The Democrats

                Compared to the Republicans, it is more difficult to properly label the Democrat Party in historical terms. They were originally the party more sympathetic to the confederacy, although the party is now more supportive of intervention by the federal government. It was also the party more closely associated with slavery and yet today the party receives overwhelming support from African-Americans. Of the two main parties, it is the Democrats that have been the more heterogeneous. That said; there are some common themes and policies one might identify in the modern era as distinctly Democrat.

                In terms of abortion, the party could be classed as pro-choice. Most of the party adopts a socially liberal position on this controversial issue. Democrats are broadly united behind Hillary Clinton’s comment that abortion should be “safe, legal and rare.” Pro-life Democrats are more likely to be standing for elected office in red states (such as those in the Bible Belt). The Democrats often seek to highlight their liberal approach against what they see as the moralistic ‘preachy’ attitude adopted by the GOP. Incidentally, the party’s pro-choice position plays well amongst female voters. During the 2012 election, the gender gap was just over 10%.

                The Democrats could also be described as the party more favorable towards state expenditure. Democrats claim that the government can help to ensure a fairer chance for those disadvantaged or marginalized in some way. Since the New Deal, the party has been associated with policies designed to help the struggling middle-class. During a campaign, Democrats often seek to portray their Republican opponents as the party of the rich placing the needs of Wall Street above that of Main Street. However, there is also a clear division within the Democrats on the issue of state expenditure. New Democrats such as Bill Clinton and Al From believe that the party has been damaged by an association with high levels of government spending (and the high levels of taxation required to fund it). New Democrats seek to limit government spending in order to avoid being labeled as ‘tax and spend’ liberals. Those further to the left of the party however seek to defend and even expand elements of the New Deal.

                The division between new Democrats and those further to the left has been a key theme of the Obama administration. Under Obama, there has been a significant expansion in the role of the state from the fiscal stimulus, the bank bail-out, the student loan forgiveness package and the Affordable Care Act. New Democrats have at times been critical of these measures. For instance, Bill Clinton has publically warned Obama about presenting the party as seemingly engaged in class warfare against the wealthy. It was Clinton who most clearly exemplified the centrist approach when he famously said that “the era of big government is over.”

                As a socially progressive party, the Democrats are relatively united on the issue of affirmative action. Democrats throughout the country are favorable towards positive discrimination. They argue that minority groups and women have been and continue to be disadvantaged within society. Government action is thereby needed in order to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to live out the American Dream. Revealingly, the Lilly Ledbetter Act (2009) was the very first bill signed into law by President Obama and was widely supported within the party. Affirmative action on the basis of race is also supported by most Democrats to combat prejudice within society. Many Democrats would argue that racial advantage is needed to combat racial disadvantage. Half a century after Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech” over a quarter of all black people live in poverty, the level of unemployment amongst black people is twice that of white people and the number of black prisoners outnumbers those of white people by six to one (figures taken from Urban Institute and the Economic Policy Institute). According to prominent Democrats such as Bill Clinton; affirmative action should be “mended, not ended.”

                The Democrats are broadly in favor of extending civil rights to gay and lesbian people. This even extends to support for gay marriage, a controversial issue within our society and one that exposes something of a generational divide. The party has shifted towards a firmer position on the issue in recent times, in part to mobilize its core vote. The party’s stance on this issue has been mirrored by Obama himself. Initially, President Obama said it was down to the states to define what a marriage should be. However, he later argued that marriage should in his opinion consist of a union between a man and a woman. In his first term, Obama repealed DADT. By the time of the 2012 election, Obama publically endorsed gay marriage. This marked a significant moment within the history of civil rights for LGBT people, with Newsweek declaring Obama as very first ‘gay President.’

                Of the two main parties, the Democrats are the more sympathetic towards gun control. Figures such as Barack Obama and Gabrielle Giffords claim that restrictions are needed in order to limit the damage caused by such weapons. For many Democrats, one of the most serious issues facing America is that many people ignore the first thirteen words of the second amendment and instead view the right to own a gun as sacrosanct. Given the influence of the gun lobby in the states, attempts by Democrats to restrict gun ownership can be difficult to implement. Gun control measures tend to be based upon criteria such as age, criminal activity and mental health issues. Calls for tighter regulation usually gain momentum after a tragic shoot-out that captures the nation’s interest.

                Traditionally a less homogenous party than the GOP, it is a credit to the political skills of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama that the party has presented itself in a unified manner as opposed to a rainbow coalition of diverse groups. That said; the presidential candidate for 2016 will have to unite a potentially disparate range of groups such as labor unions, LGBT organizations, feminist groups, Hispanic caucuses and so on. The party is also more ethnically mixed in terms of its supporters than the GOP; which can in itself present certain tensions. Moreover, the party faces wedge issues of a similar magnitude to the Republicans (notably over the role of the state).

                The Democrats have experienced better fortunes than their Republican rivals since the late-noughties. The party gained both chambers in 2006 which enabled them to place a limit upon the Bush presidency. 2008 represented the zenith of the party’s achievements in the 21^st century thus far, taking the White House and both chambers of Congress. However; the party failed to win the House in 2010, 2012 and 2014. The result of the 2012 presidential election was of course a clear triumph for the party, and one made all the more remarkable given the state of the economy. It is testimony to the fluctuating character of American politics that one can talk about a new era of Democrat predominance. Less than a decade ago, the long-term prospects for the Democrats appeared grim after George W. Bush had gained the most votes ever received by a presidential candidate (Frank, 2004). The only consistent observation one might make is that the pendulum invariably swings from one party to the next. Neither party has established itself as the dominant party in the contemporary era.

                Before I end this post, it is worth noting that both main parties are broadly similar on a range of issues. For example, both parties support capitalism and seek to uphold the Constitution. The division between the parties on these issues is merely one of emphasis. For instance, the Democrats believe that state intervention is needed to uphold capitalism as an economic system. The New Deal is a classic illustration of this argument, although the assistance provided under the Obama administration to the car industry and the banking sector could also be considered. Republicans however feel that the marketplace is self-regulating, and that the government should get off our backs in order to let capitalism thrive. Republicans often try to portray the Democrats as socialistic, whereas Democrats however claim that the GOP sides with the rich and powerful. To use the analogy offered by Geoff Mulgan (2013), Democrats try to present their Republican opponents as representatives of the locusts (or predators), whilst portraying themselves as on the side of the worker bees (or creators). One can identify this analogy in Obama’s argument that business people did not build their organization alone. These arguments should not however detract us from the observation that a cross-party consensus exists within the states over the desirability of capitalism as the best economic system available.