Democratic Party (United States)

{{main|History of the Democratic Party (United States)}}File:Political Parties Derivation in the United States.svgDemocratic Party officials often trace its origins to the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and other influential opponents of the conservative Federalists in 1792.The party has claimed a founding date of 1792 as noted in S.2047 which passed in the United States Senate in 1991. {{citation|title= S.2047 – A bill to establish a commission to commemorate the bicentennial of the establishment of the Democratic Party of the United States.|author= ((102nd Congress))|url= https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/2047/text?r=90&s=1|year= 1991|access-date= February 20, 2021|archive-date= February 22, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210222013940/https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/2047/text?r=90&s=1|url-status= live}} "[I]n 1992, the Democratic Party of the United States will celebrate the 200th anniversary of its establishment on May 13, 1792."{{Cite book |last=Larson |first=Edward |title=A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign |publisher=Free Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780743293167 |pages=21 |quote=The divisions between Adams and Jefferson were exasperated by the more extreme views expressed by some of their partisans, particularly the High Federalists led by Hamilton on what was becoming known as the political right, and the democratic wing of the Republican Party on the left, associated with New York Governor George Clinton and Pennsylvania legislator Albert Gallatin, among others. |author-link=Edward J. Larson}} That party died out before the modern Democratic Party was organized;{{cite journal|last=Ericson|first=David F.|title=The Evolution of the Democratic Party|journal=The American Historical Review|volume=70|issue=1|year=1964|pages=22–43}} the Jeffersonian party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans.{{cite book|last=Banning|first=Lance|title=The Jeffersonian Persuasion: Evolution of a Party Ideology|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=1978|page=208}} Historians argue that the modern Democratic Party was first organized in the late 1820s with the election of war hero Andrew JacksonMichael Kazin, What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party (2022) pp 5, 12. of Tennessee, making it the world's oldest active political party.M. Philip Lucas, "Martin Van Buren as Party Leader and at Andrew Jackson's Right Hand." in A Companion to the Antebellum Presidents 1837–1861 (2014): 107–129."The Democratic Party, founded in 1828, is the world's oldest political party" states {{Cite book |last1=Janda |first1=Kenneth |url=https://archive.org/details/jandachallengeof00houg |title=The Challenge of Democracy: American Government in Global Politics |last2=Berry |first2=Jeffrey M. |last3=Goldman |first3=Jerry |publisher=Cengage Learning |year=2010 |isbn=9780495906186 |page=276 |url-access=registration}} It was predominately built by Martin Van Buren, who assembled a wide cadre of politicians in every state behind Jackson.

Since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues. Democrats have been more liberal on civil rights since 1948, although conservative factions within the Democratic Party that opposed them persisted in the South until the 1960s. On foreign policy, both parties have changed positions several times.Arthur Paulson, Realignment and Party Revival: Understanding American Electoral Politics at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century (2000) pp. 46–72.

File:Andrew jackson head.jpg was the seventh president (1829–1837) and the first Democratic president.]]

The Democratic Party evolved from the Jeffersonian Republican or Democratic-Republican Party organized by Jefferson and Madison in opposition to the Federalist Party.{{cite book|last=Berman|first=Jay|title=The Democratic Party: Evolution and America's Longing for a Lasting Majority|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2012|page=8}} The Democratic-Republican Party favored republicanism, a weak federal government, states' rights, agrarian interests (especially Southern planters), and strict adherence to the Constitution. The party opposed a national bank and Great Britain.James Roger Sharp, American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis (1993). After the War of 1812, the Federalists virtually disappeared and the only national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans, which was prone to splinter along regional lines.{{cite book|title=The American Republic Since 1877, Student Edition|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education|year=2006|page=193}} The era of one-party rule in the United States, known as the Era of Good Feelings, lasted from 1816 until 1828, when Andrew Jackson became president. Jackson and Martin Van Buren worked with allies in each state to form a new Democratic Party on a national basis. In the 1830s, the Whig Party coalesced into the main rival to the Democrats.

Before 1860, the Democratic Party supported expansive presidential power,{{Cite book |last=Holt |first=Michael F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VEhYhbouR3QC&pg=PA27 |title=Political Parties and American Political Development: From the Age of Jackson to the Age of Lincoln |publisher=Louisiana State University Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0807126097 |pages=27–28 |access-date=March 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405015907/https://books.google.com/books?id=VEhYhbouR3QC&pg=PA27 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |url-status=live}} the interests of slave states,{{Cite book |last=Bates |first=Christopher |title=The Early Republic and Antebellum America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2015 |isbn=9781317457404 |pages=293 |quote=The expansion engineered by Polk rendered the Democratic Party increasingly beholden to Southern slave interests, which dominated the party from 1848 to the Civil War.}} agrarianism,{{Cite web |last=Staff |title=Jacksonian Democracy: The Democratization of Politics |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States/Jacksonian-democracy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712100142/https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States/Jacksonian-democracy |archive-date=July 12, 2022 |access-date=October 6, 2022 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |quote=By the 1840s, Whig and Democratic congressmen voted as rival blocs. Whigs supported and Democrats opposed a weak executive, a new Bank of the United States, a high tariff, distribution of land revenues to the states, relief legislation to mitigate the effects of the depression, and federal reapportionment of House seats. Whigs voted against and Democrats approved an independent treasury, an aggressive foreign policy, and expansionism. These were important issues, capable of dividing the electorate just as they divided the major parties in Congress.}} and expansionism, while opposing a national bank and high tariffs.

{{Further|Second Party System|Third Party System}}

File:Martin Van Buren by Mathew Brady c1855-58.jpg was the eighth president (1837–1841).]]

The Democratic-Republican Party split over the choice of a successor to President James Monroe.{{cite book|last=Banning|first=Lance|title=The Jeffersonian Persuasion: Evolution of a Party Ideology|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=1978|page=253}} The faction that supported many of the old Jeffersonian principles, led by Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, became the modern Democratic Party.{{cite magazine |last1=Traub |first1=James |title=The Ugly Election That Birthed Modern American Politics |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2016/11-12/america-presidential-elections-1824-corrupt-bargain/ |magazine=National Geographic |access-date=July 6, 2018 |archive-date=July 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707010137/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2016/11-12/america-presidential-elections-1824-corrupt-bargain/ |url-status=dead}} Historian Mary Beth Norton explains the transformation in 1828: {{blockquote|Jacksonians believed the people's will had finally prevailed. Through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, and newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president. The Democrats became the nation's first well-organized national party ... and tight party organization became the hallmark of nineteenth-century American politics.Mary Beth Norton et al., A People and a Nation, Volume I: to 1877 (Houghton Mifflin, 2007) p. 287.|sign=|source=}}

File:Polk crop.jpg was the 11th president (1845–1849). He significantly extended the territory of the United States.]]

Behind the platforms issued by state and national parties stood a widely shared political outlook that characterized the Democrats: {{blockquote|The Democrats represented a wide range of views but shared a fundamental commitment to the Jeffersonian concept of an agrarian society. They viewed the central government as the enemy of individual liberty. The 1824 "corrupt bargain" had strengthened their suspicion of Washington politics. ... Jacksonians feared the concentration of economic and political power. They believed that government intervention in the economy benefited special-interest groups and created corporate monopolies that favored the rich. They sought to restore the independence of the individual—the artisan and the ordinary farmer—by ending federal support of banks and corporations and restricting the use of paper currency, which they distrusted. Their definition of the proper role of government tended to be negative, and Jackson's political power was largely expressed in negative acts. He exercised the veto more than all previous presidents combined. ... Nor did Jackson share reformers' humanitarian concerns. He had no sympathy for American Indians, initiating the removal of the Cherokees along the Trail of Tears.Mary Beth Norton et al., A People and a Nation, Volume I: to 1877 (2007) pp. 287–288.|sign=|source=}}

Opposing factions led by Henry Clay helped form the Whig Party. The Democratic Party had a small yet decisive advantage over the Whigs until the 1850s when the Whigs fell apart over the issue of slavery. In 1854, angry with the Kansas–Nebraska Act, anti-slavery Democrats left the party and joined Northern Whigs to form the Republican Party.Galbraith Schlisinger, Of the People: The 200 Year History of the Democratic Party (1992) ch. 1–3.Robert Allen Rutland, The Democrats: From Jefferson to Clinton (U. of Missouri Press, 1995) ch. 1–4. Martin van Buren also helped found the Free Soil Party to oppose the spread of slavery, running as its candidate in the 1848 presidential election, before returning to the Democratic Party and staying loyal to the Union.{{cite book |last= Ferrell |first=Claudine L. |date=2006 |title=The Abolitionist Movement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mG_MNzwawSAC&pg=PA88 |location=Westport|publisher=Greenwood Press |page=88 |isbn=978-0-313-33180-0}}

File:Stephen A Douglas - headshot.jpg was a United States senator for Illinois.]]

The Democrats split over slavery, with Northern and Southern tickets in the election of 1860, in which the Republican Party gained ascendancy.Jean H. Baker, Affairs of Party: Political Culture of Northern Democrats in the Mid-nineteenth Century (1983) The radical pro-slavery Fire-Eaters led walkouts at the two conventions when the delegates would not adopt a resolution supporting the extension of slavery into territories even if the voters of those territories did not want it. These Southern Democrats nominated the pro-slavery incumbent vice president, John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky, for president and General Joseph Lane, of Oregon, for vice president. The Northern Democrats nominated Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois for president and former Georgia Governor Herschel V. Johnson for vice president. This fracturing of the Democrats led to a Republican victory and Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States.David M. Potter. The Impending Crisis, 1848–1861 (1976). ch. 16.

As the American Civil War broke out, Northern Democrats were divided into War Democrats and Peace Democrats. The Confederate States of America deliberately avoided organized political parties. Most War Democrats rallied to Republican President Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans' National Union Party in the election of 1864, which featured Andrew Johnson on the Union ticket to attract fellow Democrats. Johnson replaced Lincoln in 1865, but he stayed independent of both parties.Mark E. Neely. Lincoln and the Democrats: The Politics of Opposition in the Civil War (2017).

The Democrats benefited from white Southerners' resentment of Reconstruction after the war and consequent hostility to the Republican Party. After Redeemers ended Reconstruction in the 1870s and following the often extremely violent disenfranchisement of African Americans led by such white supremacist Democratic politicians as Benjamin Tillman of South Carolina in the 1880s and 1890s, the South, voting Democratic, became known as the "Solid South". Although Republicans won all but two presidential elections, the Democrats remained competitive. The party was dominated by pro-business Bourbon Democrats led by Samuel J. Tilden and Grover Cleveland, who represented mercantile, banking, and railroad interests; opposed imperialism and overseas expansion; fought for the gold standard; opposed bimetallism; and crusaded against corruption, high taxes and tariffs. Cleveland was elected to non-consecutive presidential terms in 1884 and 1892.Rutland, The Democrats: From Jefferson to Clinton (1995) ch. 5–6.

{{Further|Fourth Party System|Fifth Party System|Sixth Party System}}

File:Breckinridgelong2.jpg, Woodrow Wilson, Breckinridge Long, William Phillips, and Franklin D. Roosevelt]]

Agrarian Democrats demanding free silver, drawing on Populist ideas, overthrew the Bourbon Democrats in 1896 and nominated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency (a nomination repeated by Democrats in 1900 and 1908). Bryan waged a vigorous campaign attacking Eastern moneyed interests, but he lost to Republican William McKinley.Robert W. Cherny, A Righteous Cause: The Life of William Jennings Bryan (1994)

The Democrats took control of the House in 1910, and Woodrow Wilson won election as president in 1912 (when the Republicans split) and 1916. Wilson effectively led Congress to put to rest the issues of tariffs, money, and antitrust, which had dominated politics for 40 years, with new progressive laws. He failed to secure Senate passage of the Versailles Treaty (ending the war with Germany and joining the League of Nations).H.W. Brands, Woodrow Wilson (2003). The weakened party was deeply divided by issues such as the KKK and prohibition in the 1920s. However, it did organize new ethnic voters in Northern cities.Douglas B. Craig, After Wilson: The Struggle for the Democratic Party, 1920–1934 (1993)

After World War I ended and continuing through the Great Depression, the Democratic and Republican Parties both largely believed in American exceptionalism over European monarchies and state socialism that existed elsewhere in the world.{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Kenneth C. |title=Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-06-008381-6 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=321, 341 |author-link=Kenneth C. Davis}}

File:RooseveltTruman1944poster.jpg; note the rooster logo of the Democratic Party (see Names and Symbols below)]]

The Great Depression in 1929 that began under Republican President Herbert Hoover and the Republican Congress set the stage for a more liberal government as the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives nearly uninterrupted from 1930 until 1994, the Senate for 44 of 48 years from 1930, and won most presidential elections until 1968. Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected to the presidency in 1932, came forth with federal government programs called the New Deal. New Deal liberalism meant the regulation of business (especially finance and banking) and the promotion of labor unions as well as federal spending to aid the unemployed, help distressed farmers and undertake large-scale public works projects. It marked the start of the American welfare state.{{cite book|first=Ellen|last=Russell|title=New Deal Banking Reforms and Keynesian Welfare State Capitalism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qzOUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA4|year=2007|publisher=Routledge|pages=3–4|isbn=9781135910655|access-date=April 28, 2020|archive-date=October 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002180941/https://books.google.com/books?id=qzOUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA4&hl=en|url-status=live}} The opponents, who stressed opposition to unions, support for business and low taxes, started calling themselves "conservatives".Rutland, The Democrats: From Jefferson to Clinton (1995) ch. 7.

Until the 1980s, the Democratic Party was a coalition of two parties divided by the Mason–Dixon line: liberal Democrats in the North and culturally conservative voters in the South, who though benefitting from many of the New Deal public works projects, opposed increasing civil rights initiatives advocated by northeastern liberals. The polarization grew stronger after Roosevelt died. Southern Democrats formed a key part of the bipartisan conservative coalition in an alliance with most of the Midwestern Republicans. The economically activist philosophy of Franklin D. Roosevelt, which has strongly influenced American liberalism, shaped much of the party's economic agenda after 1932.David M. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945 (2001). From the 1930s to the mid-1960s, the liberal New Deal coalition usually controlled the presidency while the conservative coalition usually controlled Congress.Paul Finkelman and Peter Wallenstein, eds. The Encyclopedia Of American Political History (CQ Press, 2001) pp. 124–126.

{{see also|Civil Rights Movement}}

Issues facing parties and the United States after World War II included the Cold War and the civil rights movement. Republicans attracted conservatives and, after the 1960s, white Southerners from the Democratic coalition with their use of the Southern strategy and resistance to New Deal and Great Society liberalism. Until the 1950s, African Americans had traditionally supported the Republican Party because of its anti-slavery civil rights policies. Following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Southern states became more reliably Republican in presidential politics, while Northeastern states became more reliably Democratic.{{cite journal|last1=Bullock|first1=Charles S.|last2=Hoffman|first2=Donna R.|last3=Gaddie|first3=Ronald Keith|year=2006|title=Regional Variations in the Realignment of American Politics, 1944–2004|journal=Social Science Quarterly|volume=87|issue=3|pages=494–518|doi=10.1111/j.1540-6237.2006.00393.x|issn=0038-4941|quote=The events of 1964 laid open the divisions between the South and national Democrats and elicited distinctly different voter behavior in the two regions. The agitation for civil rights by southern blacks continued white violence toward the civil rights movement, and President Lyndon Johnson's aggressive leadership all facilitated passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. ... In the South, 1964 should be associated with GOP growth while in the Northeast this election contributed to the eradication of Republicans.}}{{cite journal|last=Stanley|first=Harold W.|year=1988|title=Southern Partisan Changes: Dealignment, Realignment or Both?|journal=The Journal of Politics|volume=50|issue=1|pages=64–88|doi=10.2307/2131041|issn=0022-3816|quote=Events surrounding the presidential election of 1964 marked a watershed in terms of the parties and the South (Pomper, 1972). The Solid South was built around the identification of the Democratic party with the cause of white supremacy. Events before 1964 gave white southerners pause about the linkage between the Democratic Party and white supremacy, but the 1964 election, passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 altered in the minds of most the positions of the national parties on racial issues.|jstor=2131041|s2cid=154860857}}{{cite book|url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674012486|title=The Rise of Southern Republicans |first1= Earl|last1= Black|first2= Merle |last2= Black|date=September 30, 2003 |publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674012486 |access-date=June 9, 2018|quote=When the Republican party nominated Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater—one of the few senators who had opposed the Civil Rights Act—as their presidential candidate in 1964, the party attracted many southern whites but permanently alienated African-American voters. Beginning with the Goldwater-versus-Johnson campaign more southern whites voted Republican than Democratic, a pattern that has recurred in every subsequent presidential election. ... Before the 1964 presidential election the Republican party had not carried any Deep South state for eighty-eight years. Yet shortly after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, hundreds of Deep South counties gave Barry Goldwater landslide majorities.|archive-date=June 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612135934/http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674012486|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Gary|last2=Schofield|first2=Norman|year=2003|title=Activists and Partisan Realignment in the United States|journal=American Political Science Review|volume=97|issue=2|pages=245–260|doi=10.1017/S0003055403000650|doi-broken-date=November 7, 2024 |s2cid=12885628|issn=1537-5943|quote=By 2000, however, the New Deal party alignment no longer captured patterns of partisan voting. In the intervening 40 years, the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts had triggered an increasingly race-driven distinction between the parties. ... Goldwater won the electoral votes of five states of the Deep South in 1964, four of them states that had voted Democratic for 84 years (Califano 1991, 55). He forged a new identification of the Republican party with racial conservatism, reversing a century-long association of the GOP with racial liberalism. This in turn opened the door for Nixon's "Southern strategy" and the Reagan victories of the eighties.}} Studies show that Southern whites, which were a core constituency in the Democratic Party, shifted to the Republican Party due to racial backlash and social conservatism.{{cite book|url=https://press.princeton.edu/titles/4385.html|title=Issue Evolution|date=September 6, 1990|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9780691023311|access-date=June 9, 2018|archive-date=May 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516081536/https://press.princeton.edu/titles/4385.html|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|last1=Valentino|first1=Nicholas A.|last2=Sears|first2=David O.|author-link2=David O. Sears|year=2005|title=Old Times There Are Not Forgotten: Race and Partisan Realignment in the Contemporary South|journal=American Journal of Political Science|volume=49|issue=3|pages=672–88|doi=10.1111/j.1540-5907.2005.00136.x|issn=0092-5853|author-link1=Nicholas Valentino}}{{cite journal|first1=Ilyana|last1=Kuziemko|first2=Ebonya|last2=Washington|title=Why Did the Democrats Lose the South? Bringing New Data to an Old Debate|journal=American Economic Review|year=2018|volume=108|issue=10|pages=2830–2867|doi=10.1257/aer.20161413|issn=0002-8282|doi-access=free}}

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The election of President John F. Kennedy from Massachusetts in 1960 partially reflected this shift. In the campaign, Kennedy attracted a new generation of younger voters. In his agenda dubbed the New Frontier, Kennedy introduced a host of social programs and public works projects, along with enhanced support of the space program, proposing a crewed spacecraft trip to the moon by the end of the decade. He pushed for civil rights initiatives and proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but with his assassination in November 1963, he was not able to see its passage.James T. Patterson, Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945–1974 (1997).

