with the goal of training and engaging a new generation of Democratic activists. Democrats Abroad is the organization for Americans living outside the United States; they work to advance the goals of the party and encourage Americans living abroad to support the Democrats. The Young Democrats of America (YDA) is a youth-led organization that attempts to draw in and mobilize young people for Democratic candidates, but operates outside of the DNC. The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) is an organization supporting the candidacies of Democratic gubernatorial nominees and incumbents; it is currently chaired by Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas.

Each state also has a state committee, made up of elected committee members as well as ex-officio committee members (usually elected officials and representatives of major constituencies), which in turn elects a chair. County, town, city and ward committees generally are comprised of individuals elected at the local level. State and local committees often coordinate campaign activities within their jurisdiction, oversee local conventions and in some cases primaries or caucuses, and may have a role in nominating candidates for elected office under state law. Rarely do they have much funding, but in 2005 DNC Chairman Dean began a program (called the "50 State Strategy") of using DNC national funds to assist all state parties and paying for full time professional staffers.

Ideology and voter base

Since the 1890s, the Democratic Party has favored "Modern liberalism in the United States" 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. The Democratic base currently consists of a large number of well-educated and relatively affluent liberals as well as those in the socially more conservative working class. The Democratic Party is currently the nation's largest party. In 2004, roughly 72 million (42.6 percent) Americans were registered Democrats, compared to 55 million (32.5 percent) Republicans and 42 million (24.8 percent) independents.

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, that shrank in the 1930s. The Southern Democrats conservative wing shrank in the 1980s. 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.

In recent decades, the party has adopted a Centrism economic and more Social progressivism agenda, with the voter base having shifted considerably. Once dominated by unionized labor and the working class, the Democratic base now consists of social liberalism who tend to be well educated with above-average incomes as well as the socially more conservative working class. Today, Democrats advocate civil liberties, social freedoms, equal rights, affirmative action, fiscal responsibility, and a Capitalism system tempered by government intervention (mixed economy). The economic policy adopted by the modern Democratic Party, including the former Clinton administration, may also be referred to as the "Third Way (centrism)". The party believes that government should play a role in alleviating poverty and social injustice, even if such requires a larger role for government and progressive taxation.

The Democratic Party, once dominant in the Southeastern United States, is now strongest in the Northeast (Mid-Atlantic States and New England), Great Lakes region (North America), as well as along the West Coast of the United States (especially Coastal California), including Hawaii. The Democrats are also strongest in List of United States cities by population. Recently, Democratic candidates have been faring better in some southern states, such as Virginia, Arkansas, and Florida, and in the Rocky Mountain states, especially Colorado and Montana.

Ideologies With over 72 million registered members, the Democartic Party is home to an ideologically diverse base. Progressives form the by far largest and most influential ideological demographic within the party.

Progressives

Social liberalism, also referred to as progressives or Modern liberals, constitute a large part, about 45.6 percent, of the Democratic voter base. Liberals thereby form the largest united typological demographic within the Democratic base. According to the Pew Research Center liberals constitute roughly 19 percent of the electorate with 92 percent of American liberals favoring the Democratic Party. While college-educated professionals were mostly Republican until the 1950s; they now comprise perhaps the most vital component of the Democratic Party. A majority of liberals favor diplomacy over military action, stem-cell research, the legalization of same-sex marriage, secular government, stricter gun control and environmental protection laws as well as the preservation of abortion rights. Immigration and cultural diversity is deemed positive; liberals favor cultural pluralism, a system in which immigrants retain their native culture in addition to adopting their new culture. They tend to be rather divided on free trade agreements and organizations such as NAFTA. Most liberals oppose increased military standing and the display of the Ten Commandments in public buildings.

This ideological group differs from the traditional organized labor base. According to the Pew Research Center, a plurality of 41% resided in mass affluent households and 49% were college graduates, the highest figure of any typographical group. It was also the fastest growing typological group between the late 1990s and early 2000s. Liberals include most of academia and large portion of the professional class.

