This is the second in a series of two blogs, not written by me but submitted for students of government and politics. This blog is not for the casual reader, my normal audience. These two blogs are for the citizen who wants to know what their party stands for without the hype of the media slanting the information to make feel good. Now it is up to you to decide if the party policies are what you stand for. Which party best fits your needs, and which party will be best for our country?
The United States fairly quickly developed into a two-party democracy, much to the chagrin of some of its founders. Since 1860, those two parties have been the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
The Democratic Party is older, officially founded in 1844 but with origins in President Andrew Jackson's 1824 campaign and roots in — and here's where it gets a little confusing — Thomas Jefferson's Republican Party, later called the Democratic-Republican Party. The party's ideology and views on government, business and social issues have changed dramatically over the past 200 years. Here's a look at what today's Democratic Party stands for, plus a little history of how they got here.
What do today's Democrats stand for?
"Democrats believe that the economy should work for everyone, health care is a right, our diversity is our strength and democracy is worth defending," the party said in a summary of its 2020 party platform. The Democrats are the more socially and economically liberal of America's two parties and generally favor enforced rights for racial and ethnic minorities, women, LGBTQ+ people, abortion access, and collective bargaining by workers.
The party also has ideological diversity, represented in Congress by both leftist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and moderate-conservative Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). But most Democrats favor government intervention to expand voting access, fight environmental degradation and climate change, and enforce stricter gun laws. Democrats also support progressive taxation, where wealthier people pay a higher share of their income to the federal government.
Today's national Democratic Party cites as key accomplishments the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote; President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs, including Social Security, the G.I. Bill and electrifying rural America; President John F. Kennedy's moonshot; the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act of 1964 under President Lyndon B. Johnson; and President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
How are Democrats different than Republicans?
For the past 45 years, at least between the election of President Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump's heterodox presidency, the Republican Party has generally favored robust military spending and been willing to use the military to conduct foreign policy; opposed most other government spending; strived to cut federal taxes across the board but especially for businesses and wealthy individuals on the theory that prosperity would trickle downward; fought for expanded individual gun rights and looser federal regulations; and pursued conservative social policies on sexual, moral and religious issues.
Democrats tend to get elected in larger cities and in states bordering the ocean, while Republicans have been increasingly planting their flag in parts of rural America.
How have the Democratic Party's positions changed over the years?
The Jacksonian Democrats of the 1820s, up through the end of President Grover Cleveland's terms in 1897, were "basically conservative and agrarian-oriented, opposing the interests of big business" and skeptical of big government, Britannica summarized. By the time FDR was re-elected in 1936 on his big-government New Deal accomplishments, the Democrats had "forged a broad coalition — including small farmers, Northern city dwellers, organized labor, European immigrants, liberals, intellectuals and reformers."
It's hard to pinpoint exactly when that switch happened in the Democratic Party, much less why, U.C. Davis history professor Eric Rauchway wrote for the blog Edge of the American West. But it happened "sometime between, let's say, 1872 and 1936" — after Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan's unsuccessful campaign "emphasized the importance of social justice in the priorities of the federal government," and before FDR expanded on and successfully implemented those ideas.
Probably the largest shift was on race, however. Southern Democrats were the largest supporters of allowing slavery before the Civil War and opposed voting, civil and other rights for Black people long after the war ended. The Republican Party, meanwhile, opposed slavery, and early Republican presidents emancipated enslaved Americans and enforced their new civil rights in the South during Reconstruction.
That began to shift in the mid-20th century. When Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at Johnson's urging, 69% of his fellow Democrats in the Senate voted for it along with 82% of Republican senators. "I think we just delivered the South to the Republican Party for a long time to come," Johnson reportedly told aide Bill Moyers after signing the bill, per History.com. His successor, Republican President Richard Nixon, courted disaffected Southern Democrats, and many Southern lawmakers (and voters) did switch to the GOP. A Republican-heavy Supreme Court dismantled much of Johnson's Voting Rights Act in the 21st century.
What's with the donkey and the color blue?
The donkey has been associated with the Democratic Party ever since Andrew Jackson's 1828 campaign, when Jackson embraced the "jackass" sobriquet thrown at him by his less-populist rivals. But it was hugely influential political cartoonist Thomas Nast who made the donkey symbol stick, starting in 1870 but most notably with his 1874 cartoon "Third Term Panic," which also popularized the elephant as the symbol for Nash's own Republican Party.
Image 1 of 1
"Third Term Panic" by Thomas Nast(Image credit: Getty Images)
Republicans adopted the elephant as their official symbol, "and although the Democrats have yet to declare their own, you wouldn't need to walk more than a couple paces at one of their rallies before spotting a donkey," CNN reported. "It's a little weird that both of the major American political parties have embraced their mascots so enthusiastically, considering how poorly the two animals come across in Nast's original cartoons: how stupid, how pliable, how easily confused. Maybe neither party bothered to check before stocking up on pins and tote bags." Or maybe they embraced the self-mockery.
