Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of the two main political parties in the United States today, along with the Republican Party. This political party, which was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, is the world's oldest continuously operating political party. Since the 1860s, the Republican Party has been the Democratic Party's primary political adversary.

The Democratic Party favoured limited government and state autonomy prior to the establishment of the United States Federal Reserve in 1861, while opposing a national bank and high tariffs. Between 1860 and 1910, it was divided down the middle over slavery, and it only won the presidency twice in that time period. In the late nineteenth century, it maintained its opposition to high tariffs and engaged in acrimonious internal discussions over the gold standard. Woodrow Wilson was elected President of the United States in 1912 and 1916. During the early twentieth century, it backed progressive reforms while opposing imperialism. Since the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in 1932, the Democratic Party has advocated for a more socially liberal agenda. Recently arrived European immigrants, many of whom were Catholics living in cities, showed tremendous support for the Democratic Party during the New Deal, but the party's conservative, pro-business wing suffered as a result of the program's implementation. Following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the core constituencies of the two major political parties shifted, with the Southern states becoming more reliably Republican in presidential politics and the Northeastern states becoming more reliably Democratic in presidential politics. After the 1970s, the once-dominant labour union element began to wane, albeit the working class continues to represent a significant component of the Democratic Party's support base. Women, those who live in urban areas, younger Americans, and college graduates, as well as the majority of sexual, religious, and racial minorities, are all more likely to favour the Democratic Party than the Republican Party.

Liberal ideas such as civic liberty and social equality are combined with support for a mixed economy in the Democratic Party's theory of contemporary liberalism. Comprising significant influence in Congress, the party is a broad-based alliance with important centrist, progressive, and conservative wing organisations. Aspects of the party's economic platform that are at the forefront include corporate governance reform, environmental protection, support for organised labour, expansion of social programmes, cheap college tuition, health care reform, equal opportunity, and consumer protection. Campaign finance reform, LGBT rights, criminal justice and immigration reform, stronger gun regulations, abortion rights, the elimination of the death penalty, and the legalisation of marijuana are some of the social topics that the party supports.