Many Progressivism in the United States Democrats are descendants of the New Left of Democratic presidential candidate Senator George McGovern of South Dakota; others were involved in the presidential candidacies of Vermont Governor Howard Dean and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio; and still others are disaffected former members of the Green Party (United States). The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a caucus of progressive Democrats, and is the single largest Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives. Its members have included Dennis Kucinich, John Conyers (Michigan), Jim McDermott (Washington), John Lewis (politician) (Georgia), the late Senator Paul Wellstone (Minnesota), Barbara Lee (California), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

Civil libertarians Civil libertarians also often support the Democratic Party because its positions on such issues as civil rights and separation of church and state are more closely aligned to their own than the positions of the Republican Party, and because the Democrats' economic agenda may be more appealing to them than that of the Libertarian Party (United States). They oppose gun control, the "Prohibition (drugs)," protectionism, corporate welfare, governmental borrowing, and an interventionism (politics) foreign policy. The Democratic Freedom Caucus is an organized group of this faction.

Conservatives In the United States House of Representatives, the Blue Dog Democrats, a caucus of fiscal and social conservatives and moderates, primarily southerners, forms part of the Democratic Party's current faction of Conservative Democrats. They have acted as a unified voting bloc in the past, giving its forty plus members some ability to change legislation and broker compromises with the Republican Party (United States)'s leadership. Pro-life Democrats are sometimes classified as conservatives on the basis of social conservatism.

Centrists Though centrism Democrats differ on a variety of issues, they typically foster a mix of political views and ideas. Compared to other Democratic factions, they are mostly more supportive of the use of military force, including the war in Iraq, and are more willing to reduce government welfare, as indicated by their support for welfare reform and tax cuts. One of the most influential factions is the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), a non-profit organization that advocates centrism positions for the party. The DLC hails President Bill Clinton as proof of the viability of Third Way (centrism) politicians and a DLC success story. Former Representative Harold Ford, Jr. of Tennessee is its current chairman.

Professionals While professionals, those who have a college education and whose work revolves around the conceptualization of ideas, have supported the Democratic Party by a slight majority since 2000. Between 1988 and 2000, professionals favored Democrats by a 12 percentage point margin. While the professional class was once a stronghold of the Republican Party it has become increasingly split between the two parties, leaning in favor of the Democratic Party. The increasing support for Democratic candidates among professionals may be traced to the prevalence of social liberal values among this group.{{web cite |url=http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:bueazvJ1K7IJ:www.prospect.org/cs/articles%3Farticle%3Dback_to_the_future061807+liberals+demographic&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=14&gl=us|title=Judis, J. B. & Teixeira, R. (19 June, 2007). Back to the Future. The American Prospect.|accessdate=2007-08-19-->

A study on the political attitudes of medical students, for example, found that "U.S. medical students are considerably more likely to be liberal than conservative and are more likely to be liberal than are other young U.S. adults. Future U.S. physicians may be more receptive to liberal messages than conservative ones, and their political orientation may profoundly affect their health system attitudes." Similar results are found for professors and economists, who are more stronly inclindes towards liberalism and the Democratic Party than other occupational groups.

Economists American Economist#United States strongly support the Democratic Party, with their views on policy being largely in accordance with the Democratic platform. The vast majority, 63%, identify as Modern liberalism in the United States and less than 20% as Conservatism in the United States/libertarian.Boxx, W. T. & Quinlivan, G. M. (1994). The Cultural Context of Economics and Politics. Lanham, MA: University Press of America. In a 2004 survey of 1,000 Economist#United States, registered Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans by a 2.5 to 1 ratio. The majority of economists favored "safety regulations, gun control, redistribution, public schooling, and anti-discrimination laws," while opposing "tighter immigration controls, government ownership of enterprise and tariffs." Other surveys have found Democrats to outnumber Republicans 2.8:1 among members of the profession. A study in the Southern Economic Journal found that "71 percent of American economists believe the distribution of Income in the United States should be Income inequality in the United States, and 81 percent feel that the redistribution of income is a legitimate role for government."

Academia Academicians, intellectuals and the highly Educational attainment overall constitute an important part of the Democratic voter base. Academia in particular tends to be Modern liberalism in the United States. A 2005 survey, nearly three quarters, 72%, of full-time faculty members identified as liberal, while 15% identified as conservative. The social sciences and humanities were the most liberal disciplines while business was the most Conservatism in the United States. Male professors at more advanced stages of their careers as well as those at elite institutions tend be the most liberal. Another survey by UCLA conducted in 2001/02, found a plurality, 47.6% of professors identifying as liberal, 34.3% as moderate, and 18% as conservative. Percentages of professors who identified as liberal ranged from 49% in business to over 80% in Political Science and the humanities. The liberal inclination of American professors is largely attributed to the liberal outlook of the highly educated. Among those with graduate degrees overall, the majority voted Democrat in the 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2006 elections. Social scientists, such as Brett O'Bannon of DePauw University, have pointed out that the liberal opinions of professors seem to have little, if any, effect on the political orientation of students.