Kennedy's successor Lyndon B. Johnson was able to persuade the largely conservative Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and with a more progressive Congress in 1965 passed much of the Great Society, including Medicare and Medicaid, which consisted of an array of social programs designed to help the poor, sick, and elderly. Kennedy and Johnson's advocacy of civil rights further solidified black support for the Democrats but had the effect of alienating Southern whites who would eventually gravitate toward the Republican Party, particularly after the election of Ronald Reagan to the presidency in 1980. Many conservative Southern Democrats defected to the Republican Party, beginning with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the general leftward shift of the party.{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Gary|last2=Schofield|first2=Norman|year=2008|title=The Transformation of the Republican and Democratic Party Coalitions in the U.S.|journal=Perspectives on Politics|volume=6|issue=3|pages=433–450|doi=10.1017/S1537592708081218|s2cid=145321253|issn=1541-0986|quote=1964 was the last presidential election in which the Democrats earned more than 50 percent of the white vote in the United States.}}

The United States' involvement in the Vietnam War in the 1960s was another divisive issue that further fractured the fault lines of the Democrats' coalition. After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964, President Johnson committed a large contingency of combat troops to Vietnam, but the escalation failed to drive the Viet Cong from South Vietnam, resulting in an increasing quagmire, which by 1968 had become the subject of widespread anti-war protests in the United States and elsewhere. With increasing casualties and nightly news reports bringing home troubling images from Vietnam, the costly military engagement became increasingly unpopular, alienating many of the kinds of young voters that the Democrats had attracted in the early 1960s. The protests that year along with assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Democratic presidential candidate Senator Robert F. Kennedy (younger brother of John F. Kennedy) climaxed in turbulence at the hotly-contested Democratic National Convention that summer in Chicago (which amongst the ensuing turmoil inside and outside of the convention hall nominated Vice President Hubert Humphrey) in a series of events that proved to mark a significant turning point in the decline of the Democratic Party's broad coalition.Patterson, Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945–1974 (1997).

File:JimmyCarterPortrait2.jpg, the 39th president (1977–1981)]]

Republican presidential nominee Richard Nixon was able to capitalize on the confusion of the Democrats that year, and won the 1968 election to become the 37th president. He won re-election in a landslide in 1972 against Democratic nominee George McGovern, who like Robert F. Kennedy, reached out to the younger anti-war and counterculture voters, but unlike Kennedy, was not able to appeal to the party's more traditional white working-class constituencies. During Nixon's second term, his presidency was rocked by the Watergate scandal, which forced him to resign in 1974. He was succeeded by vice president Gerald Ford, who served a brief tenure.

Watergate offered the Democrats an opportunity to recoup, and their nominee Jimmy Carter won the 1976 presidential election. With the initial support of evangelical Christian voters in the South, Carter was temporarily able to reunite the disparate factions within the party, but inflation and the Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979–1980 took their toll, resulting in a landslide victory for Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan in 1980, which shifted the political landscape in favor of the Republicans for years to come. The influx of conservative Democrats into the Republican Party is often cited as a reason for the Republican Party's shift further to the right during the late 20th century as well as the shift of its base from the Northeast and Midwest to the South.{{Cite journal |last1=Smyth |first1=David J. |last2=Taylor |first2=Susan Washburn |year=1992 |title=Why Do the Republicans Win the White House More Often than the Democrats? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27550992 |journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=481–491 |jstor=27550992 |issn=0360-4918 |access-date=January 19, 2023 |archive-date=January 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119034446/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27550992 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Jr |first=R. W. Apple |date=July 12, 1992 |title=Donkey's Years; Is There Room At the Top For Democrats? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/12/weekinreview/donkey-s-years-is-there-room-at-the-top-for-democrats.html |access-date=January 19, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119034446/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/12/weekinreview/donkey-s-years-is-there-room-at-the-top-for-democrats.html |url-status=live}}

File:Bill Clinton.jpg, the 42nd president (1993–2001)]]

With the ascendancy of the Republicans under Ronald Reagan, the Democrats searched for ways to respond yet were unable to succeed by running traditional candidates, such as former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, who lost to Reagan and George H.W. Bush in the 1984 and 1988 presidential elections, respectively. Many Democrats attached their hopes to the future star of Gary Hart, who had challenged Mondale in the 1984 primaries running on a theme of "New Ideas"; and in the subsequent 1988 primaries became the de facto front-runner and virtual "shoo-in" for the Democratic presidential nomination before a sex scandal ended his campaign. The party nevertheless began to seek out a younger generation of leaders, who like Hart had been inspired by the pragmatic idealism of John F. Kennedy.James T. Patterson, Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush v. Gore (2011).

Arkansas governor Bill Clinton was one such figure, who was elected president in 1992 as the Democratic nominee. The Democratic Leadership Council was a campaign organization connected to Clinton that advocated a realignment and triangulation under the re-branded "New Democrat" label.{{Cite web |last=Geismer |first=Lily |date=June 11, 2019 |title=Democrats and neoliberalism |url=https://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2019/6/11/18660240/democrats-neoliberalism |access-date=November 5, 2022 |website=Vox |language=en |quote=The version of neoliberalism embedded in these policies understood a distinct role for government to stimulate market-oriented solutions to address social ills such as unemployment and poverty. It thereby aimed not to eradicate the welfare state but rather to reformulate it. It extended the importance of poverty alleviation, which had long served as a benchmark of liberal policy, and had many similarities with the basic ideas of the war on poverty. |archive-date=November 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105045200/https://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2019/6/11/18660240/democrats-neoliberalism |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |last=Hale |first=Jon F. |year=1995 |title=The Making of the New Democrats |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2152360 |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=110 |issue=2 |pages=207–232 |doi=10.2307/2152360 |jstor=2152360 |issn=0032-3195 |access-date=August 24, 2022 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212194604/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2152360 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Wills |first=Garry |date=January 19, 1997 |title=The Clinton Principle |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/19/magazine/the-clinton-principle.html |access-date=August 24, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824024151/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/19/magazine/the-clinton-principle.html |url-status=live}} The party adopted a synthesis of neoliberal economic policies with cultural liberalism, with the voter base after Reagan having shifted considerably to the right. In an effort to appeal both to liberals and to fiscal conservatives, Democrats began to advocate for a balanced budget and market economy tempered by government intervention (mixed economy), along with a continued emphasis on social justice and affirmative action. The economic policy adopted by the Democratic Party, including the former Clinton administration, has been referred to as "Third Way".

The Democrats lost control of Congress in the 1994 elections to the Republicans, however, in 1996 Clinton was re-elected, becoming the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win a second full term.Patterson. Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush v. Gore (2011). Clinton's vice president Al Gore ran to succeed him as president, and won the popular vote, but after a controversial election dispute over a Florida recount settled by the U.S. Supreme Court (which ruled 5–4 in favor of Bush), he lost the 2000 election to Republican opponent George W. Bush in the Electoral College.{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html|title=George W. Bush, et al., Petitioners v. Albert Gore, Jr., et al., 531 U.S. 98 (2000)|access-date=June 26, 2010|author=Supreme Court of the US|date=December 12, 2000|publisher=Cornell Law School|archive-date=October 15, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015060335/https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html|url-status=live}}

File:President Barack Obama.jpg, the 44th president (2009–2017)]]

In the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as well as the growing concern over global warming, some of the party's key issues in the early 21st century have included combating terrorism while preserving human rights, expanding access to health care, labor rights, and environmental protection. Democrats regained majority control of both the House and the Senate in the 2006 elections. Barack Obama won the Democratic Party's nomination and was elected as the first African American president in 2008. Under the Obama presidency, the party moved forward reforms including an economic stimulus package, the Dodd–Frank financial reform act, and the Affordable Care Act.{{cite news|last1=Lerer|first1=Lisa|title=No Congress Since 1960s Has Impact on Public as 111th|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-12-22/no-congress-since-1960s-makes-most-laws-for-americans-as-111th|access-date=April 20, 2016|publisher=Bloomberg L.P.|date=December 22, 2010|archive-date=March 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329224729/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-12-22/no-congress-since-1960s-makes-most-laws-for-americans-as-111th|url-status=live}}

In the 2010 midterm elections, the Democratic Party lost control of the House as well as its majorities in several state legislatures and governorships. The 2010 elections also marked the end of the Democratic Party's electoral dominance in the Southern United States.

In the 2012 elections, President Obama was re-elected, but the party remained in the minority in the House of Representatives and lost control of the Senate in the 2014 midterm elections. After the 2016 election of Donald Trump, who lost the popular vote to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party transitioned into the role of an opposition party and held neither the presidency nor Congress for two years.{{cite journal|title=The revolt of the Rust Belt: place and politics in the age of anger|journal=The British Journal of Sociology|volume=68|issue=S1|pages=S120–S152|first=Michael|last=McQuarrie|date=November 8, 2017|doi=10.1111/1468-4446.12328|pmid=29114874|s2cid=26010609 |doi-access=free|quote=Today, the Democratic Party is a party of professionals, minorities and the New Economy.}} However, the party won back the House in the 2018 midterm elections under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi.

Democrats were extremely critical of President Trump, particularly his policies on immigration, healthcare, and abortion, as well as his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite news|last=York|first=David Smith Molly Redden in New|date=April 1, 2016|title=Donald Trump's abortion remarks provoke biggest crisis of his campaign|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/31/donald-trump-abortion-remarks-biggest-campaign-crisis |access-date=June 29, 2020|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=July 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729191734/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/31/donald-trump-abortion-remarks-biggest-campaign-crisis|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=McCormick|first=Stephanie Armour and John|date=March 14, 2020|title=Democrats Sharpen Criticism of Trump's Health-Care Policy in Coronavirus Pandemic|language=en-US|work=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/democrats-sharpen-criticism-of-trumps-health-care-policy-in-coronavirus-pandemic-11584195089 |access-date=June 29, 2020|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=July 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729182405/https://www.wsj.com/articles/democrats-sharpen-criticism-of-trumps-health-care-policy-in-coronavirus-pandemic-11584195089|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Trump WHO decision draws criticism from Democrats in US Congress|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/trump-decision-draws-criticism-democrats-congress-200415184644345.html |access-date=June 29, 2020|publisher=Al Jazeera |archive-date=July 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729193902/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/trump-decision-draws-criticism-democrats-congress-200415184644345.html|url-status=live}} In December 2019, Democrats in the House of Representatives impeached Trump, although he was acquitted in the Republican-controlled Senate.{{Cite news |last1=Ewing |first1=Philip |date=February 5, 2020 |title='Not Guilty': Trump Acquitted On 2 Articles Of Impeachment As Historic Trial Closes |language=en |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/02/05/801429948/not-guilty-trump-acquitted-on-2-articles-of-impeachment-as-historic-trial-closes |access-date=February 8, 2021 |archive-date=February 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206152432/https://www.npr.org/2020/02/05/801429948/not-guilty-trump-acquitted-on-2-articles-of-impeachment-as-historic-trial-closes |url-status=live}}

File:Joe Biden presidential portrait.jpg, the 46th president (2021–2025)]]

In November 2020, Democrat Joe Biden defeated Trump to win the 2020 presidential election.{{Cite web |date=November 7, 2020 |title=Biden defeats Trump for White House, says 'time to heal' |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-wins-white-house-ap-fd58df73aa677acb74fce2a69adb71f9 |access-date=November 7, 2020 |website=AP NEWS |archive-date=November 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117190428/https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-wins-white-house-ap-fd58df73aa677acb74fce2a69adb71f9 |url-status=live}} After Trump attempted to challenge the election, He began his term with a extremely narrow Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate.{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Jonathan |last2=Fausset |first2=Richard |last3=Epstein |first3=Reid J. |date=January 6, 2021 |title=Georgia Highlights: Democrats Win the Senate as Ossoff Defeats Perdue |website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/georgia-election-results |access-date=January 11, 2021 |archive-date=January 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107140603/https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/georgia-election-results |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |title=U.S. House Election Results |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |date=November 3, 2020 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-house.html |access-date=February 8, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220074106/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-house.html |url-status=live}} During the Biden presidency, the party had been characterized as adopting an increasingly progressive economic agenda.{{Cite journal |last1=Hacker |first1=Jacob S. |last2=Malpas |first2=Amelia |last3=Pierson |first3=Paul |last4=Zacher |first4=Sam |year=2024 |title=Bridging the Blue Divide: The Democrats' New Metro Coalition and the Unexpected Prominence of Redistribution |journal=Perspectives on Politics |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=609–629 |language=en |doi=10.1017/S1537592723002931 |issn=1537-5927 |doi-access=free}} In 2022, Biden appointed Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. However, she was replacing liberal justice Stephen Breyer, thus she did not alter the court's 6–3 split between conservatives (the majority) and liberals.{{Cite news |last=Fritze |first=John |date=March 6, 2022 |title=Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson would add another Protestant voice to heavily Catholic Supreme Court |url=https://news.yahoo.com/judge-ketanji-brown-jackson-add-100016272.html |publisher=Yahoo! News |language=en-US |access-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630163930/https://news.yahoo.com/judge-ketanji-brown-jackson-add-100016272.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=de Vogue |first=Ariane |date=June 30, 2022 |title=Ketanji Brown Jackson to join a Supreme Court in turmoil |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/29/politics/ketanji-brown-jackson-fractured-supreme-court/index.html |publisher=CNN |access-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-date=June 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629222838/https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/29/politics/ketanji-brown-jackson-fractured-supreme-court/index.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=June 30, 2022 |title=Watch Live: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as first Black woman on Supreme Court |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-judge-ketanji-brown-jackson-sworn-in-as-first-black-woman-on-supreme-court |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-US |access-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-date=June 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630145216/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-judge-ketanji-brown-jackson-sworn-in-as-first-black-woman-on-supreme-court |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as first Black woman on US top court |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62003518.amp |website=BBC News |date=June 30, 2022 |access-date=July 1, 2022 |archive-date=July 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701024904/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62003518.amp |url-status=live }} After Dobbs v. Jackson (decided June 24, 2022), which led to abortion bans in much of the country, the Democratic Party rallied behind abortion rights.

