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Democratic Party

Republican Party. The party under its present name was established by Andrew Jackson during the 1820s, but it traces its origins to Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican Party in 1792. It is, along with Britain's Conservative Party, one of the two oldest political parties in the world. Currently, the Democratic Party is the minority party in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives. Democrats control 20 state legislatures and 22 governorships. Since 1896 the Democrats have been the more liberal major party. The pro-working class, activist philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt has shaped much of the party's agenda since 1933; his New Deal Coalition controlled the national government into the 1960s. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, championed by the northern Democratic Party, continues to inspire the party's ideas and principles. However, the bitter divisions (1968-72) over the Vietnam War remain visible in current debates about foreign policy.

Ideological Base
The Democratic Party's political views today have roots in the United States' progressive tradition. The Party's brand of progressivism is often called modern liberalism or, in an international context, social liberalism, to distinguish it from classical liberalism.

The Party advocates civil liberties, social freedoms, equal rights, equal opportunity, and a free enterprise system tempered by government intervention. The Party believes that government should play a role in alleviating poverty and social injustice, even if that means progressive taxation and a larger role for government to pay for social services.

The principles and values of any political party are difficult to define and don't generally apply to all members of the party. Some members disagree with one or more planks of their party's political platform. The party's platform represents the views of the majority of delegates to its national convention and usually is heavily influenced by the presidential...