Labor Since the 1930s, a critical component of the Democratic Party coalition has been Labor unions in the United States. Labor unions supply a great deal of the money, grass roots political organization, and voting base of support for the party. The historic decline in union membership over the past half century has been accompanied by a growing disparity between public sector and private sector union membership percentages. The three most significant labor groupings in the Democratic coalition today are the AFL-CIO and Change to Win Federation National trade union center, as well as the National Education Association, a large, unaffiliated teacher union. Both the AFL-CIO and Change to Win have identified their top legislative priority for 2007 as passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Other important issues for labor unions include supporting industrial policy (including protectionism) that sustains unionized manufacturing jobs, raising the minimum wage and promoting broad social programs such as Social Security (United States) and universal health care.

Working class .

While the American working class has lost much of its political strength with the decline of labor unions, it remains a stronghold of the Democratic Party and continues as an essential part of the Democratic base. Today roughly a third of the American public is estimated to be working class with circa 52% being either members of the working or American lower class.{{cite book | last = Thompson | first = William | authorlink = | coauthors = Joseph Hickey | year = 2005 | title = Society in Focus| publisher = Pearson | location = Boston, MA | id = 0-205-41365-X--> Yet, as those with lower Social class in the United States are less likely to vote, the working and lower classes are underrepresented in the electorate. The working class is largely distinguished by highly routinized and closely supervised work. It consists mainly of Clerk#United States and blue collar workers.Even though most in the working class are able afford an adequate standard of living, high economic insecurity and possible personal benefit from an extended social safety net, make the majority of working class person left-of-center on economic issues. Most working class Democrats differ from most liberals, however, in their socially more conservative views. Working class tend to be more religious and likely to belong to an ethnic minority. Socially conservative and disadvantaged Democrats are among the least educated and lowest earning ideological demographics. In 2005, only 15% had a college degree, compared to 27% at the national average and 49% of liberals, respectively. Together socially conservative and the financially disadvantaged comprised roughly 54% of the Democratic base. The continued importance of the working class votes manifests itself in recent CNN exit polls, which show the Democratic Party garner the majority of votes from those with low Income in the United States and little education.

Ethnic Minorities A large portion of the Democratic voting base are Ethnic Minority. The Democrats positions on affirmative action, labor unions, and immigration have a strong appeal to many ethnic minorities.

African Americans From the end of the Civil War, African Americans favored the Republican Party. However, they began drifting to the Democratic Party in the 1930s, as Franklin D. Roosevelt New Deal programs gave economic relief to all minorities, including African Americans and Hispanics. Support for the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s by Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson helped give the Democrats even larger support among the African American community, although their position also alienated the Southern strategy population.

Hispanics The Hispanic population, particularly the large Mexican American population in the Southwest United States and large Puerto Rican American and Dominican American populations in the Northeast United States, have been strong supporters of the Democratic Party. Hispanics tend to be working class and, therefore, have left-leaning economic but socially conservative views. They are commonly opposed to homosexuality and abortion, but favor liberal views on immigration. In the 1996 U.S. Presidential Election, Democratic President Bill Clinton received 72 percent of the Hispanic vote. Since then, however, the Republican Party has gained increasing support from the Hispanic community, especially among Hispanic Protestants and Pentecostalism. Along with Bush's much more liberal views on immigration, President Bush was the first Republican president to gain 40 percent of the Hispanic vote (he did so in the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election). Yet, the Republican Party's support among Hispanics eroded in the United States House elections, 2006, dropping from 44 to 30 percent, with the Democrats gaining in the Hispanic vote from 55 percent in 2004 to 69 percent in 2006. The shift in the Hispanic population's support back to the Democratic party was largely dued to the 2006 United States immigration reform protests which was sparked by H.R. 4437, a Republican supported enforcement only bill concerning illegal immigration.