In the 2022 midterm elections, Democrats dramatically outperformed historical trends and a widely anticipated red wave did not materialize.{{cite news |last=Tumulty |first=Karen |date=November 9, 2022 |title=The expected red wave looks more like a puddle |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/09/no-red-wave-midterm-outcome-analysis/ |access-date=November 10, 2022 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=November 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112060937/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/09/no-red-wave-midterm-outcome-analysis/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Blake |first=Aaron |date=November 10, 2022 |title=How bad the 2022 election was for the GOP, historically speaking |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/10/republican-losses-2022-midterms/ |access-date=November 13, 2022 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=February 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219205348/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/10/republican-losses-2022-midterms/ |url-status=live }} The party only narrowly lost its majority in the U.S. House and expanded its majority in the U.S. Senate,{{cite web |last=Kinery |first=Emma |date=November 9, 2022 |title=Midterm results are looking increasingly sunny for Biden as he touts 'strong night' for Democrats |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/09/midterm-election-results-look-better-for-biden-as-democrats-avoid-red-wave.html |access-date=November 10, 2022 |publisher=CNBC |archive-date=November 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109235327/https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/09/midterm-election-results-look-better-for-biden-as-democrats-avoid-red-wave.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Enten |first=Harry |date=November 13, 2022 |title=How Joe Biden and the Democratic Party defied midterm history |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/13/politics/democrats-biden-midterm-elections-senate-house/index.html |access-date=November 28, 2022 |publisher=CNN |archive-date=November 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128185931/https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/13/politics/democrats-biden-midterm-elections-senate-house/index.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Crampton |first=Liz |date=November 9, 2022 |title=Democrats take legislatures in Michigan, Minnesota and eye Pennsylvania |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/09/democrats-take-legislatures-00065953 |access-date=November 10, 2022 |website=Politico |archive-date=January 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105195034/https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/09/democrats-take-legislatures-00065953 |url-status=live }} along with several gains at the state level.[https://www.ncsl.org/about-state-legislatures/state-partisan-composition "State Partisan Composition,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704082911/https://www.ncsl.org/about-state-legislatures/state-partisan-composition |date=July 4, 2023 }} May 23, 2023, National Conference of State Legislatures. Retrieved July 4, 2023[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/18/us/democrats-michigan-minnesota-maryland.html "Statehouse Democrats Embrace an Unfamiliar Reality: Full Power,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605070246/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/18/us/democrats-michigan-minnesota-maryland.html |date=June 5, 2023 }} January 18, 2023, New York Times, retrieved July 4, 2023Associated Press: [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/midterm-election-trifectas-democrats-won-full-government-control-these-states "Midterm election trifectas: Democrats won full government control in these states,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704090351/https://www.foxnews.com/politics/midterm-election-trifectas-democrats-won-full-government-control-these-states |date=July 4, 2023 }} November 10, 2022, Fox News, retrieved July 4, 2023Cronin, Tom and Bob Loevy: [https://gazette.com/news/american-federalism-states-veer-far-left-or-far-right-cronin-and-loevy/article_47b241d8-1604-11ee-a860-3383285a990d.html "American federalism: States veer far left or far right,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704082911/https://gazette.com/news/american-federalism-states-veer-far-left-or-far-right-cronin-and-loevy/article_47b241d8-1604-11ee-a860-3383285a990d.html |date=July 4, 2023 }}, July 1, 2023, updated July 2, 2023, Colorado Springs Gazette, retrieved July 4, 2023

In July 2024, after a series of age and health concerns, Biden became the first incumbent president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 to withdraw from running for reelection, the first since the 19th century to withdraw after serving only one term,{{efn|All three incumbents in the 20th century to withdraw or not seek reelection—Calvin Coolidge, Harry S. Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson—had succeeded to the presidency when their predecessor died, then won a second term in their own right. Three presidents in the 1800s made and kept pledges to serve only one term, most recently Rutherford B. Hayes.{{cite news |last1=Gendler |first1=Alex |title=US presidents who did not seek reelection |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/us-presidents-who-did-not-seek-reelection/7709836.html |publisher=Voice of America |date=July 23, 2024 |language=en |access-date=July 24, 2024 |archive-date=July 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240724054720/https://www.voanews.com/a/us-presidents-who-did-not-seek-reelection/7709836.html |url-status=live }}}} and the only one to ever withdraw after already winning the primaries.{{cite news |last1=Klassen |first1=Thomas |title=Biden steps aside, setting in motion an unprecedented period in American politics |url=https://theconversation.com/biden-steps-aside-setting-in-motion-an-unprecedented-period-in-american-politics-235189 |access-date=July 24, 2024 |work=The Conversation |date=July 21, 2024 |archive-date=July 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240722044605/https://theconversation.com/biden-steps-aside-setting-in-motion-an-unprecedented-period-in-american-politics-235189 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Kenning |first1=Chris |last2=Samuelsohn |first2=Darren |title='It's unprecedented': Biden's exit is a history-making moment in the American presidency |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/22/biden-drops-out-presidential-history/74491426007/ |access-date=July 23, 2024 |work=USA Today |archive-date=July 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240725003155/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/22/biden-drops-out-presidential-history/74491426007/ |url-status=live }}

Vice President Kamala Harris—who became Biden's replacement on the ballot after his withdrawal from the race—became the first black woman to be nominated by a major party, but she was defeated in the 2024 election by Donald Trump. Harris lost the electoral college 312–226 (including all seven of the anticipated swing states) as well as the popular vote, becoming the first Democratic candidate to do so since John Kerry in 2004, amid what was a global anti-incumbent backlash.{{cite news |last=Burn-Murdoch |first=John |date=November 7, 2024 |title=Democrats join 2024's graveyard of incumbents |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e8ac09ea-c300-4249-af7d-109003afb893 |access-date=November 8, 2024 |work=Financial Times}}{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/538/democrats-incumbent-parties-lost-elections-world/story?id=115972068|title=Democrats aren't alone — incumbent parties have lost elections all around the world|website=ABC News|first1=Cooper|last1=Burton|date=November 18, 2024|access-date=November 20, 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/world/global-politics-conservative-right-shift-ea0e8d05|title=The Progressive Moment in Global Politics is Over|date=December 27, 2024|access-date=December 27, 2024|first1=Bertrand|last1=Benoit|first2=David|last2=Luhnow|first3=Vipal|last3=Monga|website=The Wall Street Journal|quote=Weak economic growth and record immigration are driving gains by the right, especially populists.}}{{cite web |last1=Burn-Murdoch |first1=John |title=Trump broke the Democrats' thermostat |url=https://www.ft.com/content/73a1836d-0faa-4c84-b973-554e2ca3a227 |website=Financial Times |access-date=November 15, 2024 |date=November 15, 2024}}

As of 2025, Democrats hold 23 state governorships, 17 state legislatures, 15 state government trifectas, and the mayorships in the majority of the country's major cities.{{Cite web |url=https://www.worldpress.org/article.cfm/mayors-of-the-30-largest-cities-in-the-united-states |title=Mayors of the 30 Largest Cities in the U.S. |access-date=July 11, 2023 |archive-date=July 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230711234205/https://www.worldpress.org/article.cfm/mayors-of-the-30-largest-cities-in-the-united-states |url-status=live}} Three of the nine current U.S. Supreme Court justices were appointed by Democratic presidents. By registered members, the Democratic Party is the largest party in the U.S. and the fourth largest in the world. All totaled, 16 Democrats have served as president of the United States.{{cite book |last=Arnold |first=N. Scott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xGNRRwkZFysC |title=Imposing values: an essay on liberalism and regulation |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780495501121 |page=3 |quote=Modern liberalism occupies the left-of-center in the traditional political spectrum and is represented by the Democratic Party in the United States. |access-date=April 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002180929/https://books.google.com/books?id=xGNRRwkZFysC&hl=en |archive-date=October 2, 2020}}

{{split portions|portions=mascots|talk=Talk:Political parties in the United States#Article on party mascots|date=August 2024}}

{{multiple image

| align = right

| direction = vertical

| width = 150

| image1 = Democraticjackass.jpg

| caption1 = "A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion" by Thomas Nast, Harper's Weekly, January 19, 1870

| image2 = DemocraticLogo.svg

| caption2 = The donkey party logo remains a well-known symbol for the Democratic Party despite not being the official logo of the party.

| image3 = US Democratic Party Logo.svg

| caption3 = In use since 2010, the letter "D" enclosed in a circle has been one of the Democratic Party's main symbols.

}}

The Democratic-Republican Party splintered in 1824 into the short-lived National Republican Party and the Jacksonian movement which in 1828 became the Democratic Party. Under the Jacksonian era, the term "The Democracy" was in use by the party, but the name "Democratic Party" was eventually settled upon{{cite book|author=Appleby, Joyce|title=Thomas Jefferson|year=2003|page=4|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-64841-7|author-link=Joyce Appleby|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6rOu3WYEiiQC|access-date=April 28, 2020|archive-date=October 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002180948/https://books.google.com/books?id=6rOu3WYEiiQC&hl=en|url-status=live}} and became the official name in 1844.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/157244/Democratic-Party/308570/Slavery-and-the-emergence-of-the-bipartisan-system|title=Democratic Party|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=January 19, 2015|archive-date=February 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217133844/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/157244/Democratic-Party/308570/Slavery-and-the-emergence-of-the-bipartisan-system|url-status=live}} Members of the party are called "Democrats" or "Dems".

The most common mascot symbol for the party has been the donkey, or jackass.see [https://web.archive.org/web/20090307093800/https://www.democrats.org/a/2005/06/history_of_the.php "History of the Democratic Donkey"] Andrew Jackson's enemies twisted his name to "jackass" as a term of ridicule regarding a stupid and stubborn animal. However, the Democrats liked the common-man implications and picked it up too, therefore the image persisted and evolved.{{cite book|author=John William Ward|title=Andrew Jackson: Symbol for an Age|url=https://archive.org/details/andrewjacksonsym0000ward|url-access=registration|year=1962|publisher=Oxford Up|pages=[https://archive.org/details/andrewjacksonsym0000ward/page/87 87]–88|isbn=9780199923205}} Its most lasting impression came from the cartoons of Thomas Nast from 1870 in Harper's Weekly. Cartoonists followed Nast and used the donkey to represent the Democrats and the elephant to represent the Republicans.

File:Alabama Democrats logo 1904-1996.jpg, 1904–1966 (left) and 1966–1996 (right){{Cite news|url=https://archive.org/details/RacistDemocraticPartyLogo|title=Loyalist Faction Wins; 'White Supremacy' Goes|last=Ingram|first=Bob|date=January 21, 1966|work=Birmingham News|access-date=July 22, 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MXw0AAAAIBAJ&pg=2082%2C1717940|title=Bad symbol removed|date=March 14, 1996|work=Times Daily|access-date=July 22, 2017|page=7B|archive-date=May 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531190400/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MXw0AAAAIBAJ&pg=2082%2C1717940|url-status=live}}]]

In the early 20th century, the traditional symbol of the Democratic Party in Indiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Ohio was the rooster, as opposed to the Republican eagle.{{cite web|title=Barbour County, West Virginia General Election Ballot|date=November 4, 2008|url=http://www.wvsos.com/elections/ballots/barbourgen.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024032144/https://www.wvsos.com/elections/ballots/barbourgen.pdf|archive-date=October 24, 2008}} The rooster was also adopted as an official symbol of the national Democratic Party.{{cite web|url=http://www.ithaca.edu/rhp/programs/cmd/blogs/posters_and_election_propaganda/the_rooster_as_the_symbol_of_the_u.s._democratic_p/|title=The Rooster as the Symbol of the U.S. Democratic Party|first=Steven|last= Seidman| publisher=Ithaca College|date=June 12, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024043133/http://www.ithaca.edu/rhp/programs/cmd/blogs/posters_and_election_propaganda/the_rooster_as_the_symbol_of_the_u.s._democratic_p/|

archive-date=October 24, 2017}} In 1904, the Alabama Democratic Party chose, as the logo to put on its ballots, a rooster with the motto "White supremacy – For the right."{{Cite news|url=https://www.snopes.com/dem-party-logo-white-supremacy/|title=FACT CHECK: Did a State Democratic Party Logo Once Feature the Slogan 'White Supremacy'?|date=September 25, 2017|work=Snopes.com|access-date=December 9, 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=September 13, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913230553/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dem-party-logo-white-supremacy/|url-status=live}} The words "White supremacy" were replaced with "Democrats" in 1966.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19660123&id=63VPAAAAIBAJ&pg=3996,5100480|title=Alabama Democratic Party Strikes 'White Supremacy' From Its Motto|date=January 23, 1966|work=Ocala Star-Banner|access-date=July 22, 2017|agency=Associated Press|page=1|archive-date=November 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128030021/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19660123&id=63VPAAAAIBAJ&pg=3996,5100480|url-status=live}} In 1996, the Alabama Democratic Party dropped the rooster, citing racist and white supremacist connotations linked with the symbol. The rooster symbol still appears on Oklahoma, Kentucky, Indiana, and West Virginia ballots. In New York, the Democratic ballot symbol is a five-pointed star.{{cite web|title=Poor Ballot Design Hurts New York's Minor Parties{{nbsp}}... Again|publisher=Brennan Center for Justice|first=Tomas|last=Lopez|date=October 23, 2014|url=https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/poor-ballot-design-hurts-new-yorks-minor-parties-again|access-date=February 6, 2017|archive-date=February 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207031521/https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/poor-ballot-design-hurts-new-yorks-minor-parties-again|url-status=dead}}

Although both major political parties (and many minor ones) use the traditional American colors of red, white, and blue in their marketing and representations, since election night 2000 blue has become the identifying color for the Democratic Party while red has become the identifying color for the Republican Party. That night, for the first time all major broadcast television networks used the same color scheme for the electoral map: blue states for Al Gore (Democratic nominee) and red states for George W. Bush (Republican nominee). Since then, the color blue has been widely used by the media to represent the party. This is contrary to common practice outside of the United States where blue is the traditional color of the right and red the color of the left.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17079-2004Nov1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509144731/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17079-2004Nov1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 9, 2008|title=Elephants Are Red, Donkeys Are Blue|last=Farhi|first=Paul|date=November 2, 2004|newspaper=The Washington Post|page=C01|access-date=October 11, 2016}}

In 2025, a new logo was introduced, which incorporates a white donkey facing to the right instead of the left, with three blue stars in the center instead of four, on a blue background. The modified donkey design has been characterized by some as resembling a piñata.{{cite news |last1=Foley |first1=Joe |title=People are mocking the Democrat's new logo, but a rebrand was needed |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/people-bashing-democrats-logo-rebrand-080716192.html |agency=Yahoo! News |date=March 16, 2025}}

Jefferson-Jackson Day is the annual fundraising event (dinner) held by Democratic Party organizations across the United States.{{cite news|first=Bill|last=Trotter|title=Obama sets sights on November battle|newspaper=Bangor Daily News|date=February 11, 2008|url=http://www.bangornews.com/news/t/city.aspx?articleid=160039&zoneid=176|access-date=February 12, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228050855/http://www.bangornews.com/news/t/city.aspx?articleid=160039&zoneid=176|archive-date=February 28, 2008}} It is named after Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, whom the party regards as its distinguished early leaders.

The song "Happy Days Are Here Again" is the unofficial song of the Democratic Party. It was used prominently when Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for president at the 1932 Democratic National Convention and remains a sentimental favorite for Democrats. For example, Paul Shaffer played the theme on the Late Show with David Letterman after the Democrats won Congress in 2006. "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac was adopted by Bill Clinton's presidential campaign in 1992 and has endured as a popular Democratic song. The emotionally similar song "Beautiful Day" by the band U2 has also become a favorite theme song for Democratic candidates. John Kerry used the song during his 2004 presidential campaign and several Democratic congressional candidates used it as a celebratory tune in 2006.{{cite news|first=Michael|last=Gruss|title=Local roast becomes political pep rally for Democrats|newspaper=The Virginian-Pilot|date=November 21, 2006|url=http://hamptonroads.com/node/185421|access-date=April 15, 2007|archive-date=February 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225035614/http://hamptonroads.com/node/185421|url-status=live}}{{cite news|first=Michael|last=Scherer|title=The Democrats are ready to lead|work=Salon.com|date=November 8, 2006|url=https://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/11/08/pelosi/|access-date=March 18, 2007|archive-date=August 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090811050908/http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/11/08/pelosi/|url-status=live}}

As a traditional anthem for its presidential nominating convention, Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" is traditionally performed at the beginning of the Democratic National Convention.