Democrats have officially adopted blue as their color, but the idea came from election night network news broadcasts. Until the prolonged 2000 presidential election results standoff, there was no uniformity in which color was assigned to states won by the Democratic and Republican candidates on the electoral map. It was the U.S. Supreme Court that tipped the 2000 election to President George W. Bush, but it was news networks that decided that year that Republicans are red and Democrats are blue. 1
References
1. Weber, Peter, What Do the Democrats Stand For?, The Week, October 9, 2023, https://theweek.com/politics/what-do-the-democrats-stand-for
2. For more information on the differences between the Democrats and the Republicans, see more information below.
Differences Between Democrats and Republicans
With the establishment of a powerful two-party political system in the United States—the Democrats beginning in 1824 and the Republicans beginning in 1854—there are some core differences between the two based on very strong political beliefs.
1
Tax Policy
Both parties favor tax cuts, but each party takes a different view on where those tax cuts should be applied. The Democrats believe there should only be cuts for middle and low-income families, but believe they should be higher on corporations and wealthy individuals. The Republicans believe there should be tax cuts for everyone, both corporations and people of all income levels.
2
Social Issues
One of the differences lies in their views on social issues. The Republicans tend to be conservative on social issues. They tend to oppose gay marriage and promote marriage being between a man and a woman. They also oppose abortion and promote the right of gun ownership. Democrats tend to be more progressive in their views, favoring abortion and gay marriage but are strongly for strict gun control laws that limit ownership.
3
Labor and Free Trade
Republicans and Democrats have very different ideas when it comes to the business environment. Republicans tend to oppose increases to the minimum wage, citing the need for businesses to keep costs low so they can prosper and all Americans can have access to products and services. The Democrats favor increasing the minimum wage so that Americans have more money with which to purchase goods. They also favor trade restrictions to protect American jobs while Republicans favor free trade in order to keep costs low for consumers and make businesses more profitable so they can grow.
4
Health Care
Democrats generally prefer a lot of government regulation and oversight of the health care system, including the passage of the Affordable Care Act, because it makes the health care system accessible to everyone. Republicans, who opposed the Affordable Care Act, believe too much government involvement in the industry will drive up costs and have a negative impact on the quality of care that consumers receive.
5
Social Programs
Democrats across the board believe that the government should run such social programs as welfare, unemployment benefits, food stamps, and Medicaid that support people in need. They believe more tax dollars should be funneled into these programs. Republicans acknowledge a need for these social programs but favor less funding and tighter control. Republicans favor supporting private organizations that support people in need.
6
Foreign Policy
When it comes to differences between democrats and republicans, foreign policy can not be missed. Each party has had differing stances in relation to foreign policy over the years depending on the situation. Generally speaking, when military involvement may be required, the Democrats favor more targeted strikes and limited use of manpower while Republicans favor a full military effort to displace regimes that are totalitarian and detrimental to their own people and who are threatening others. Both parties typically agree that sending aid to other countries is a good thing, but disagree on the nature of that aid and who should be receiving it.
7
Energy Issues and the Environment
There have always been clashes between the parties on the issues of energy and the environment. Democrats believe in restricting drilling for oil or other avenues of fossil fuels to protect the environment while Republicans favor expanded drilling to produce more energy at a lower cost to consumers. Democrats will push and support with tax dollars alternative energy solutions while the Republicans favor allowing the market to decide which forms of energy are practical.
8
Education
The parties have different views on the education system of the country, but both agree there needs a change. Democrats favor more progressive approaches to education, such as implementing the Common Core System, while Republicans tend to favor more conservative changes such as longer hours and more focused programs. They are also divided on student loans for college, with Democrats favoring giving students more money in the form of loans and grants while Republicans favor promoting the private sector giving loans and not the government. Editor's note: Democrats endorse DEI and the Woke Agenda to be taught in our schools. They also advocate that transgender boys be allowed to participate in girls' sports.
9
Crime and Capital Punishment
Republicans generally believe in harsher penalties when someone has committed a crime, including for selling illegal drugs. They also generally favor capital punishment and back a system with many layers to ensure the proper punishment has been meted out. Democrats are more progressive in their views, believing that crimes that do not involve violence, such as selling drugs, should have lighter penalties and rehabilitation. They are also against capital punishment in any form.
10
Individual Liberty
Individual liberty has been a sore difference between Democrats and Republicans. Political correctness is on the rise and many people believe that people need to be protected against themselves. Democrats have tended toward favoring legislation that restricts some freedoms, including foods we may have access to. Republicans favor personal responsibility, in that individuals should be able to choose for themselves what they do and what they do not do if it doesn’t break existing laws.
Ok You got this right. Good job dad.