Asian Americans The Democratic Party also has strong support in the small but growing Asian American population. The Asian population had been a stronghold of the Republican Party until the 1992 United States Presidential Election in which George H. W. Bush won 55% of the Asian vote, compared to Bill Clinton winning 31%, and Ross Perot winning 15% of the Asian vote. Originally, the vast majority of Asian Americans consisted of Vietnamese American and Filipino American, the latter being economically and socially conservative. The Democratic party made gains among the Asian American population starting with 1996 and in 2006, won 62% of the Asian vote. This is dued to demographic shifts in the Asian American community, with growing numbers of Chinese American and Indian American immigrants that are typically economic centrist and Social progressivism.

Others The Democratic Party also has strong support among the Native Americans in the United States population, particularly in Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Jewish communities tend to be a stronghold for the Democratic Party, with more than 70% of Jewish voters having cast their ballots for the Democrats in the 2004 and 2006 elections.

Recent issue stances Economic issues Minimum wage Democrats favor a higher minimum wage, and more regular increases, in order to assist the working poor. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 is an early component of the Democrats' agenda during the 110th Congress. In 2006, the Democrats supported six state ballot initiatives to increase the minimum wage; all six initiatives passed.

Renewable energy and oil Democrats have opposed tax cuts and incentives to oil companies, favoring a policy of developing domestic renewable energy. Democratic governors have led the way in this issue, such as Montana state-supported wind farm and "clean coal" programs.

Fiscal responsibility Democrats believe that theirs is the party best able to achieve Balanced budget. Democrats increasingly call for responsible tax policies and government spending that keeps the budget deficit under control. The Democratic-led House of Representatives reinstated the PAYGO (pay-as-you-go) budget rule at the start of the 110th Congress. DNC Chairman Howard Dean has cited Bill Clinton's presidency as a model for fiscal responsibility.

Health care and insurance coverage Democrats call for "affordable and quality health care," and many advocate an expansion of government intervention in this area. Many Democrats favor a national health insurance system in a variety of forms to address the rising costs of modern health insurance. Some Democrats, such as Rep. John Dingell and Senator Edward Kennedy, have called for a program of "Medicare (United States) for All." Medicare for All (PDF). Retrieved on 2007-01-25.

Some Democratic governors have supported purchasing Canada drugs, citing lower costs and budget restrictions as a primary incentive. Recognizing that unpaid insurance bills increase costs to the service provider, who passes the cost on to health-care consumers, many Democrats advocate expansion of health insurance coverage.

Environment The Democratic Party generally sides with Environmentalism and favors conservation of natural resources together with strong environmental laws against pollution. Democrats support preservation of endangered lands and species, clean land management and regulation on pollutants.

The most contentious and concerning environmental issue championed by the party is global warming. Democrats, most notably former Vice President Al Gore, have pressed for stern regulation of greenhouse gases.

College education Most Democrats have the long term aim of having low-cost, publicly funded college education with low tuition fees (like in much of continental Europe) which should be available to every eligible American student, or alternatively, with increasing state funding for student financial aid such as the Pell grant or college tuition tax-deduction. Economic Prosperity and Educational Excellence. Retrieved on 2006-11-25.

Trade agreements The Democratic Party has a mixed record on international trade agreements that reflects a diversity of viewpoints in the party. The liberal and Cosmopolitanism wing of the party, including the intelligentsia and college-educated professionals overall tend to favor globalization, while the organized labor wing of the party opposes it.Rorty, R. (1997). Achieving Our Country: Leftist Though In Twenthieth Century America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. In the 1990s, the Clinton administration and a number of prominent Democrats pushed through a number of agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Since then, the party's shift away from free trade became evident in the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) vote, with 15 House Democrats voting for the agreement and 187 voting against.

In his 1997 Achieving Our Country, philosopher Richard Rorty, professor at Stanford University states that economic globalization "invites two responses from the Left. The first is two insist that the inequalities between nations need to be mitigated... The second is to insist that the primary responsibility of each democratic nation-state is to its own least advantaged citizens... the first response suggests that the old democracies should open their borders, whereas the second suggests that they should close them. The first response comes naturally to academic leftists, who have always been internationally minded. The second comes naturally to members of trade unions, and to marginally employed people who can most easily be recruited into right-wing populist movements." (p. 88)Rorty, R. (1997). Achieving Our Country: Leftist Though In Twenthieth Century America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Alternate Minimum Tax While the Democratic Party is in support of a progressive tax structure, it has vowed to adjust the Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT). The tax was originally designed to tax the rich but now may affect many mass affluent households, especially those with Income in the United States between $75,000 to $100,000. The party proposed to re-adjust the tax in such manner as to restore its initial intention. According to a 2007 Reuters News Report, "House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel has said he will push for permanent AMT relief for those taxpayers who were never meant to pay it."