File:Democratic National Headquarters (53832041544).jpg

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is responsible for promoting Democratic campaign activities. While the DNC is responsible for overseeing the process of writing the Democratic Platform, the DNC is more focused on campaign and organizational strategy than public policy. In presidential elections, it supervises the Democratic National Convention. The national convention is subject to the charter of the party and the ultimate authority within the Democratic Party when it is in session, with the DNC running the party's organization at other times. Since 2021, the DNC has been chaired by Jaime Harrison.{{cite news |last1=Schneider |first1=Avie |title=DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison Wants To Build The 'Next Generation' Of Democratic Talent |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/01/22/959573611/dnc-chairman-jaime-harrison-wants-to-build-the-next-generation-of-democratic-tal |access-date=January 22, 2021 |publisher=NPR |date=January 22, 2021 |archive-date=February 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220202101/https://www.npr.org/2021/01/22/959573611/dnc-chairman-jaime-harrison-wants-to-build-the-next-generation-of-democratic-tal |url-status=live }}

{{main|List of state parties of the Democratic Party (United States)}}

Each state also has a state committee, made up of elected committee members as well as ex officio committee members (usually elected officials and representatives of major constituencies), which in turn elects a chair. County, town, city, and ward committees generally are composed of individuals elected at the local level. State and local committees often coordinate campaign activities within their jurisdiction, oversee local conventions, and in some cases primaries or caucuses, and may have a role in nominating candidates for elected office under state law. Rarely do they have much direct funding, but in 2005 DNC Chairman Dean began a program (called the "50 State Strategy") of using DNC national funds to assist all state parties and pay for full-time professional staffers.{{cite news|last=Gilgoff|first=Dan|title=Dean's List|date=July 16, 2006|url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060716/24dems.htm|work=U.S. News & World Report|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709100930/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060716/24dems.htm|archive-date=July 9, 2012|access-date=April 26, 2007|url-status=dead}}

In addition, state-level party committees operate in the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and Virgin Islands, the commonwealths of Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, with all but Puerto Rico being active in nominating candidates for both presidential and territorial contests, while Puerto Rico's Democratic Party is organized only to nominate presidential candidates. The Democrats Abroad committee is organized by American voters who reside outside of U.S. territory to nominate presidential candidates. All such party committees are accorded recognition as state parties and are allowed to elect both members to the National Committee as well as delegates to the National Convention.

File:Barack Obama Speaks to College Democrats.jpg

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) assists party candidates in House races and is chaired by Representative Suzan DelBene of Washington. Similarly, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), chaired by Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, raises funds for Senate races. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), chaired by Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Andrea Stewart-Cousins, is a smaller organization that focuses on state legislative races. The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) is an organization supporting the candidacies of Democratic gubernatorial nominees and incumbents. Likewise, the mayors of the largest cities and urban centers convene as the National Conference of Democratic Mayors.{{cite web |title=Home |url=http://www.democraticmayors.org/ |website=National Conference of Democratic Mayors |access-date=March 21, 2020 |archive-date=October 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002181004/https://www.democraticmayors.org/ |url-status=live}}

The DNC sponsors the College Democrats of America (CDA), a student-outreach organization with the goal of training and engaging a new generation of Democratic activists. Democrats Abroad is the organization for Americans living outside the United States. They work to advance the party's goals and encourage Americans living abroad to support the Democrats. The Young Democrats of America (YDA) and the High School Democrats of America (HSDA) are young adult and youth-led organizations respectively that attempt to draw in and mobilize young people for Democratic candidates but operates outside of the DNC.

{{main|Political positions of the Democratic Party (United States)}}

File:US real median household income 1967 - 2011.PNG by race: 1967 to 2011, in 2011 dollars.{{cite book|first1=Carmen|last1=DeNavas-Walt|first2=Bernadette D.|last2=Proctor|first3=Jessica C.|last3=Smith|date=September 2012|chapter=Real Median Household Income by Race and Hispanic Origin: 1967 to 2010|page=8|title=Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2011|chapter-url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p60-243.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p60-243.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|publisher=United States Census Bureau}}]]

The 21st century Democratic Party differs from other center-left parties around the world in its ideological orientation, in part due to its heterogenous demographic composition. In particular, the Democratic Party's ideology derives from being supported by both racial minorities, particularly African Americans, as well as White voters with high educational attainment.

This makes the Democratic Party different, because it is a big tent party, neither a classically liberal nor a social democratic party ideologically. Its voting demographics are heavily educationally and racially-polarized, but not income polarized. The Democratic Party is weakest among White voters without college degrees in the 21st century.{{cite magazine|last1=Cohn|first1=Nate|date=June 11, 2012|title=Obama's Problem With White, Non-College Educated Voters is Getting Worse|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/103969/obamas-problem-white-non-college-educated-voters-getting-worse|magazine=The New Republic|access-date=February 13, 2017}} Higher educational attainment is strongly correlated with higher income and wealth, and also strongly correlated with increased ideological support for the Democratic Party's positions among White voters.{{Cite web|url=https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/can-democrats-win-back-the-white-working-class/|title=Can Democrats Win Back the White Working Class?|website=Sabato's Crystal Ball|first1=Alan I.|last1=Abramowitz|date=September 23, 2021|access-date=February 7, 2022|quote=The data in Table 3 show that ideology had a powerful influence on vote choice in the 2020 presidential election. Almost all white voters located to the left of center on the ideology scale, regardless of education, voted for Biden, while almost all white voters located to the right of center, regardless of education, voted for Trump. Those in the center, just over one-fifth of white voters, favored Biden overall by a margin of 57% to 43%. However, there is little evidence that economic insecurity had any impact on the candidate preferences of even this group. Finally, it is worth noting that after controlling for ideology, there is almost no remaining difference between the candidate preferences of college and non-college whites. The class divide in candidate preference among white voters in 2020 is almost entirely explained by the fact that non-college white voters are now far more conservative across the board than are white college graduates.}}

This derives in part from unique regional characteristics of the United States, particularly the Southern United States. Racial polarization is extremely high in the Southern United States, with Black Southerners almost entirely voting for the Democratic Party, and White Southerners almost entirely voting for the Republican Party.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/upshot/southern-whites-loyalty-to-gop-nearing-that-of-blacks-to-democrats.html|title=Southern Whites' Loyalty to GOP Nearing that of Blacks to Democrats|first1=Nate|last1=Cohn|website=The New York Times|date=April 23, 2014|quote=President Obama’s landslide victory in 2008 was supposed to herald the beginning of a new Democratic era. And yet, six years later, there is not even a clear Democratic majority in the country, let alone one poised for 30 years of dominance. It’s not because Mr. Obama’s so-called new coalition of young and nonwhite voters failed to live up to its potential. They again turned out in record numbers in 2012. The Democratic majority has failed to materialize because the Republicans made large, countervailing and unappreciated gains of their own among white Southerners.}} Also, White Southerners with college degrees are strongly Republican, unlike in most of the rest of the country. African Americans continue to have the lowest incomes of any racial group in the United States.

The Democratic Party's contemporary liberalism has its origins in the Puritans of New England, with their emphasis on education and science dating back to the colonial era and the Scientific Revolution. This liberalism is older than the classical liberalism or social democracy of the 19th century.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eBLst8a8uYYC|title=The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science|last=Harrison|first=Peter|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521000963|access-date=September 5, 2016|archive-date=April 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404154022/https://books.google.com/books?id=eBLst8a8uYYC|url-status=live}}

The Democratic party's social positions derive from those of the New Left, that is cultural liberalism. These include feminism, LGBT rights, drug policy reforms, and environmentalism.{{cite book |last1=Carmines |first1=Edward G. |author1-link=Edward Carmines |last2=Layman |first2=Geoffrey C. |date=1997 |chapter=Issue Evolution in Postwar American Politics |editor-last=Shafer |editor-first=Byron |title=Present Discontents |location=NJ |publisher=Chatham House Publishers |isbn=978-1-56643-050-0 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/presentdisconten0000shaf/page/89/mode/2up |pages=92–93}}{{cite book |first=Cynthia |last=Kaufman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3nJUwFqRLTwC&pg=PA275 |title=Ideas for Action: Relevant Theory for Radical Change |isbn=978-0-89608-693-7 |year=2003 |publisher=South End Press |via=Google Books}}{{cite book |last1=Gitlin |first1=Todd |author1-link=Todd Gitlin |chapter=The Left's Lost Universalism |editor1-last=Melzer |editor1-first=Arthur M. |editor2-last=Weinberger |editor2-first=Jerry |editor3-last=Zinman |editor3-first=M. Richard |title=Politics at the Turn of the Century |pages=3–26 |location=Lanham, MD |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |date=2001}}{{cite journal |first=Grant |last=Farred |author-link=Grant Farred |year=2000 |title=Endgame Identity? Mapping the New Left Roots of Identity Politics |journal=New Literary History |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=627–48 |jstor=20057628 |doi=10.1353/nlh.2000.0045 |s2cid=144650061}} The party's platform favors a generous welfare state and a greater measure of social and economic equality.Larry E. Sullivan. The SAGE glossary of the social and behavioral sciences (2009). p. 291: "This liberalism favors a generous welfare state and a greater measure of social and economic equality. Liberty thus exists when all citizens have access to basic necessities such as education, healthcare, and economic opportunities." On social issues, it advocates for the continued legality of abortion, the legalization of marijuana, and LGBT rights.

The social safety net and strong labor unions have been at the heart of Democratic economic policy since the New Deal in the 1930s. The Democratic Party's economic policy positions, as measured by votes in Congress, tend to align with those of the middle class.{{Cite journal |last1=Grossmann |first1=Matt |last2=Mahmood |first2=Zuhaib |last3=Isaac |first3=William |date=October 1, 2021 |title=Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Unequal Class Influence in American Policy |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/711900 |journal=The Journal of Politics |language=en |volume=83 |issue=4 |pages=1706–1720 |doi=10.1086/711900 |s2cid=224851520 |issn=0022-3816 |access-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-date=October 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029170940/https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/711900 |url-status=live}}{{Cite book|last=Bartels|first=Larry M.|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/64558|title=Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age – Second Edition|date=2016|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-8336-3|access-date=November 5, 2021|archive-date=November 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105222439/https://muse.jhu.edu/book/64558|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last1=Rhodes|first1=Jesse H.|last2=Schaffner|first2=Brian F.|year=2017|title=Testing Models of Unequal Representation: Democratic Populists and Republican Oligarchs?|url=http://www.nowpublishers.com/article/Details/QJPS-16077|journal=Quarterly Journal of Political Science|volume=12|issue=2|pages=185–204|doi=10.1561/100.00016077|access-date=November 5, 2021|archive-date=October 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029183431/https://www.nowpublishers.com/article/Details/QJPS-16077|url-status=live | issn = 1554-0626 }}{{Cite journal|last1=Lax|first1=Jeffrey R.|last2=Phillips|first2=Justin H.|last3=Zelizer|first3=Adam|year=2019|title=The Party or the Purse? Unequal Representation in the US Senate|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/abs/party-or-the-purse-unequal-representation-in-the-us-senate/286BFEAA039374759DE14D782A0BB8DD|journal=American Political Science Review|language=en|volume=113|issue=4|pages=917–940|doi=10.1017/S0003055419000315|s2cid=21669533|issn=0003-0554|access-date=November 5, 2021|archive-date=October 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029000457/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/abs/party-or-the-purse-unequal-representation-in-the-us-senate/286BFEAA039374759DE14D782A0BB8DD|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|last1=Hacker|first1=Jacob S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kqu6DwAAQBAJ|title=Let them Eat Tweets: How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality|last2=Pierson|first2=Paul|date=2020|publisher=Liveright Publishing|isbn=978-1-63149-685-1|language=en}} Democrats support a progressive tax system, higher minimum wages, equal opportunity employment, Social Security, universal health care, public education, and subsidized housing. They also support infrastructure development and clean energy investments to achieve economic development and job creation.{{cite web|url=http://www.democrats.org/issues/economy_and_job_creation|title=Jobs and the Economy|work=Democrats.org|access-date=July 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320195530/http://www.democrats.org/issues/economy_and_job_creation|archive-date=March 20, 2015|url-status=dead}}

Since the 1990s, the party has at times supported centrist economic reforms that cut the size of government and reduced market regulations.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/19/wall-street-deregulation-clinton-advisers-obama|title=Wall Street deregulation pushed by Clinton advisers, documents reveal|first=Dan|last=Roberts|newspaper=The Guardian |date=April 19, 2014|access-date=December 14, 2016|archive-date=January 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106185232/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/19/wall-street-deregulation-clinton-advisers-obama|url-status=live}} The party has generally rejected both laissez-faire economics and market socialism, instead favoring Keynesian economics within a capitalist market-based system.{{cite book |last1=Mudge |first1=Stephanie |title=Leftism Reinvented: Western Parties from Socialism to Neoliberalism |date=2018 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=167–213}}

Democrats support a more progressive tax structure to provide more services and reduce economic inequality by making sure that the wealthiest Americans pay more in taxes.{{cite web |url=http://economics.about.com/od/monetaryandfiscalpolicy/a/high_taxes.htm |title=How High Should Taxes Be? |publisher=Economics.about.com |date=June 12, 2010 |access-date=June 17, 2010 |archive-date=April 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414204158/http://economics.about.com/od/monetaryandfiscalpolicy/a/high_taxes.htm |url-status=live}}

Democrats and Republicans traditionally take differing stances on eradicating poverty. Brady said "Our poverty level is the direct consequence of our weak social policies, which are a direct consequence of weak political actors".{{cite news |last1=CARBONARO |first1=GIULIA |title=Poverty Is Killing Nearly 200,000 Americans a Year |url=https://www.newsweek.com/poverty-killing-nearly-200000-americans-year-1806002 |work=Newsweek |year=2023 |access-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629052853/https://www.newsweek.com/poverty-killing-nearly-200000-americans-year-1806002 |url-status=live }}

They oppose the cutting of social services, such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid,{{cite web|url=http://usinfo.state.gov/infousa/government/social/ch9.htm|title=The Social Safety Net|publisher=usinfo.state.gov|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410221216/http://usinfo.state.gov/infousa/government/social/ch9.htm|archive-date=April 10, 2008}} believing it to be harmful to efficiency and social justice. Democrats believe the benefits of social services in monetary and non-monetary terms are a more productive labor force and cultured population and believe that the benefits of this are greater than any benefits that could be derived from lower taxes, especially on top earners, or cuts to social services. Furthermore, Democrats see social services as essential toward providing positive freedom, freedom derived from economic opportunity. The Democratic-led House of Representatives reinstated the PAYGO (pay-as-you-go) budget rule at the start of the 110th Congress.{{cite news|title=Day Two: House passes new budget rules|date=January 5, 2007|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna16487187|agency=Associated Press|access-date=January 5, 2007|archive-date=December 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204034031/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16487187|url-status=live}}

{{see also|Minimum wage in the United States}}

The Democratic Party favors raising the minimum wage. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 was an early component of the Democrats' agenda during the 110th Congress. In 2006, the Democrats supported six state-ballot initiatives to increase the minimum wage and all six initiatives passed.{{cite web|url=http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform |title=The Democratic Party Platform |publisher=Democrats.org |access-date=March 18, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315234633/http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform |archive-date=March 15, 2014}}

In 2017, Senate Democrats introduced the Raise the Wage Act which would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024.{{cite news|last=Kulwin|first=Noah|date=May 25, 2017|title=Democrats just united on a $15-an-hour minimum wage|url=https://news.vice.com/story/democrats-just-united-on-a-15-an-hour-minimum-wage|work=Vice|access-date=May 29, 2017|archive-date=May 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170526052042/https://news.vice.com/story/democrats-just-united-on-a-15-an-hour-minimum-wage|url-status=live}} In 2021, Democratic president Joe Biden proposed increasing the minimum wage to $15 by 2025.{{cite web |last1=Freking |first1=Kevin |title=Biden, Democrats hit gas on push for $15 minimum wage |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-rashida-tlaib-coronavirus-pandemic-minimum-wage-ee0e8cc7c96a30d9581723b2c6bb4189 |work=Associated Press News |date=January 30, 2021 |access-date=February 6, 2021 |archive-date=February 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219102902/https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-rashida-tlaib-coronavirus-pandemic-minimum-wage-ee0e8cc7c96a30d9581723b2c6bb4189 |url-status=live }} In many states controlled by Democrats, the state minimum wage has been increased to a rate above the federal minimum wage.{{cite news |last1=Marr |first1=Chris |title=Blue State Minimum Wages Inch Upward, Widening Gap With South |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/blue-state-minimum-wages-inch-upward-widening-gap-with-south |website=Bloomberg Law |access-date=July 24, 2022 |archive-date=May 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525224046/https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/blue-state-minimum-wages-inch-upward-widening-gap-with-south |url-status=live }}

File:Obama signing health care-20100323.jpg into law in 2010]]

Democrats call for "affordable and quality health care" and favor moving toward universal health care in a variety of forms to address rising healthcare costs. Progressive Democrats politicians favor a single-payer program or Medicare for All, while liberals prefer creating a public health insurance option.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010, has been one of the most significant pushes for universal health care. As of December 2019, more than 20 million Americans have gained health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.{{cite web |last1=Nova |first1=Annie |title=How the Affordable Care Act transformed our health-care system |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/29/how-the-affordable-care-act-transformed-the-us-health-care-system.html |publisher=CNBC |date=December 29, 2019 |access-date=July 22, 2020 |archive-date=July 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727041849/https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/29/how-the-affordable-care-act-transformed-the-us-health-care-system.html |url-status=live}}

