Difference between revisions of "Democratic Party"

Revision as of 00:08, March 22, 2007

The Democratic Party, also occasionally 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.

Like the Republicans, the Democrats are currently selecting their candidate for the 2008 presidential election; the front-runners in the contest are Senator Hillary Clinton of New York and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. The most recent president that was a Democrat was Bill Clinton, who served from 1993 to 2001. In his second term he was impeached by the Republican controlled House of Representatives for lying under oath in a civil case that ended in a large out of court settlement, a reproach from the presiding judge, and his disbarment from the Arkansas Bar, however, the Senate failed to clarify what is meant by "high crimes and misdeamenors".

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 tend to favor higher taxes, higher government spending and a relatively high minimum wage. While they defend these policies as compassionate and socially responsible, people in favor of liberal economics reply that they depress economic growth and stifle enterprise and job creation. It should be noted, however, that the last known national budgetary surplus occurred during the administration of a Democrat president.

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. Conservatives, however, argue that the Democrats' policies have the effect of giving comfort to the enemies of the United States and of weakening its position in the War on Terror. Highly partisan conservatives have claimed that the Democratic national leadership tends to be ambivalent about terrorism^[2] and insufficiently patriotic.^[3]

Other Policies

Democrats frequently support a woman's right to choose, gun control, homosexual marriage and the seperation of church and state. The Democratic party also supports the environment which leads to reduction of pollution and a benefit to wildlife.

Religion

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 gereral 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

Reference

^{[Citation Needed]}