Social issues Discrimination The Democratic Party supports Equal Opportunity Employment for all Americans regardless of sex, age, race, sexual orientation, religion, creed, or national origin.

The Democratic Party mostly supports affirmative action as a way to redress past discrimination and ensure equitable employment regardless of ethnicity or gender, but opposes the use of quotas in hiring. Democrats also strongly support the Americans with Disabilities Act to prohibit discrimination against people on the basis of physical or mental disability.

Same-sex marriage and LGBT rights The Democratic Party is divided on the subject of same-sex marriage. Some members favor civil unions for same-sex couples, liberals commonly favor legalized marriage, and others are opposed to same-sex marriage on religious grounds. The 2004 Democratic National Platform stated that marriage should be defined at the state level and it repudiated the Federal Marriage Amendment. Almost all agree, however, that discrimination against persons because of their sexual orientation is wrong, support adoption rights for same sex couples, and also oppose the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Reproductive rights Most members of the Democratic Party believe that all women should have access to birth control, and supports public funding of contraception for poor women. The Democratic Party, in its national platforms since 1992, has called for abortion to be "safe, legal and rare"—namely, keeping it legal by rejecting laws that allow governmental interference in abortion decisions, and reducing the number of abortions by promoting both knowledge of reproduction and contraception, and incentives for adoption. When Congress voted on the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 2003, Congressional Democrats were split, with a minority—including current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid—supporting the ban, and the majority of Democrats opposing the legislation.

The Democratic Party opposes attempts to reverse the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which declared abortion to be a Constitutionally-protected right, and Planned Parenthood v. Casey which lays out the legal framework in which government action alleged to violate that right is assessed by courts. As a matter of the Privacy and of feminism, many Democrats believe all women should have the ability to choose to abort without governmental interference. They believe that each woman, conferring with her conscience, has the right to choose for herself whether abortion is morally correct. Many Democrats also believe that poor women should have a right to publicly funded abortions.

Stem cell research The Democratic Party has voiced overwhelming support for all stem cell research with federal funding. In his 2004 platform, John Kerry affirmed his support of federally funded stem-cell research "under the strictest ethical guidelines." He explained, "We will not walk away from the chance to save lives and reduce human suffering."

Foreign policy issues Invasion of Afghanistan Democrats in the House of Representatives and United States Senate near-unanimously voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force against "those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States" in Afghanistan in 2001, supporting the NATO coalition invasion of the nation. Most elected Democrats continue in their support of the Afghanistan conflict, and some have voiced concerns that the Iraq War is shifting too many resources away from the presence in Afghanistan.

Iraq War In 2002, Democrats were divided as most in the Senate voted for the Iraq Resolution while a majority of Democrats in the House (81 for, 126 against) voted against it. Since then, many prominent Democrats have expressed regret about this decision, such as former Senator John Edwards, and have called it a mistake, while others, such as Senator Hillary Clinton have criticized the conduct of the war but not repudiated their initial vote for it. Amongst lawmakers, Democrats are the most vocal critics of the Iraq War and the President's management of the war. Democrats in the House of Representatives near-unanimously supported a non-binding resolution disapproving of President Bush's decision to send Iraq War troop surge of 2007. Congressional Democrats overwhelmingly supported military funding legislation which included a provision that set "a timeline for the withdrawal of all US combat troops from Iraq" by March 31 2008, but also would leave combat forces in Iraq for purposes such as targeted counter-terrorism operations.. After a veto from the president, and a failed attempt in Congress to override the veto, the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 was passed by Congress and signed by the president after the timetable was dropped.

Unilateralism Democrats usually oppose the doctrine of unilateralism, which dictates that the United States should use military force without any assistance from other nations whenever it believes there is a threat to its security or welfare. They believe the United States should act in the international arena in concert with strong alliances and broad international support. This was a major foreign policy issue of John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign; his platform attributed rifts with international allies to unilateralism.

In a general sense, the modern Democratic Party is more closely aligned with the international relations theory of liberal international relations theory, neoliberalism in international relations, and functionalism in international relations than realism (international relations) and neorealism, though realism has some influence on the party.