Democrats favor improving public education by raising school standards and reforming the Head Start program. They also support universal preschool, expanding access to primary education, including through charter schools, and are generally opposed to school voucher programs. They call for addressing student loan debt and reforms to reduce college tuition.{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/papers_pdf/101962.pdf |title=Moving America Forward 2012 Democratic National Platform |publisher=presidency.ucsb.edu |date=September 14, 2012 |access-date=January 13, 2018 |archive-date=August 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819093203/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/papers_pdf/101962.pdf |url-status=live}} Other proposals have included tuition-free public universities and reform of standardized testing. Democrats have the long-term aim of having publicly funded college education with low tuition fees (like in much of Europe and Canada), which would be available to every eligible American student. Alternatively, they encourage expanding access to post-secondary education by increasing state funding for student financial aid such as Pell Grants and college tuition tax deductions.{{cite web|title=Clinton Joins Key Senate Democrats to Release Report on 'The College Cost Crunch'|date=June 28, 2006|url=http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=258005|work=clinton.senate.gov|access-date=November 25, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061025234254/http://www.clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=258005|archive-date=October 25, 2006}}

{{main|Environmental policy of the United States}}

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| image1 = 2009- Pew survey - is climate change a major threat, by political party.svg

| caption1 = Democrats and Republicans have diverged on the seriousness of the threat posed by climate change, with Democrats' assessment rising significantly in the mid-2010s.● {{cite web |title=54% of Americans view climate change as a major threat, but the partisan divide has grown |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/18/for-earth-day-key-facts-about-americans-views-of-climate-change-and-renewable-energy/sr_2023-04-18_climate_5/ |publisher=Pew Research Center |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422182323/https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/18/for-earth-day-key-facts-about-americans-views-of-climate-change-and-renewable-energy/sr_2023-04-18_climate_5/ |archive-date=April 22, 2023 |date=April 18, 2023 |url-status=live }} ● Broader discussion by {{cite web |last1=Tyson |first1=Alec |last2=Funk |first2=Cary |last3=Kennedy |first3=Brian |title=What the data says about Americans' views of climate change |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/18/for-earth-day-key-facts-about-americans-views-of-climate-change-and-renewable-energy/ |publisher=Pew Research Center |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512193458/https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/18/for-earth-day-key-facts-about-americans-views-of-climate-change-and-renewable-energy/ |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |date=April 18, 2023 |url-status=live}}

| image2 = 2021 Survey on existence of global warming and responsibility for climate change - bar chart.svg

| caption2 = The sharp divide over the existence of and responsibility for global warming and climate change falls largely along political lines. Overall, 60% of those surveyed said oil and gas companies were "completely or mostly responsible" for climate change.{{cite news |last1=McGreal |first1=Chris |title=Revealed: 60% of Americans say oil firms are to blame for the climate crisis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/26/climate-change-poll-oil-gas-companies-environment |work=The Guardian |date=October 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026122356/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/26/climate-change-poll-oil-gas-companies-environment |archive-date=October 26, 2021 |url-status=live |quote=Source: Guardian/Vice/CCN/YouGov poll. Note: ±4% margin of error.}}

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| image3 = 20220301 Opinions by political party - Climate change causation - Action for carbon neutral 2050 - Pew Research.svg

| caption3 = Opinion about human causation of climate change increased substantially with education among Democrats, but not among Republicans. Conversely, opinions favoring becoming carbon neutral declined substantially with age among Republicans, but not among Democrats.{{cite web |last1=Tyson |first1=Alec |last2=Funk |first2=Cary |last3=Kennedy |first3=Brian |title=Americans Largely Favor U.S. Taking Steps To Become Carbon Neutral by 2050 / Appendix (Detailed charts and tables) |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/03/01/carbon-neutral-2050-appendix/ |website=Pew Research |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418220503/https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/03/01/carbon-neutral-2050-appendix/ |archive-date=April 18, 2022 |date=March 1, 2022 |url-status=live }}

| image4 = 20220411 Support for policies to combat climate change, by political party - Gallup poll.svg

| caption4 = A broad range of policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has been proposed. Democrats' support for such policies consistently exceeds that of Republicans.{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Jeffrey M. |title=Climate Change Proposals Favored by Solid Majorities in U.S. / Support for Policies Designed to Limit Greenhouse Gases, by Political Party |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/391679/climate-change-proposals-favored-solid-majorities.aspx |website=Gallup |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001132301/https://news.gallup.com/poll/391679/climate-change-proposals-favored-solid-majorities.aspx |archive-date=October 1, 2022 |date=April 11, 2022 |url-status=live}}

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File:202307 Survey - comfortable with solar wind nuclear in my community.svg

Democrats believe that the government should protect the environment and have a history of environmentalism. In more recent years, this stance has emphasized renewable energy generation as the basis for an improved economy, greater national security, and general environmental benefits.{{cite web|url=http://www.democrats.org/a/national/clean_environment/ |title=Agenda — Environment |access-date=March 18, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070315113030/http://www.democrats.org/a/national/clean_environment/ |archive-date=March 15, 2007}} The Democratic Party is substantially more likely than the Republican Party to support environmental regulation and policies that are supportive of renewable energy.{{Cite journal|last1=Coley|first1=Jonathan S.|last2=Hess|first2=David J.|year=2012|title=Green energy laws and Republican legislators in the United States|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421512004752|journal=Energy Policy|language=en|volume=48|pages=576–583|doi=10.1016/j.enpol.2012.05.062|bibcode=2012EnPol..48..576C |issn=0301-4215|access-date=November 7, 2021|archive-date=June 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618224202/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421512004752|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last1=Bergquist|first1=Parrish|last2=Warshaw|first2=Christopher|year=2020|title=Elections and parties in environmental politics|url=https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781788972833/9781788972833.00017.xml|journal=Handbook of U.S. Environmental Policy|pages=126–141|language=en-US|doi=10.4337/9781788972840.00017|isbn=9781788972840|s2cid=219077951|access-date=November 7, 2021|archive-date=November 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107233114/https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781788972833/9781788972833.00017.xml|url-status=live}}

The Democratic Party also favors expansion of conservation lands and encourages open space and rail travel to relieve highway and airport congestion and improve air quality and the economy as it "believe[s] that communities, environmental interests, and the government should work together to protect resources while ensuring the vitality of local economies. Once Americans were led to believe they had to make a choice between the economy and the environment. They now know this is a false choice".{{cite web|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/Democratic_Party_Environment.htm|title=Democratic Party on Environment|access-date=October 24, 2007|archive-date=July 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703223850/http://ontheissues.org/Celeb/Democratic_Party_Environment.htm|url-status=live}}

The foremost environmental concern of the Democratic Party is climate change. Democrats, most notably former Vice President Al Gore, have pressed for stern regulation of greenhouse gases. On October 15, 2007, Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to build greater knowledge about man-made climate change and laying the foundations for the measures needed to counteract it.{{cite magazine|first=John|last=Nicols|title=Al Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize|magazine=The Nation|date=October 12, 2007}}

Democrats have supported increased domestic renewable energy development, including wind and solar power farms, in an effort to reduce carbon pollution. The party's platform calls for an "all of the above" energy policy including clean energy, natural gas and domestic oil, with the desire of becoming energy independent. The party has supported higher taxes on oil companies and increased regulations on coal power plants, favoring a policy of reducing long-term reliance on fossil fuels.{{cite web|url=http://www.democrats.org/issues/energy_independence|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920002824/http://www.democrats.org/issues/energy_independence|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 20, 2010|title=Energy Independence|work=Democrats.org}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/06/02/coal-state-democrats-to-obama-curb-emissions-um-no-thanks/|title=Coal state Democrats to Obama: Curb emissions? Um, no thanks.|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Sean|last=Sullivan|date=June 2, 2014|access-date=August 22, 2017|archive-date=May 13, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513225106/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/06/02/coal-state-democrats-to-obama-curb-emissions-um-no-thanks/|url-status=live}} Additionally, the party supports stricter fuel emissions standards to prevent air pollution.

During his presidency, Joe Biden enacted the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which is the largest allocation of funds for addressing climate change in the history of the United States.{{Cite web |last=Wells |first=Joey Garrison and Dylan |title=Sen. Kyrsten Sinema backs Inflation Reduction Act, giving Biden the votes for Senate passage |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/08/04/krysten-sinema-inflation-reduction-act-senator-democrats-vote/10234906002/ |access-date=August 24, 2022 |website=USA Today |language=en-US |archive-date=August 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824023439/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/08/04/krysten-sinema-inflation-reduction-act-senator-democrats-vote/10234906002/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |title=What The Climate Package Means For A Warming Planet : Consider This from NPR |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/08/11/1117017336/what-the-climate-package-means-for-a-warming-planet |access-date=August 24, 2022 |archive-date=August 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824100551/https://www.npr.org/2022/08/11/1117017336/what-the-climate-package-means-for-a-warming-planet |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Nilsen |first1=Ella |title=Clean energy package would be biggest legislative climate investment in US history |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/28/politics/climate-deal-joe-manchin/index.html |publisher=CNN |access-date=July 31, 2022 |date=July 28, 2022 |archive-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202005446/https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/28/politics/climate-deal-joe-manchin/index.html |url-status=live }}

Like the Republican Party, the Democratic Party has taken widely varying views on international trade throughout its history. The Democratic Party has usually been more supportive of free trade than the Republican Party.

The Democrats dominated the Second Party System and set low tariffs designed to pay for the government but not protect industry. Their opponents the Whigs wanted high protective tariffs but usually were outvoted in Congress. Tariffs soon became a major political issue as the Whigs (1832–1852) and (after 1854) the Republicans wanted to protect their mostly northern industries and constituents by voting for higher tariffs and the Southern Democrats, which had very little industry but imported many goods voted for lower tariffs. After the Second Party System ended in 1854 the Democrats lost control and the new Republican Party had its opportunity to raise rates.Taussig, Tariff History pp. 109–24

During the Third Party System, Democratic president Grover Cleveland made low tariffs the centerpiece of Democratic Party policies, arguing that high tariffs were an unnecessary and unfair tax on consumers. The South and West generally supported low tariffs, while the industrial North high tariffs.Joanne R. Reitano, The Tariff Question in the Gilded Age: The Great Debate of 1888 (Penn State Press, 1994) During the Fourth Party System, Democratic president Woodrow Wilson made a drastic lowering of tariff rates a major priority for his presidency. The 1913 Underwood Tariff cut rates, and the new revenues generated by the federal income tax made tariffs much less important in terms of economic impact and political rhetoric.Woodrow Wilson: "Address to a Joint Session of Congress on the Banking System," June 23, 1913. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=65369 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012012358/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=65369 |date=October 12, 2018 }}.

During the Fifth Party System, the Reciprocal Tariff Act of 1934 was enacted during FDR's administration, marking a sharp departure from the era of protectionism in the United States. American duties on foreign products declined from an average of 46% in 1934 to 12% by 1962.{{cite journal|last=Bailey|first=Michael A.|author2=Goldstein, Weingast |title=The Institutional Roots of American Trade Policy|journal=World Politics|date=April 1997|volume=49|issue=3|pages=309–38|doi=10.1353/wp.1997.0007|s2cid=154711958 }} After World War II, the U.S. promoted the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established in 1947 during the Truman administration, to minimize tariffs liberalize trade among all capitalist countries.John H. Barton, Judith L. Goldstein, Timothy E. Josling, and Richard H. Steinberg, The Evolution of the Trade Regime: Politics, Law, and Economics of the GATT and the WTO (2008){{cite journal |last1=McClenahan |first1=William |title=The Growth of Voluntary Export Restraints and American Foreign Economic Policy, 1956–1969 |journal=Business and Economic History |year=1991 |volume=20 |pages=180–190 |jstor=23702815 }}

In the 1990s, the Clinton administration and a number of prominent Democrats pushed through a number of agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).{{Cite news|url=https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/building-a-stronger-fairer-economy/|title=Building A Stronger, Fairer Economy|newspaper=Democrats|access-date=August 10, 2021|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818204036/https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/building-a-stronger-fairer-economy/|url-status=live}} Barack Obama signed several free trade agreements during his presidency. Joe Biden did not sign any free trade agreements during his presidency.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenroberts/2024/04/26/biden-could-be-1st-president-since-carter-to-not-negotiate-sign-fta/|title=Biden Could Be 1st President Since Carter To Not Negotiate, Sign FTA|website=Forbes|first1=Ken|last1=Roberts|date=April 26, 2024|access-date=April 27, 2024|archive-date=April 27, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427230502/https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenroberts/2024/04/26/biden-could-be-1st-president-since-carter-to-not-negotiate-sign-fta/|url-status=live}}

During Republican Donald Trump's two terms as president, the Democratic Party has been more in favor of free trade than the Republican Party. The Democratic Party remains supportive of the USMCA free trade agreement with Mexico and Canada.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/trump-tariffs-auto-industry-corporate-executives.html|title=Trump's Unwelcome News to Auto Chiefs: Buckle Up for What's to Come|quote=President Trump’s approach to tariffs has unsettled many corporate leaders who believed he would use the levies as a negotiating tool. As it turns out, he sees them as an end in themselves.|date=March 17, 2025|first1=Jonathan|last1=Swan|first2=Maggie|last2=Haberman|first3=Ana|last3=Swanson|website=The New York Times }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.axios.com/2025/03/06/trump-tariffs-poll-republicans-china-mexico-canada|title=Republicans favor Trump tariffs despite anticipated price hikes: poll|date=March 6, 2025}}

File:Shirley Chisholm.jpg was the first major-party African American candidate to run nationwide primary campaigns.]]

The modern Democratic Party emphasizes social equality and equal opportunity. Democrats support voting rights and minority rights, including LGBT rights. Democratic president Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed racial segregation. Carmines and Stimson wrote "the Democratic Party appropriated racial liberalism and assumed federal responsibility for ending racial discrimination."Carmines, Edward G.; Stimson, James A. "Racial Issues and The Structure of Mass Belief Systems," Journal of Politics (1982) 44#1 pp 2–20 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2130281 in JSTOR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731011758/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2130281 |date=July 31, 2020 }}{{cite book|first1=Talmadge|last1=Anderson|author2=James Benjamin Stewart|name-list-style=amp|title=Introduction to African American Studies: Transdisciplinary Approaches and Implications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49tXR1Ok6poC&pg=PA205|year=2007|publisher=Black Classic Press|page=205|isbn=9781580730396|access-date=October 16, 2015|archive-date=September 13, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913230625/https://books.google.com/books?id=49tXR1Ok6poC&pg=PA205#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}{{cite book|first=Jeffrey M.|last=Stonecash|title=New Directions in American Political Parties|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNuOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA131|year=2010|publisher=Routledge|page=131|isbn=9781135282059|access-date=October 16, 2015|archive-date=September 13, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913230554/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNuOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA131#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}

Ideological social elements in the party include cultural liberalism, civil libertarianism, and feminism. Some Democratic social policies are immigration reform, electoral reform, and women's reproductive rights.

