Party Structure

• Democratic State & Territory Parties

Presidential Nomination

The Democratic Party nominates its candidate for President at its National Convention through delegates who case votes on behalf of voters and the party leadership. More information on the nomination system can be found at Democratic Presidential Nomination System.

A Brief History

In the early years of the Republic, debates swarmed over whether the new American experiment would be heavily centralized, or fractionalized into state powers. The former, known as the Federalists and led by Alexander Hamilton, favored a strong central government, a national bank, and a loose construction of the Constitution.

James Madison

The opposition, the Anti-Federalists, wanted the complete opposite, from a strict construction of the Constitution and strong states' rights.

Thomas Jefferson

This opposition, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, became known as the Democratic-Republican Party, and established the roots of the Democratic Party we know today. The Democratic party has undergone much change since; the election of 1800 saw the ascension of the Democratic-Republicans and soon after the Whig party factioned off, favoring more pure Jeffersonian principles. This group, too, faded in the face of the slavery debate. What was left was the Democrats and their anti-slavery, pro-modernization. The Democrats lost power in the election of 1860, with the Republican war President Abraham Lincoln taking office. The Democrats split into two factions, the War Democrats and the Peace Democrats, the former rallying around Lincoln. Though the Republicans kept control of the White House for several decades after the Civil War's end, the early 20th century proved to be fertile ground for social progressivism and non-interventionism.

The presidencies of Woodrow Wilson (1912-1920) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1932-1945) proved pivotal for the modern liberal movement spearheaded by the Democratic Party. Stressing peace, though waging world war when necessary, the "New Deal" Democrats during the Depression championed social welfare, labor unions, civil rights, and business regulation.

Civil rights, poverty, and the Vietnam War, became major topics in the post-WWII political scene. President Lyndon Johnson began his Great Society, pseudo-New Deal programs following President Kennedy's progressive "New Frontier" agenda. The Great Society sought to blotch out poverty and establish tangible civil rights law; the result was such legislation as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Medicare and Medicaid.

Following the Reagan-Bush years, the Democratic Party recognized the dire need for a new direction. Change came in the form of a new economic policy, headed by the Democrats new poster boy, Bill Clinton. In 1992 the Governor of Arkansas took his seat in the White House under the banner of the "New Democrats," advocating center-right social and neo-liberal fiscal positions. Since Clinton's administration, the Democrats lost Congress and regained it in 2006 with the clear mission from the American people to end the war in Iraq.

Current Party Platform

While the Democratic Party consists of progressives, conservatives, centrists, union members and middle class academics alike, to pin point an exact platform has always been difficult. However, as a general rule, Democrats hold certain universal views.

Social Policy

• There should be Equal Opportunity for all Americans regardless of factors such as race, sexual orientation, etc.
• Affirmative action, without quotas, is a progressive move towards helping the traditionally underpriveledged.
• While the Party is divided on the same-sex marriage debate, the DNC stated in 2004 that marriage should be defined at the state level.
• Roe v. Wade constitutionally protects a woman's right to an abortion and should be protected.
• Stem cell research should be explored to its greatest potential with federal funding.

Economic Policy

• A higher minimum wage is necessary, with more regular increases.
• Renewable energy is favorable to economic dependence on foreign oil.
• There must be fiscal responsibility and control of the budget deficit, as well as a PAYGO (pay-as-you-go) budget rule.
• Affordable and quality health insurance should be a right of the American people, not a privilege.