Legal issues Torture Democrats are opposed to use of torture against individuals apprehended and held prisoner by the military of the United States, and deny that categorizing military prisoners as unlawful combatants excludes them from the rights granted under the Geneva Conventions. Democrats contend that torture is inhumane, decreases the United States' moral standing in the world, and produces questionable results.

USA PATRIOT Act All Democrats in the U.S. Senate except for Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold voted for the original USA PATRIOT Act legislation. After voicing concerns over the "invasion of privacy" and other civil liberties restrictions of the Act, the Democrats split on the renewal in 2006. Most Democratic Senators voted to renew it, while most Democratic Representatives voted against renewal. It should be noted renewal was only allowed after many of the most invasive clauses in the Act were removed or curbed.

Right to privacy The Democratic Party believes that individuals should have a right to privacy, and generally supports laws which place restrictions on law-enforcement and intelligence agency monitoring of U.S. citizens. Some Democratic Party officeholders have championed consumer-protection laws that limit the sharing of consumer data between corporations. Most Democrats believe that government should not regulate consensual non-commercial sexual conduct (among adults), as a matter of personal privacy.

Crime Democrats often focus on methods of crime prevention, believing that preventive measures save taxpayers' money in prison, policing and medical costs, and prevent crime and murder. They emphasize improved community policing and more on-duty police officers in order to help accomplish this goal. The party's platform in 2000 and 2004 cited crackdowns on gangs and Illegal drug trade as preventive methods. The party's platforms have also addressed the issue of domestic violence, calling for strict penalties for offenders and protection for victims.

Gun control With a stated goal of reducing crime and homicide, the Democratic Party has introduced various Gun politics measures, most notably the Gun Control Act of 1968, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 and Crime Control Act of 1994. However, many Democrats, especially rural, Southern, and Western Democrats, favor fewer restrictions on firearm possession and warned the party was defeated in the 2000 presidential election in rural areas because of the issue. In the national platform for 2004, the only statement explicitly favoring gun control was a plan calling for renewal of the 1994 Federal assault weapons ban.

History

The Democratic Party evolved from the Anti-federalist factions that opposed the Hamiltonian economic program of Alexander Hamilton in the early 1790s when Thomas Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party (United States). The party's favored states' rights, strict construction of the Constitution, opposition to a national bank, and opposition to moneyed interests. It ascended to power in the United States presidential election, 1800. After the War of 1812, the party's chief rival, the Federalist Party (United States), disbanded. The party faction that supported many of the old Jeffersonian principles was later led by Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, and the Whig Party (United States) became the chief rival of the Democrats until the 1850s. As the Democrats became increasingly associated with "The Slave Power," and the Whigs splintered over the issue of slavery and faded away, the Republican Party (United States) emerged in the 1850s in opposition to the expansion of slavery and in support of modernization.

The Democrats split over the choice of a successor to President James Buchanan along Northern and Southern lines, while the Republican Party gained an ascendancy in the United States presidential election, 1860. As the American Civil War broke out, Northern Democrats were divided into War Democrats and Peace Democrats. Most War Democrats rallied to President Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans' National Union Party (United States). The Democrats benefited from white Southerners' resentment of Reconstruction after the war and consequent hostility to the Republican Party. After Redeemers ended Reconstruction in the 1870s, and the disenfranchisement of African Americans took place in the 1890s, the South, voting Democratic, became known as the "Solid South." Though Republicans continued to control the White House until 1884, the Democrats remained competitive. The party was dominated by pro-business Bourbon Democrats led by Samuel J. Tilden and Grover Cleveland, who represented mercantile, banking and railroad interests, opposed imperialism and overseas expansion, fought for the gold standard, opposed bimetallism, and crusaded against corruption, high taxes, and tariffs. Cleveland was elected to non-consecutive presidential terms in 1884 and 1892.