The Democratic Party is a staunch supporter of equal opportunity for all Americans regardless of sex, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, or national origin. The Democratic Party has broad appeal across most socioeconomic and ethnic demographics, as seen in recent exit polls.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/06/30/behind-bidens-2020-victory/|title=Behind Biden's 2020 Victory|date=June 30, 2021|website=Pew Research Center|access-date=August 19, 2023|archive-date=August 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230819144304/https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/06/30/behind-bidens-2020-victory/|url-status=live}} Democrats also strongly support the Americans with Disabilities Act to prohibit discrimination against people based on physical or mental disability. As such, the Democrats pushed as well the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, a disability rights expansion that became law.{{cite web|url=http://www.democrats.org/issues/civil_rights|title=Civil Rights|work=Democrats.org|access-date=February 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209053820/http://www.democrats.org/issues/civil_rights|archive-date=February 9, 2014|url-status=dead}}

Most Democrats support affirmative action to further equal opportunity. However, in 2020 57% voters in California voted to keep their state constitution's ban on affirmative action, despite Biden winning 63% of the vote in California in the same election.{{Cite web|url=https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2020-general/sov/complete-sov.pdf|title=STATEMENT OF VOTE|first1=Alex|last1=Padilla|date=November 3, 2020|access-date=March 15, 2024|archive-date=December 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214232555/https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2020-general/sov/complete-sov.pdf|url-status=live}}

The party is very supportive of improving "voting rights" as well as election accuracy and accessibility.{{cite web|url=http://usliberals.about.com/od/electionreform/a/VotingAgenda.htm|title=Liberalism 101: Democratic Party Agenda on Electoral Reform|first=Deborah|last=White|work=About|access-date=April 17, 2014|archive-date=March 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310140253/http://usliberals.about.com/od/electionreform/a/VotingAgenda.htm|url-status=live}} They support extensions of voting time, including making election day a holiday. They support reforming the electoral system to eliminate gerrymandering, abolishing the electoral college, as well as passing comprehensive campaign finance reform.{{cite web|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Democratic_Party_Government_Reform.htm|title=Democratic Party on Government Reform|publisher=Ontheissues.org|access-date=January 19, 2015|archive-date=April 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430084041/http://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/Democratic_Party_Government_Reform.htm|url-status=live}}

{{see also|Abortion in the United States}}

The Democratic position on abortion has changed significantly over time.{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=Daniel K. |date=June 2015 |title=The Partisan Trajectory of the American Pro-Life Movement: How a Liberal Catholic Campaign Became a Conservative Evangelical Cause |journal=Religions |language=en |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=451–475 |doi=10.3390/rel6020451 |issn=2077-1444 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Daniel K. |date=May 9, 2022 |title=This Really Is a Different Pro-Life Movement |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/south-abortion-pro-life-protestants-catholics/629779/ |access-date=February 2, 2023 |website=The Atlantic |language=en |quote=This was not merely a geographic shift, trading one region for another, but a more fundamental transformation of the anti-abortion movement's political ideology. In 1973 many of the most vocal opponents of abortion were northern Democrats who believed in an expanded social-welfare state and who wanted to reduce abortion rates through prenatal insurance and federally funded day care. In 2022, most anti-abortion politicians are conservative Republicans who are skeptical of such measures. What happened was a seismic religious and political shift in opposition to abortion that has not occurred in any other Western country. |archive-date=May 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510043840/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/south-abortion-pro-life-protestants-catholics/629779/ |url-status=live }} During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Republicans generally favored legalized abortion more than Democrats,{{Cite news |last=Halpern |first=Sue |date=November 8, 2018 |title=How Republicans Became Anti-Choice |language=en |work=The New York Review of Books |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/11/08/how-republicans-became-anti-choice/ |access-date=February 4, 2023 |issn=0028-7504 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204085532/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/11/08/how-republicans-became-anti-choice/ |url-status=live }} although significant heterogeneity could be found within both parties.{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Justin |date=May 9, 2018 |title=How the Christian Right Became Prolife on Abortion and Transformed the Culture Wars |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/evangelical-history/christian-right-discovered-abortion-rights-transformed-culture-wars/ |access-date=February 4, 2023 |website=The Gospel Coalition |language=en-US |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204085533/https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/evangelical-history/christian-right-discovered-abortion-rights-transformed-culture-wars/ |url-status=live }} During this time, opposition to abortion tended to be concentrated within the political left in the United States. Liberal Protestants and Catholics (many of whom were Democratic voters) opposed abortion, while most conservative Protestants supported legal access to abortion services.{{clarify|date=April 2024}}

In its national platforms from 1992 to 2004, the Democratic Party has called for abortion to be "safe, legal and rare"—namely, keeping it legal by rejecting laws that allow governmental interference in abortion decisions and reducing the number of abortions by promoting both knowledge of reproduction and contraception and incentives for adoption. When Congress voted on the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 2003, congressional Democrats were split, with a minority (including former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid) supporting the ban and the majority of Democrats opposing the legislation.{{cite web|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/HouseVote/Party_2003-530.htm|title=House Votes on 2003-530|publisher=Ontheissues.org|date=October 2, 2003|access-date=March 18, 2014|archive-date=February 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228171204/http://www.ontheissues.org/HouseVote/Party_2003-530.htm|url-status=live}}

According to the 2020 Democratic Party platform, "Democrats believe every woman should be able to access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion."{{cite web |title=2020 Democratic Party Platform |url=https://www.demconvention.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2020-07-31-Democratic-Party-Platform-For-Distribution.pdf |website=2020 Democratic National Convention |access-date=January 10, 2021 |archive-date=February 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216091833/https://www.demconvention.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2020-07-31-Democratic-Party-Platform-For-Distribution.pdf |url-status=dead }}

After Roe v. Wade (1973) was overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022), Democratic-controlled states and ballot initiatives were able to ensure access to abortion. The number of abortions in the United States increased after Dobbs, due to the right to travel between states.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/22/upshot/abortions-rising-state-bans.html|title=Abortions Have Increased, Even for Women in States With Rigid Bans, Study Says|date=October 22, 2024|website=The New York Times|first1=Claire Cain|last1=Miller|first2=Margot|last2=Sanger-Katz|first3=Josh|last3=Katz|access-date=December 2, 2024}}{{Cite book|title=After Dobbs: How the Supreme Court Ended Roe but Not Abortion|date=2025|first1=David S.|last1=Cohen|first2=Carole|last2=Joffe|publisher=Beacon Press |isbn=978-0807017661 |quote=When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, many feared it meant the end of abortion access in the United States. Yet the courageous work of people on the ground has allowed abortion to survive post-Dobbs in ways that no one predicted. ... Taking place across three intervals throughout 2022—pre-Dobbs in early 2022, right after Dobbs, and then six months later—these interviews showcase how nimble thinking on the part of providers, growth and new delivery models of abortion pills, and the never-ending work of those who help with abortion travel and funding have ensured most people who want them are still getting abortions, even without Roe.}}

{{see also|Immigration to the United States|Illegal immigration to the United States}}

File:2000- Border apprehensions at southwest border.svg

Like the Republican Party, the Democratic Party has taken widely varying views on immigration throughout its history. Since the 1990s, the Democratic Party has been more supportive overall of immigration than the Republican Party.{{cite book|url=https://press.princeton.edu/titles/11040.html|title=Trading Barriers|last=Peters|first=Margaret|date=2017|pages=154–155|publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0691174471|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303043905/https://press.princeton.edu/titles/11040.html|archive-date=March 3, 2018|url-status=live}} Many Democratic politicians have called for systematic reform of the immigration system such that residents that have come into the United States illegally have a pathway to legal citizenship. President Obama remarked in November 2013 that he felt it was "long past time to fix our broken immigration system," particularly to allow "incredibly bright young people" that came over as students to become full citizens.{{cite news |last=Frumin |first=Aliyah |title=Obama: 'Long past time' for immigration reform |date=November 25, 2013 |url=https://msnbc.com/hardball/obama-long-past-time-reform |publisher=MSNBC |access-date=January 26, 2014 |archive-date=January 21, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140121145422/http://www.msnbc.com/hardball/obama-long-past-time-reform |url-status=live}} In 2013, Democrats in the Senate passed S. 744, which would reform immigration policy to allow citizenship for illegal immigrants in the United States. The law failed to pass in the House and was never re-introduced after the 113th Congress.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/senate-border-vote-immigration-policies-trump-19977804?mod=hp_lead_pos1|title=Why Both Parties Have Shifted Right on Immigration—and Still Can't Agree|website=The Wall Street Journal|first1=Michelle|last1=Hackman|first2=Aaron|last2=Zitner|date=February 2, 2024}}

Opposition to immigration has increased in the 2020s, with a majority of Democrats supporting increasing border security.{{Cite web|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/647123/sharply-americans-curb-immigration.aspx|title=Sharply More Americans Want to Curb Immigration to U.S.|date=July 12, 2024|first1=Jeffrey M.|last1=Jones|quote=55% want immigration levels reduced, highest since 2001|website=Gallup|access-date=August 4, 2024|archive-date=July 20, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240720215320/https://news.gallup.com/poll/647123/sharply-americans-curb-immigration.aspx|url-status=live}}{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-democrats-lost-their-way-on-immigration|title=How Democrats Lost Their Way on Immigration|first1=Isaac|last1=Chotiner|magazine=The New Yorker|date=March 3, 2025|access-date=March 3, 2025}} In the 2024 presidential election, Trump increased his vote share in counties along the Mexico–United States border, including in majority-Hispanic counties.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/12/democrats-latino-vote-immigration/680945/|title=Why Democrats Got the Politics of Immigration So Wrong for So Long|date=December 10, 2024|website=The Atlantic|first1=Rogé|last1=Karma|access-date=December 10, 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/magazine/denmark-immigration-policy-progressives.html|title=In an Age of Right-Wing Populism, Why Are Denmark's Liberals Winning?|quote=Around the world, progressive parties have come to see tight immigration restrictions as unnecessary, even cruel. What if they’re actually the only way for progressivism to flourish?|date=February 24, 2025|access-date=February 24, 2025|website=The New York Times|first1=David|last1=Leonhardt}}

{{see also|LGBT rights in the United States}}

The Democratic position on LGBT rights has changed significantly over time.{{Cite web |last=Igielnik |first=Ruth |date=November 16, 2022 |title=Backdrop for Vote on Same-Sex Marriage Rights: A Big Shift in Public Opinion |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/16/us/politics/same-sex-marriage-public-opinion.html |access-date=November 17, 2022 |website=The New York Times |archive-date=November 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116235133/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/16/us/politics/same-sex-marriage-public-opinion.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Lindberg |first=Tim |date=August 2, 2022 |title=Congress is considering making same-sex marriage federal law – a political scientist explains how this issue became less polarized over time |url=https://theconversation.com/congress-is-considering-making-same-sex-marriage-federal-law-a-political-scientist-explains-how-this-issue-became-less-polarized-over-time-187509 |access-date=August 14, 2022 |website=Kansas Reflector |language=en-US |archive-date=August 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220823203344/http://theconversation.com/congress-is-considering-making-same-sex-marriage-federal-law-a-political-scientist-explains-how-this-issue-became-less-polarized-over-time-187509 |url-status=live }} Before the 2000s, like the Republicans, the Democratic Party often took positions hostile to LGBT rights. As of the 2020s, both voters and elected representatives within the Democratic Party are overwhelmingly supportive of LGBT rights.

Support for same-sex marriage has steadily increased among the general public, including voters in both major parties, since the start of the 21st century. An April 2009 ABC News/Washington Post public opinion poll put support among Democrats at 62%.{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1089a6HotButtonIssues.pdf|title=Changing Views on Social Issues|date=April 30, 2009|access-date=May 14, 2009|archive-date=November 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110130400/http://abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1089a6HotButtonIssues.pdf|url-status=live}} A 2006 Pew Research Center poll of Democrats found that 55% supported gays adopting children with 40% opposed while 70% support gays in the military, with only 23% opposed.[http://people-press.org/report/273/less-opposition-to-gay-marriage-adoption-and-military-service Less Opposition to Gay Marriage, Adoption and Military Service] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310052909/http://people-press.org/report/273/less-opposition-to-gay-marriage-adoption-and-military-service |date=March 10, 2011}}. Pew Research Center. March 22, 2006. Gallup polling from May 2009 stated that 82% of Democrats support open enlistment.{{cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/120764/conservatives-shift-favor-openly-gay-service-members.aspx|title=Conservatives Shift in Favor of Openly Gay Service Members|publisher=Gallup.com|date=June 5, 2009|first=Lymari|last=Morales|access-date=August 25, 2010|archive-date=May 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501214245/http://www.gallup.com/poll/120764/Conservatives-Shift-Favor-Openly-Gay-Service-Members.aspx|url-status=live}} A 2023 Gallup public opinion poll found 84% of Democrats support same-sex marriage, compared to 71% support by the general public and 49% support by Republicans.{{Cite web|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/506636/sex-marriage-support-holds-high.aspx|date=June 5, 2023|title=U.S. Same-Sex Marriage Support Holds at 71% High|first1=Justin|last1=McCarthy|access-date=June 5, 2023|archive-date=June 5, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605083325/https://news.gallup.com/poll/506636/sex-marriage-support-holds-high.aspx|url-status=live}}

The 2004 Democratic National Platform stated that marriage should be defined at the state level and it repudiated the Federal Marriage Amendment.{{cite web|url=http://www.democrats.org/pdfs/2004platform.pdf |title=The 2004 Democratic National Platform for America|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041013001521/http://www.democrats.org/pdfs/2004platform.pdf |archive-date=October 13, 2004 }} {{small|(111 KB)}} John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, did not support same-sex marriage in his campaign. While not stating support of same-sex marriage, the 2008 platform called for repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage and removed the need for interstate recognition, supported antidiscrimination laws and the extension of hate crime laws to LGBT people and opposed "don't ask, don't tell".{{cite web |date=November 26, 2008 |title=Gay Support for Obama Similar to Dems in Past Elections |url=http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/press/GaySupportForObamaSimilarToDemsInPastElections.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091209021908/http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/press/GaySupportForObamaSimilarToDemsInPastElections.html |archive-date=December 9, 2009 |access-date=June 17, 2010 |publisher=Law.ucla.edu}}{{cite web |last=Garcia |first=Michelle |url=http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/advance/2012/04/22/year-democrats-embrace-marriage-equality |title=Is This the Year Democrats Embrace Marriage Equality? |publisher=Advocate.com |date=April 22, 2012 |access-date=October 2, 2013 |archive-date=October 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004234045/http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/advance/2012/04/22/year-democrats-embrace-marriage-equality |url-status=live}} The 2012 platform included support for same-sex marriage and for the repeal of DOMA.

On May 9, 2012, Barack Obama became the first sitting president to say he supports same-sex marriage.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-backs-same-sex-marriage/|title=Obama backs same-sex marriage|publisher=CBS News|date=May 9, 2012|access-date=May 9, 2012|archive-date=May 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510010911/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57431122-503544/obama-backs-same-sex-marriage/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/09/obama-gay-marriage_n_1503245.html|title=Obama Backs Gay Marriage|first=Sam|last=Stein|date=May 9, 2012|work=HuffPost|access-date=December 6, 2019|archive-date=September 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920002222/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/09/obama-gay-marriage_n_1503245.html|url-status=dead }} Previously, he had opposed restrictions on same-sex marriage such as the Defense of Marriage Act, which he promised to repeal,{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.samesexmarriage.html|title=Same-sex Marriage – Issues – Election Center 2008 |publisher=CNN |access-date=January 19, 2015|archive-date=April 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428162155/http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.samesexmarriage.html|url-status=live}} California's Prop 8,[http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/07/02/obama_opposes_gay_marriage_ban.html Obama Opposes Gay Marriage Ban] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926223051/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/07/02/obama_opposes_gay_marriage_ban.html |date=September 26, 2011}}. The Washington Post. By Perry Bacon Jr. July 2, 2008. and a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage (which he opposed saying that "decisions about marriage should be left to the states as they always have been"),[http://obama.senate.gov/press/060607-obama_statement_26/index.php Obama Statement on Vote Against Constitutional Amendment to Ban Gay Marriage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208020010/http://obama.senate.gov/press/060607-obama_statement_26/index.php |date=December 8, 2008}}. United States Senate [http://senate.gov/ Official Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228084718/http://www.senate.gov/ |date=December 28, 2016}}. June 7, 2006. but also stated that he personally believed marriage to be between a man and a woman and that he favored civil unions that would "give same-sex couples equal legal rights and privileges as married couples". Earlier, when running for the Illinois Senate in 1996 he said, "I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages".{{cite news |url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/13/obama-once-supported-same_n_157656.html |title=Obama Once Supported Same-Sex Marriage 'Unequivocally' |work=HuffPost |date=January 13, 2009 |access-date=June 17, 2010 |first=Jason |last=Linkins |archive-date=May 12, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512012736/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/13/obama-once-supported-same_n_157656.html |url-status=live}} Former presidents Bill Clinton{{cite news | url=http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/25/video-clinton-shifts-on-gay-marriage/ |publisher=CNN |title=Video: Clinton shifts on gay marriage |access-date=May 1, 2010 |date=September 25, 2009 |archive-date=December 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091226140541/http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/25/video-clinton-shifts-on-gay-marriage/ |url-status=dead}} and Jimmy Carter{{cite news|date=March 19, 2012|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/19/president-jimmy-carter-bible-book_n_1349570.html|title=President Jimmy Carter Authors New Bible Book, Answers Hard Biblical Questions|work=HuffPost|access-date=June 26, 2012|first=Paul|last=Raushenbush|archive-date=June 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625134951/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/19/president-jimmy-carter-bible-book_n_1349570.html|url-status=live}} along with former Democratic presidential nominees Al Gore{{cite web |url=http://current.com/items/88817757_gay-men-and-women-should-have-the-same-rights.htm |title=Gay men and women should have the same rights // Current |publisher=Current.com |date=January 17, 2008 |access-date=June 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091129220957/http://current.com/items/88817757_gay-men-and-women-should-have-the-same-rights.htm |archive-date=November 29, 2009 |url-status=dead }} and Michael Dukakis{{cite web|last=Israel|first=Josh|title=Mondale and Dukakis Back Marriage Equality|website=ThinkProgress|date=May 16, 2013|url=https://thinkprogress.org/mondale-dukakis-back-marriage-equality-joining-every-living-democratic-presidential-nominee-56a1d402991d/|access-date=November 4, 2019|archive-date=November 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104164913/https://thinkprogress.org/mondale-dukakis-back-marriage-equality-joining-every-living-democratic-presidential-nominee-56a1d402991d/|url-status=live}} support same-sex marriage. President Joe Biden has supported same-sex marriage since 2012, when he became the highest-ranking government official to support it. In 2022, Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act; the law repealed the Defense of Marriage Act, which Biden had voted for during his Senate tenure.{{cite web |last1=Cournoyer |first1=Caroline |title=Joe Biden Endorses Gay Marriage |url=https://www.governing.com/archive/Joseph-Biden-Endorses-Gay-Marriage.html |website=Governing |date=May 7, 2012 |access-date=February 9, 2021 |archive-date=February 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222013528/https://www.governing.com/archive/Joseph-Biden-Endorses-Gay-Marriage.html |url-status=live }}

The 2016 Democratic Party platform declares, regarding the status of Puerto Rico: "We are committed to addressing the extraordinary challenges faced by our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico. Many stem from the fundamental question of Puerto Rico's political status. Democrats believe that the people of Puerto Rico should determine their ultimate political status from permanent options that do not conflict with the Constitution, laws, and policies of the United States. Democrats are committed to promoting economic opportunity and good-paying jobs for the hardworking people of Puerto Rico. We also believe that Puerto Ricans must be treated equally by Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs that benefit families. Puerto Ricans should be able to vote for the people who make their laws, just as they should be treated equally. All American citizens, no matter where they reside, should have the right to vote for the president of the United States. Finally, we believe that federal officials must respect Puerto Rico's local self-government as laws are implemented and Puerto Rico's budget and debt are restructured so that it can get on a path towards stability and prosperity".{{cite web|url=https://www.demconvention.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Democratic-Party-Platform-7.21.16-no-lines.pdf|title=Democratic Party Platform 2016|access-date=November 11, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110225904/https://www.demconvention.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Democratic-Party-Platform-7.21.16-no-lines.pdf|archive-date=November 10, 2016}}

Also, it declares that regarding the status of the District of Columbia: "Restoring our democracy also means finally passing statehood for the District of Columbia, so that the American citizens who reside in the nation's capital have full and equal congressional rights as well as the right to have the laws and budget of their local government respected without Congressional interference."

