Difference between revisions of "Democratic Party"

Revision as of 19:31, March 23, 2007

The Democratic Party, also occasionally and incorrectly called the "Democrat Party" by George W. Bush[1] and some other conservatives, is one of the two major political parties in the United States of America. It is generally seen as being on the political left of center, while the rival Republican Party is positioned to the right of center. It is largely comprised of splinter group coalitions who push each others agendas through identity politics.

History

The Democratic Party was founded in 1792 by Thomas Jefferson as a congressional caucus to fight for the Bill of Rights and to oppose the elitist Federalist Party. Ironically in view of the party's image as the "party of the common man", Jefferson was a member of the landed gentry and a slave owner.

In 1798 , the party was officially named the "Democratic-Republican Party", and in 1800 Jefferson was elected as the first Democrat President of the United States. Jefferson served two terms as president with distinction, and was succeeded by another Democrat, James Madison, in 1808 . Madison strengthened America's armed forces and helped to reaffirm American independence by defeating the United Kingdom in the War of 1812. James Monroe, another Democratic-Republican, was elected president in 1816 and led the nation through a time commonly known as "The Era of Good Feeling". In this period, the party dominated American politics with little opposition.

Franklin Roosevelt, president during the Great Depression and Second World War, was a Democrat, as was his successor, Harry Truman.

Policies and criticism

It should be noted that the views of individual Democrats sometimes diverge from the party's official stance as expressed in its national platform. Naturally, the same is true of individual Republicans.

Economic policy

In the field of economic policy, Democrats favor higher taxes, higher government spending and a relatively high minimum wage in order to support social programs that cover basic human needs that are unaffordable to many lower income Americans. While Democrats defend these policies as compassionate and socially responsible, people in opposition of liberal economics reply that they depress economic growth and stifle enterprise and job creation.

The Democratic Party has historically had ties to organized labor. The National Education Association,^[1] the largest union of public school teachers, is a backbone of the party, supplying the largest number of delegates to its national conventions.^{[Citation Needed]}

Foreign and military policy

According to its platform, the Democratic Party has the objective of strengthening America. Democratic national leadership has been accused of being ambivalent about terrorism^[2] and insufficiently patriotic.^[3]

Education

An organization affiliated with the Democratic Leadership Council called the Progressive Policy Institute which claims a long standing opposition to school vouchers ^[4] reported Jonathan Alter of Newsweek saying,

"Can wealthy white liberals - many of whom send their kids to private school - really say to poor parents: 'We can have choices, but you must not?'...This is a glaring hypocrisy sitting at the heart of the liberal opposition to targeted vouchers… Right now, Democrats are in a highly compromised position on education." ^[5]

Environment vs Labor

Two other important coalition groups also find themselves in direct conflict with each other within the Democratic party coalition--Environmentalists and Labour Unions. While environmentalists support efforts like clean air and alternative fuels, for example, this places them directly at odds with the workers of American automoblie manufactures whose jobs and livelihood is threatened by increasing regulations and high costs that lead to cutbacks and layoffs.

Other Policies

Democrats frequently support a woman's right to choose, gun control, homosexual marriage environmentalist policies, and the seperation of church and state.

Religion

One of the curious coalitions within the Democratic party is the strange alliance between devout black Christian believers and avowed atheists who both claim the mantle of "liberal". One reason could be that both of these groups hold a firm belief in the separation of church and state, and therefore keep their personal and religious beliefs to themselves. While there is negligible if any difference between doctrinal Christian teachings regarding homosexuality in most black churches and the views expressed by televangelists such as Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson, the Democratic coalition relies heavily upon votes of blacks and gays.

Evangelical Christians tend to be associated with the Republican Party. However, both historically and at the present day, Catholic voters have had a tendency to identify with the Democratic Party, and a number of Democrat office-holders, such as Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, are Catholics. On the other hand, several general ideals of the Democratic Party's platform - most notably, the party's overall support for the legality of abortion - are contrary to the position of the Catholic Church.

References

1. ↑ http://www.nea.org/index.html
2. ↑ http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=22045
3. ↑ http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0112/01/smn.19.html
4. ↑ 21st Century Schools Project Bulletin: Special Edition Putting Vouchers in Perspective, PPI E-newsletter 2 July 2002
5. ↑ Center For Education Reform, Monthly Letter to Friends No. 75, Back to School 2002.

Reference

^{[Citation Needed]}