Agrarian Democrats demanding free silver overthrew the Bourbon Democrats in 1896 and nominated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency (a nomination repeated by Democrats in 1900 and 1908). Bryan waged a vigorous campaign attacking Eastern moneyed interests, but he lost to Republican William McKinley. The Democrats took control of the House in 1910 and elected Woodrow Wilson as president in 1912 and 1916. Wilson led Congress to, in effect, put to rest the issues of tariffs, money, and antitrust that had dominated politics for 40 years with new progressive laws. The Great Depression in 1929 that occurred under Republican President Herbert Hoover and the Republican Congress set the stage for a more liberal government; the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives nearly uninterrupted from 1931 until 1995 and won most presidential elections until 1968. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, elected to presidency in 1932, came forth with government programs called the New Deal. New Deal liberalism meant the promotion of social welfare, labor unions, civil rights, and regulation of business. The opponents, who stressed long-term growth, support for business, and low taxes, started calling themselves "conservatives."

Issues facing parties and the United States after the Second World War included the Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement. Republicans attracted conservatives and white Southerners from the Democratic coalition with their resistance to New Deal and Great Society liberalism and the Republicans' use of the Southern Strategy. African Americans, who traditionally supported the Republican Party, began supporting Democrats following the ascent of the Franklin Roosevelt administration, the New Deal, and the Civil Rights movement. The Democratic Party's main base of support shifted to the Northeastern United States, marking a dramatic reversal of history. Bill Clinton was elected to the presidency in 1992 and 1996 and governed as a New Democrat while the Democratic Party lost control of Congress in the Republican Revolution to the Republican Party; the Democratic Party United States general elections, 2006. Some of the party's key issues in the early 21st century have included the methods of how to combat terrorism, homeland security, labor rights, environmentalism, and the preservation of liberal government programs.

Presidential tickets Resigned from office.
Died in office.
Died before the electoral votes were cast.
Thomas Eagleton was the original vice presidential nominee, but withdrew his nomination less than a month after receiving it.


2008 nomination 2004 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee John Edwards, New York Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton, former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel, Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (politician), Illinois Senator Barack Obama, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio have declared their candidacies for the Democratic presidential nomination. Other possible candidates include 2000 Democratic Presidential nominee Al Gore as well as retired General Wesley Clark. Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack became a candidate and later withdrew his candidacy. 2004 Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry, former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, and Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, once considered possible candidates, have announced that they will not be seeking the party's presidential nomination in 2008.

Senator Clinton has a lead in recent national Opinion polling for the Democratic Party (United States) 2008 presidential candidates. Many recent polls have put Senator Obama, and former Senator Edwards behind Clinton.

Symbols and name , January 19, 1870.In the 1790s, the Federalist Party (United States) deliberately used the terms "Democrat" and "Democratic Party" as insults against Jeffersonians. For example, in 1798, George Washington wrote that "you could as soon scrub the blackamore white, as to change the principles of a profest Democrat; and that he will leave nothing unattempted to overturn the Government of this Country." Transcript. By the 1830s, however, the term that had once been considered an insult became the party's name. In the late 19th century, the term "The Democracy" was in common use for the party.

The most common symbol for the party is the donkey, although the party itself never

Democratic Party (United States) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in ...

United States Democratic Party - SourceWatch
The Democratic Party is one of the two major United States political parties. The party is currently in the majority in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S.

Article about "United States Democratic Party" in the English ...
The Democratic Party is a United States political party. From 1833 to 1856, it was opposed chiefly by the Whig Party. From 1856 onward its main opposition has come from the ...

Category:Democratic Party (United States) - Wikimedia Commons
Media in category "Democratic Party (United States)" The following 106 files are in this category, out of 106 total.

Category:Democratic Party (United States) politicians - Wikimedia ...
Pages in category "Democratic Party (United States) politicians" The following 2 pages are in this category, out of 2 total. R. Harry Reid; Bill Ritter

United States Democratic Party - Definition
The Democratic Party is one of the two major United States political parties. The Party is currently (as of 2005) the minority party in both the United States Senate and the United ...

United States Democratic Party - Simple English Wikipedia, the free ...
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change

Democratic-Republican party (United States) legal definition of ...
The Jeffersonian Republican party, better known as the Democratic-Republican Party, is an ancestor of the modern Democratic Party. It evolved in the 1790s during the early days of ...

Democratic Party (political party, United States) -- Britannica Online ...
Britannica online encyclopedia article on Democratic Party (political party, United States):Democratic Party pin, date unknown.Americana/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.in the United ...

United States of America Democratic-Republican Party legal definition ...
The Jeffersonian Republican party, better known as the Democratic-Republican Party, is an ancestor of the modern Democratic Party. It evolved in the 1790s during the early days of ...