File:20210420 Gun control survey by political party - Pew Research.svg

With a stated goal of reducing crime and homicide, the Democratic Party has introduced various gun control measures, most notably the Gun Control Act of 1968, the Brady Bill of 1993 and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994). In its national platform for 2008, the only statement explicitly favoring gun control was a plan calling for renewal of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban.{{cite web|url=http://www.queerty.com/wp/docs/2008/08/2008-democratic-platform-080808.pdf|title=The Draft 2008 Democratic National Platform: Renewing America's Promise|access-date=February 4, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512191810/http://www.queerty.com/wp/docs/2008/08/2008-democratic-platform-080808.pdf|archive-date=May 12, 2012}} In 2022, Democratic president Joe Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which among other things expanded background checks and provided incentives for states to pass red flag laws.{{cite web |last1=Clyde |first1=Don |last2=Miranda |first2=Shauneen |title=Biden signs gun safety bill into law |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/06/25/1107626030/biden-signs-gun-safety-law |publisher=NPR |date=June 25, 2022 |access-date=September 20, 2022 |archive-date=September 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220924024307/https://www.npr.org/2022/06/25/1107626030/biden-signs-gun-safety-law |url-status=live }}

The Democratic Party does not oppose gun ownership.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/us-news/liberal-gun-ownership-growth-2a20af81|title=The Most Surprising New Gun Owners Are U.S. Liberals|date=September 20, 2024|website=The Wall Street Journal|first1=Cameron|last1=McWhirter|first2=Zusha|last2=Elinson|access-date=September 21, 2024}} According to a 2023 Pew Research Center poll, 20% of Democrats owned firearms, compared to 32% of the general public and 45% of Republicans.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/09/13/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/|access-date=September 19, 2023|date=September 13, 2023|title=Key facts about Americans and guns|website=Pew Research Center|first1=Katherine|last1=Schaeffer}}

{{See also|Capital punishment in the United States}}

The Democratic Party's 2020 platform states its opposition to the death penalty.{{cite news |title=Protecting Communities and Building Trust by Reforming Our Criminal Justice System |url=https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/protecting-communities-and-building-trust-by-reforming-our-criminal-justice-system/ |website=Democrats |access-date=November 30, 2021 |archive-date=November 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122151253/https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/protecting-communities-and-building-trust-by-reforming-our-criminal-justice-system/ |url-status=live }} Although most Democrats in Congress have never seriously moved to overturn the rarely used federal death penalty, both Russ Feingold and Dennis Kucinich have introduced such bills with little success. Democrats have led efforts to overturn state death penalty laws, and prevent the reinstatement of the death penalty in those states which prohibit it, including Massachusetts, New York, and Delaware. During the Clinton administration, Democrats led the expansion of the federal death penalty. These efforts resulted in the passage of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, signed into law by President Clinton, which heavily limited appeals in death penalty cases.

In 1972, the Democratic Party platform called for the abolition of capital punishment.{{cite web |title=1972 Democratic Party Platform |via=American Presidency Project|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/1972-democratic-party-platform|date=July 11, 1972|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408133915/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/1972-democratic-party-platform|archive-date=April 8, 2022|url-status=live}}

During his Illinois Senate career, former President Barack Obama successfully introduced legislation intended to reduce the likelihood of wrongful convictions in capital cases, requiring videotaping of confessions. When campaigning for the presidency, Obama stated that he supports the limited use of the death penalty, including for people who have been convicted of raping a minor under the age of 12, having opposed the Supreme Court's ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana that the death penalty was unconstitutional in which the victim of a crime was not killed.[http://www.newser.com/story/30953/obama-backs-death-penalty-for-child-rapists.html "Obama Backs Death Penalty for Child Rapists"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527012457/http://www.newser.com/story/30953/obama-backs-death-penalty-for-child-rapists.html |date=May 27, 2009}}. Newser, June 26, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2009. Obama has stated that he thinks the "death penalty does little to deter crime" and that it is used too frequently and too inconsistently.{{cite web |title=The Candidates on the Death Penalty|url=http://pewforum.org/religion08/compare.php?Issue=Death_Penalty|access-date=July 26, 2009|publisher=Pew Research Center |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704020036/http://pewforum.org/religion08/compare.php?Issue=Death_Penalty |archive-date=July 4, 2008}} In June 2016, the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee unanimously adopted an amendment to abolish the death penalty.{{cite web|title=Democratic Platform Drafting Meeting Concludes|url=https://demconvention.com/news/democratic-platform-drafting-meeting-concludes/|date=June 25, 2016|access-date=June 29, 2016|publisher=DNCC|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160802094026/https://demconvention.com/news/democratic-platform-drafting-meeting-concludes/|archive-date=August 2, 2016}}

The 2024 platform is the first since the 2004 platform, that doesn't mention the death penalty, and the first since 2016 not to call for abolition.{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democrats-scrub-death-penalty-campaign-platform_n_66c67a0de4b0b9c7b360296b#|title=Democrats Scrubbed An Issue From Their Party Platform — And It's Going Under The Radar|date=August 22, 2024|website=HuffPost}} However, on December 23, 2024, President Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates to life in prison without parole.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/12/23/biden-death-penalty-commutation/|title=Biden commutes most federal death sentences before Trump takes office|access-date=December 23, 2024|date=December 23, 2024|first1=Mark|last1=Berman|first2=Matt|last2=Viser|newspaper=The Washington Post}}

Many Democrats are opposed to the use of torture against individuals apprehended and held prisoner by the United States military, and hold that categorizing such prisoners as unlawful combatants does not release the United States from its obligations under the Geneva Conventions. Democrats contend that torture is inhumane, damages the United States' moral standing in the world, and produces questionable results. Democrats are largely against waterboarding.{{cite news |last1=Tyson |first1=Alec |title=Americans divided in views of use of torture in U.S. anti-terror efforts |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/26/americans-divided-in-views-of-use-of-torture-in-u-s-anti-terror-efforts/ |access-date=March 21, 2020 |date=January 26, 2017 |archive-date=March 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321214249/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/26/americans-divided-in-views-of-use-of-torture-in-u-s-anti-terror-efforts/ |url-status=live}}

Torture became a divisive issue in the party after Barack Obama was elected president.{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/obama/articles/2009/05/22/obama-and-democrats-torture-problem|title=Obama and Democrats' Torture Problem|first=Kenneth T.|last=Walsh|work=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=August 26, 2017|archive-date=July 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706211938/https://www.usnews.com/news/obama/articles/2009/05/22/obama-and-democrats-torture-problem|url-status=live}}

The Democratic Party believes that individuals should have a right to privacy. For example, many Democrats have opposed the NSA warrantless surveillance of American citizens.{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=1&vote=00313 |title=Senate roll call on passage of the PATRIOT Act |publisher=Senate.gov |date=April 25, 2017 |access-date=January 13, 2018 |archive-date=December 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205074052/https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=1&vote=00313 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=House approves Patriot Act renewal |url=https://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/07/patriot.act/ |publisher=CNN |access-date=March 21, 2020 |archive-date=March 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321220837/https://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/07/patriot.act/ |url-status=live}}

Some Democratic officeholders have championed consumer protection laws that limit the sharing of consumer data between corporations. Democrats have opposed sodomy laws since the 1972 platform which stated that "Americans should be free to make their own choice of life-styles and private habits without being subject to discrimination or prosecution", and believe that government should not regulate consensual noncommercial sexual conduct among adults as a matter of personal privacy.{{cite news|last=Ashtari|first=Shadee|title=Here's The Medieval-Sounding Sodomy Law That Helped Ken Cuccinelli Lose In Virginia|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/06/ken-cuccinelli-sodomy_n_4226708.html|work=HuffPost|date=November 6, 2013|access-date=December 6, 2019|archive-date=March 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324035215/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/06/ken-cuccinelli-sodomy_n_4226708.html|url-status=live}}

The foreign policy of the voters of the two major parties has largely overlapped since the 1990s. A Gallup poll in early 2013 showed broad agreement on the top issues, albeit with some divergence regarding human rights and international cooperation through agencies such as the United Nations.{{cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/160649/republicans-democrats-agree-top-foreign-policy-goals.aspx|title=Republicans, Democrats Agree on Top Foreign Policy Goals|work=Gallup.com|date=February 20, 2013|access-date=April 16, 2017|archive-date=March 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310130915/http://www.gallup.com/poll/160649/republicans-democrats-agree-top-foreign-policy-goals.aspx|url-status=live}}

In June 2014, the Quinnipiac Poll asked Americans which foreign policy they preferred:

{{blockquote|A) The United States is doing too much in other countries around the world, and it is time to do less around the world and focus more on our own problems here at home.

B) The United States must continue to push forward to promote democracy and freedom in other countries worldwide because these efforts make our own country more secure.}}

Democrats chose A over B by 65% to 32%; Republicans chose A over B by 56% to 39%; and independents chose A over B by 67% to 29%.See "July 3, 2014 – Iraq – Getting In Was Wrong; Getting Out Was Right, U.S. Voters Tell Quinnipiac University National Poll" [http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2057 Quinnipiac University Poll] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402190652/http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2057 |date=April 2, 2016}} item #51

{{see also|United States sanctions against Iran}}

The Democratic Party has been critical of Iran's nuclear weapon program and supported economic sanctions against the Iranian government. In 2013, the Democratic-led administration worked to reach a diplomatic agreement with the government of Iran to halt the Iranian nuclear weapon program in exchange for international economic sanction relief.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/world/middleeast/talks-with-iran-on-nuclear-deal-hang-in-balance.html |work=The New York Times |first=Michael R. |last=Gordon |title=Accord Reached With Iran to Halt Nuclear Program |date=November 23, 2013 |access-date=February 21, 2017 |archive-date=March 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326212426/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/world/middleeast/talks-with-iran-on-nuclear-deal-hang-in-balance.html | url-status=live}} {{as of|2014}}, negotiations had been successful and the party called for more cooperation with Iran in the future.{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/.premium-1.577070|title=Jewish Democratic donors urge Congress: Back off Iran sanctions|date=February 28, 2014|work=Haaretz|access-date=March 26, 2014|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924160604/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/.premium-1.577070|url-status=live}} In 2015, the Obama administration agreed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which provides sanction relief in exchange for international oversight of the Iranian nuclear program. In February 2019, the Democratic National Committee passed a resolution calling on the United States to re-enter the JCPOA, which President Trump withdrew from in 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/democratic-party-passes-resolution-calling-for-us-to-re-enter-iran-nuke-deal/|title=Democratic Party passes resolution calling for US to re-enter Iran nuke deal|last=Cortellessa|first=Eric|website=The Times of Israel |language=en-US |access-date=February 21, 2019|archive-date=February 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221022455/https://www.timesofisrael.com/democratic-party-passes-resolution-calling-for-us-to-re-enter-iran-nuke-deal/|url-status=live}}

{{see also|Afghanistan–United States relations|International public opinion on the war in Afghanistan}}

Democrats in the House of Representatives and in the Senate near-unanimously voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists against "those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States" in Afghanistan in 2001, supporting the NATO coalition invasion of the nation. Most elected Democrats continued to support the Afghanistan conflict during George W. Bush's presidency.[http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/07/democrats_say_m_1.html "Democrats say McCain forgot Afghanistan"]. Boston Globe. July 24, 2008. Retrieved August 23, 2008. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820113620/http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/07/democrats_say_m_1.html |date=August 20, 2008}}[http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/07/15/2008-07-15_john_mccain__barack_obama_urge_afghanist.html "John McCain & Barack Obama urge Afghanistan surge"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091113131424/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/07/15/2008-07-15_john_mccain__barack_obama_urge_afghanist.html |date=November 13, 2009}}. New York Daily News. July 15, 2008. Retrieved August 23, 2008. During the 2008 Presidential Election, then-candidate Barack Obama called for a "surge" of troops into Afghanistan. After winning the presidency, Obama followed through, sending additional troops to Afghanistan. Troop levels were 94,000 in December 2011 and kept falling, with a target of 68,000 by fall 2012."U.S. plans major shift to advisory role in Afghanistan", [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/12/us-plans-major-shift-to-advisory-role-in-afghanistan.html Los Angeles Times, December 13, 2011] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819153404/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/12/us-plans-major-shift-to-advisory-role-in-afghanistan.html |date=August 19, 2016}}

Support for the war among the American people diminished over time. Many Democrats changed their opinion over the course of the war, coming to oppose continuation of the conflict. In July 2008, Gallup found that 41% of Democrats called the invasion a "mistake" while a 55% majority disagreed.[http://www.gallup.com/poll/109150/Afghan-War-Edges-Iraq-Most-Important-US.aspx "Afghan War Edges Out Iraq as Most Important for U.S."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224202906/http://www.gallup.com/poll/109150/Afghan-War-Edges-Iraq-Most-Important-US.aspx |date=December 24, 2016}} by Frank Newport. Gallup. July 30, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2009. A CNN survey in August 2009 stated that a majority of Democrats opposed the war. CNN polling director Keating Holland said: "Nearly two thirds of Republicans support the war in Afghanistan. Three quarters of Democrats oppose the war".[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25895398-12335,00.html Most Americans oppose Afghanistan war: poll] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810102232/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25895398-12335,00.html |date=August 10, 2009}}. The Australian. August 7, 2009. Retrieved August 24, 2009.

During the 2020 Presidential Election, then-candidate Joe Biden promised to "end the forever wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East."{{Cite web |title=Joe Biden: I Promise To 'End The Forever Wars In Afghanistan And Middle East' As President |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/joe-biden-i-promise-to-end-the-forever-wars-in-afghanistan-and-middle-east-as-president/ |access-date=November 19, 2022 |publisher=CBS News |date=July 11, 2019 |language=en-US |archive-date=November 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119224140/https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/joe-biden-i-promise-to-end-the-forever-wars-in-afghanistan-and-middle-east-as-president/ |url-status=live }} Biden went on to win the election, and in April 2021, he announced he would withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11 of that year.{{Cite web |title=Biden to pull US troops from Afghanistan, end 'forever war' |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan-september-11-d2c7426736f9f530e0e62f2295a44d28 |access-date=November 19, 2022 |website=AP NEWS |date=April 14, 2021 |language=en |archive-date=November 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119224139/https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan-september-11-d2c7426736f9f530e0e62f2295a44d28 |url-status=live }} The last troops left in August, bringing America's 20-year-long military campaign in the country to a close.{{Cite web |first1=Nicole |last1=Gaouette |first2=Jennifer |last2=Hansler |first3=Barbara |last3=Starr |first4=Oren|last4=Liebermann|date=August 30, 2021 |title=The last US military planes have left Afghanistan, marking the end of the United States' longest war {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/30/politics/us-military-withdraws-afghanistan/index.html |access-date=November 19, 2022 |publisher=CNN |language=en |archive-date=September 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911182417/https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/30/politics/us-military-withdraws-afghanistan/index.html |url-status=live }} According to a 2023 AP-NORC poll, a majority of Democrats believed that the War in Afghanistan was not worth it.{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-911-terrorism-taliban-women-rights-268ebebb40beea7be3b1528ed6ae5808|title=Republicans and Democrats agree that the Afghanistan war wasn't worth it, an AP-NORC poll shows|date=October 18, 2023|website=AP News|access-date=October 19, 2023|archive-date=October 18, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018190501/https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-911-terrorism-taliban-women-rights-268ebebb40beea7be3b1528ed6ae5808|url-status=live}}

{{see also|Israel–United States relations}}

File:Shimon Peres observes Binyamin Nitanyahu greeting Barack Obama.jpg meeting with President Obama in 2013]]

Democrats have historically been a stronger supporter of Israel than Republicans.{{Cite book |last1=Cavari |first1=Amnon |title=American Public Opinion Toward Israel: From Consensus to Divide |last2=Freedman |first2=Guy |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2020 |pages=145}} During the 1940s, the party advocated for the cause of an independent Jewish state over the objections of many conservatives in the Old Right, who strongly opposed it. In 1948, Democratic President Harry Truman became the first world leader to recognize an independent state of Israel.{{Cite web |last=Tenorio |first=Rich |date=November 3, 2020 |title=How a nascent Israel was a key issue in Truman's stunning 1948 election upset |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-a-nascent-israel-was-a-key-issue-in-trumans-stunning-1948-election-upset/ |access-date=November 1, 2023 |website=The Times of Israel |archive-date=November 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118203848/https://www.timesofisrael.com/how-a-nascent-israel-was-a-key-issue-in-trumans-stunning-1948-election-upset/ |url-status=live }}

The 2020 Democratic Party platform acknowledges a "commitment to Israel's security, its qualitative military edge, its right to defend itself, and the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding is ironclad" and that "we oppose any effort to unfairly single out and delegitimize Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement".{{cite news |url=https://democrats.org/where-we-stand/party-platform/ |title=PARTY PLATFORM |newspaper=Democrats |publisher=Democrats.org |access-date=June 17, 2022 |archive-date=March 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315234633/http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform |url-status=live }} During the Gaza war, the party requested a large-scale military aid package to Israel.{{Cite news |last=Shear |first=Michael D. |date=October 19, 2023 |title=Israel-Hamas War: Biden Urges U.S. to Remain 'Beacon to the World' in Aiding Allies at War |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/19/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news |access-date=October 20, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020160855/https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/19/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news |url-status=live }} Biden also announced military support for Israel, condemned the actions of Hamas and other Palestinian militants as terrorism,{{Cite news |last=Baker |first=Peter |date=October 10, 2023 |title=In Unforgiving Terms, Biden Condemns 'Evil' and 'Abhorrent' Attack on Israel |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/us/politics/biden-israel-hamas.html |access-date=October 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012001950/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/us/politics/biden-israel-hamas.html |url-status=live }} and ordered the US military to build a port to facilitate the arrival of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.{{cite web | url=https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-orders-us-military-to-build-port-in-gaza-to-facilitate-aid/7518026.html | title=Biden Ordering US Military to Build Port in Gaza to Facilitate Aid | date=March 7, 2024 | access-date=March 23, 2024 | archive-date=March 19, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319213922/https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-orders-us-military-to-build-port-in-gaza-to-facilitate-aid/7518026.html | url-status=live }} However, parts of the Democratic base also became more skeptical of the Israel government.{{Cite news |last=Berg |first=Matt |date=April 14, 2024 |title=Voters think Biden should be tougher on Israel, new poll finds |newspaper=Politico |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/14/democrats-sympathetic-palestinians-israelis-poll-00152117 |access-date=June 16, 2024 |archive-date=May 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528005432/https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/14/democrats-sympathetic-palestinians-israelis-poll-00152117 |url-status=live }}

The number of Democrats (and Americans in general) who oppose sending arms to Israel has grown month by month as Israel's war on Gaza continues.{{cite news |last1=Valdez |first1=Jonah |title=Most Americans Want to Stop Arming Israel. Politicians Don't Care. |url=https://theintercept.com/2024/09/10/polls-arms-embargo-israel-weapons-gaza/ |agency=The Intercept |date=September 10, 2024}} Experts say support for Israel could have a negative impact on Democrats in several key states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania, in the 2024 presidential election.{{cite news |last1=Stepansky |first1=Joseph |title='Uncommitted' delegates bring Gaza-war message to Democratic convention |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/17/uncommitted-delegates-bring-gaza-war-message-to-democratic-convention |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=August 17, 2024 |access-date=August 18, 2024 |archive-date=September 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913230626/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/17/uncommitted-delegates-bring-gaza-war-message-to-democratic-convention |url-status=live }}

Late in 2024, twenty Democrats requested support for US legislation that would ban the arms trade with countries that hinder humanitarian aid.{{cite news |title=US lawmakers urge Biden administration to halt offensive weapons to Israel |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/18/us-lawmakers-urge-biden-administration-to-halt-offensive-weapons-to-israel |publisher=Al Jazeera}}

According to Pew research conducted in March 2025, 69% of Democrats now have an unfavorable view of Israel, compared to 53% in 2022, before the Gaza war.{{cite news |title=How Americans view Israel and the Israel-Hamas war at the start of Trump's second term |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/04/08/how-americans-view-israel-and-the-israel-hamas-war-at-the-start-of-trumps-second-term/}}

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine was politically and economically opposed by the Biden Administration, who promptly began an increased arming of Ukraine.[https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3495060-here-are-the-11-republican-senators-who-voted-against-the-ukraine-aid-bill/ "Here are the 11 GOP senators who voted against the Ukraine aid bill,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230815033416/https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3495060-here-are-the-11-republican-senators-who-voted-against-the-ukraine-aid-bill/ |date=August 15, 2023 }} May 19, 2022, The Hill (magazine) retrieved July 4, 2023[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/19/us/politics/ukraine-republican-skeptics.html "A Loud Republican Minority Opposes More Ukraine Military Aid,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704132352/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/19/us/politics/ukraine-republican-skeptics.html |date=July 4, 2023 }} May 19, 2023, New York Times retrieved July 4, 2023 In October 2023, the Biden administration requested an additional $61.4 billion in aid for Ukraine for the year ahead,{{cite news |title=The White House is asking for almost $106 billion for Israel, Ukraine and the border |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/10/20/1206301577/biden-ukraine-israel-congress-funding-request |publisher=NPR |date=October 26, 2023 |first=Deepa |last=Shivaram |access-date=August 2, 2024 |archive-date=August 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240821110201/https://www.npr.org/2023/10/20/1206301577/biden-ukraine-israel-congress-funding-request |url-status=live }} but delays in the passage of further aid by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives inhibited progress, with the additional $61 billion in aid to Ukraine added in April 2024.{{cite web |last1=Zengerle |first1=Patricia |last2=Cowan |first2=Richard | url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/long-awaited-aid-ukraine-israel-taiwan-poised-pass-us-congress-2024-04-23/ | title=US Congress passes Ukraine aid after months of delay | work=Reuters | date=April 23, 2024 |access-date=June 2, 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Michael |last2=Saenz |first2=Arlette |last3=Liptak |first3=Kevin |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/24/politics/biden-signs-foreign-aid-bill/index.html |title=Biden signs foreign aid bill providing crucial military assistance to Ukraine |publisher=CNN |date=April 30, 2024 |access-date=June 2, 2024 |archive-date=April 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424162758/https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/24/politics/biden-signs-foreign-aid-bill/index.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web | last=Myre | first=Greg | url=https://www.npr.org/2024/04/24/1246839045/biden-signs-95-billion-military-aid-package-for-ukraine-israel-and-taiwan | title=Biden signs $95 billion military aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan | publisher=NPR | date=April 24, 2024 | access-date=June 2, 2024 | archive-date=June 2, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602111217/https://www.npr.org/2024/04/24/1246839045/biden-signs-95-billion-military-aid-package-for-ukraine-israel-and-taiwan | url-status=live }}

{{main|Demographics of the Democratic Party (United States)}}

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In the 2024 presidential election, the party performed best among voters who were upper income,{{Cite news |last1=Suss |first1=Joel |last2=Xiao |first2=Eva |last3=Burn-Murdoch |first3=John |last4=Murray |first4=Clara |last5=Vincent |first5=Jonathan |date=November 9, 2024 |title=Poorer voters flocked to Trump — and other data points from the election |url=https://www.ft.com/content/6de668c7-64e9-4196-b2c5-9ceca966fe3f |access-date=November 12, 2024 |work=Financial Times |quote=In contrast to 2020, the majority of lower-income households or those earning less than $50,000 a year voted for Trump this election. Conversely, those making more than $100,000 voted for Harris, according to exit polls.}}{{Cite web|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/09/is-america-too-rich-for-class-politics.html|title=Is America Too Rich for Class Politics?|access-date=December 2, 2024|website=New York|date=September 29, 2021|first1=Eric|last1=Levitz}} lived in urban areas,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/10/democrats-iowa-kansas-rural-votes-scholten-king|title=Can Democrats ever win back white, rural America?|first=Chris|last=McGreal|date=November 11, 2018|access-date=March 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308080818/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/10/democrats-iowa-kansas-rural-votes-scholten-king|archive-date=March 8, 2019|url-status=live|newspaper=The Guardian}}{{cite web |last1=Thompson |first1=Derek |title=How Democrats Conquered the City |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/brief-history-how-democrats-conquered-city/597955/ |website=The Atlantic |date=September 13, 2019 |access-date=March 13, 2020 |archive-date=March 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200307075726/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/brief-history-how-democrats-conquered-city/597955/ |url-status=live}} college graduates,{{Cite web|url=https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/politics-international-relations/american-government-politics-and-policy/polarized-degrees-how-diploma-divide-and-culture-war-transformed-american-politics#contentsTabAnchor|title=Polarized by Degrees: How the Diploma Divide and the Culture War Transformed American Politics|first1=Matt|last1=Grossmann|first2=David A.|last2=Hopkins|website=Cambridge University Press|quote=Democrats have become the home of highly-educated citizens with progressive social views who prefer credentialed experts to make policy decisions, while Republicans have become the populist champions of white voters without college degrees who increasingly distrust teachers, scientists, journalists, universities, non-profit organizations, and even corporations.|access-date=May 23, 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/10/education-polarization-diploma-divide-democratic-party-working-class.html|title=How the Diploma Divide Is Remaking American Politics|first1=Eric|last1=Levitz|website=New York Intelligencer|date=October 19, 2022|access-date=April 24, 2023|archive-date=October 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020215535/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/10/education-polarization-diploma-divide-democratic-party-working-class.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/opinion/education-american-politics.html|title=The 'Diploma Divide' Is the New Fault Line in American Politics|website=The New York Times|date=April 17, 2023|access-date=April 24, 2023|first1=Doug|last1=Sosnik|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424073901/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/opinion/education-american-politics.html|url-status=live}} identified as Atheist, Agnostic, or Jewish; African Americans,{{cite web |last=Jackson |first=Brooks |date=April 18, 2008 |title=Blacks and the Democratic Party |url=http://www.factcheck.org/2008/04/blacks-and-the-democratic-party/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103050026/http://www.factcheck.org/2008/04/blacks%2Dand%2Dthe%2Ddemocratic%2Dparty/ |archive-date=November 3, 2011 |access-date=October 30, 2011 |publisher=FactCheck.org}}{{Cite web |last=Bositis |first=David |title=Blacks and the 2012 Democratic National Convention; page 9, table 1: black votes in presidential elections, 1936 – 2008 |url=https://jointcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Blacks-and-the-2012-Democratic-National-Convention.pdf |website=Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies |access-date=March 23, 2024 |archive-date=February 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222063250/https://jointcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Blacks-and-the-2012-Democratic-National-Convention.pdf |url-status=live}} LGBT+, and unmarried.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/partisanship-by-race-ethnicity-and-education/|date=April 9, 2024|title=Partisanship by race, ethnicity and education|access-date=April 26, 2024|website=Pew Research Center}} In particular, Kamala Harris' two strongest demographic groups in the 2024 presidential election were African Americans (86-13%) and LGBT voters (86-12%).

Support for the civil rights movement in the 1960s by Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson helped increase the Democrats' support within the African American community. African Americans have consistently voted between 85% and 95% Democratic since the 1960s, making African Americans one of the largest of the party's constituencies.

According to the Pew Research Center, 78.4% of Democrats in the 116th United States Congress were Christian.{{Cite web |date=January 3, 2019 |title=Faith on the Hill: The religious composition of the 116th Congress |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2019/01/03/faith-on-the-hill-116/ |access-date=May 18, 2020 |work=Pew Research Center |archive-date=February 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218040423/https://www.pewforum.org/2019/01/03/faith-on-the-hill-116/ |url-status=live }} However, the vast majority of white evangelical and Latter-day Saint Christians favor the Republican Party.{{Cite news|date=November 3, 2020|title=National Exit Polls: How Different Groups Voted|language=en-US|last1=Andre|first1=Michael|display-authors=et al|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/exit-polls-president.html|access-date=December 5, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=November 10, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201110220846/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/exit-polls-president.html|url-status=live}} The party also receives strong support from non-religious voters.{{cite news |date=January 22, 2009 |title=An inaugural first: Obama acknowledges 'non-believers' |work=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-01-20-obama-non-believers_N.htm |access-date=August 22, 2017 |archive-date=April 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100401094239/http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-01-20-obama-non-believers_N.htm |url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/party-identification-among-religious-groups-and-religiously-unaffiliated-voters/|title=Party identification among religious groups and religiously unaffiliated voters|date=April 9, 2024|access-date=May 27, 2024|website=Pew Research Center}}

Younger Americans have tended to vote mainly for Democratic candidates in recent years, particularly those under the age of 30.{{cite web|date=April 9, 2024|title=4. Age, generational cohorts and party identification|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/age-generational-cohorts-and-party-identification/|publisher=Pew Research Center|language=en-US|access-date=August 3, 2024|archive-date=August 3, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803141125/https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/age-generational-cohorts-and-party-identification/|url-status=live}}

In the 2024 presidential election, Harris won voters aged 18–29 (54-43%) and 30–39 (51-45%), tied among those aged 40–49 (49-49%), lost those aged 50–64 (43–56%), and narrowly lost those aged 65 and older (49–50%). The median voter is in their 50s.{{Cite web|url=https://www.slowboring.com/p/the-median-voter-is-a-50-something|quote=Long story short, if you’re going to blow off the median voter, you ought to do it purposefully and with a plan — don’t just act like the views of under-40 college grads are typical. ... And I don’t think there’s a mass delusion where people have come to believe that left-wing cultural politics and student debt relief are the top priorities for 50-something working-class people living outside the top 50 metro areas.|title=The median voter is a 50-something white person who didn't go to college|first1=Matthew|last1=Yglesias|website=Slow Boring|date=September 22, 2021|access-date=April 9, 2024}}

One of the main reasons that 18–29 year old voters strongly support Democrats is that they are much less likely to be married. Harris tied with White voters aged 18–29 (49-49%) and won White women aged 18–29 (54-44%).

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Referring to the state map of the White vote, Kamala Harris in 2024 won every state where Joe Biden won the White vote in 2020. Republican Donald Trump won every state where Joe Biden lost the White vote except for Virginia. Virginia is both 20% African American and its White voters are much less Republican than those of other Southern states, because Northern Virginia in the Washington metropolitan area is a Democratic stronghold.{{Cite news|title=Without Northern Virginia, Trump would have won the state|work=Inside Nova|url=https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/without-northern-virginia-trump-would-have-won-the-state/article_c937d4de-2516-11eb-9178-bbdf2f2c7b16.html|access-date=November 17, 2020}}

Referring to the county map of the White vote, Democrats do win White voters in most of New England and the West Coast. Democrats also do well in regions with high Nordic and Scandinavian ancestry. For example, this keeps White voters in Minnesota and Wisconsin much less Republican than in other Midwestern states.Bergman, Klas. Scandinavians in the State House: How Nordic Immigrants Shaped Minnesota Politics (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2017) [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07352166.2017.1416224?journalCode=ujua20 online review].Brøndal, Jørn. Ethnic Leadership and Midwestern Politics: Scandinavian Americans and the Progressive Movement in Wisconsin, 1890–1914 (University of Illinois Press, 2004).

Democrats are also relatively competitive among or win White voters in parts of the Northeast, Midwest, and Southwest. Democrats do particularly poorly among White Southerners, as racial polarization is extremely high in the Southern United States.

In the 2024 presidential election, African Americans supported Kamala Harris 86-13%, while White Southerners supported Donald Trump 67-32%. Even in many urban counties in the Southern United States, Democrats do not win a majority of White voters. Trump won both White Southerners with college degrees (57-41%) and without college degrees (75-24%).{{Cite web|url=https://split-ticket.org/2023/03/24/where-do-democrats-win-white-voters/|title=Where Do Democrats Win White Voters?|date=March 24, 2023|access-date=January 13, 2025|website=Split Ticket|first1=Lakshya|last1=Jain|first2=Harrison|last2=Lavelle|first3=Armin|last3=Thomas|quote=Educational polarization and urbanization are not the only two lenses through which to analyze the white vote. For all that educational polarization has done to explain shifts in partisanship (as shown by Atlanta and Dallas rocketing left), it cannot fully explain the differences in baseline partisanship nearly as well. To better understand this, it becomes necessary to consider a more comprehensive picture. ... Religious affiliation (i.e. denomination) and religiosity levels, among other factors, explained wide differences in how both non-college whites and college-educated whites voted across regions. Throughout New England and the Pacific Coast, widespread secularism makes both college and non-college whites significantly bluer than the national average. Elsewhere in the Northeast, a comparatively large Catholic population has raised the Democratic floor among whites across the educational attainment spectrum. ... This likely has a good deal to do with southern cultural conservatism, which is elevated relative to the nation thanks in part to marked Protestant religiosity, particularly among white Baptists. For this reason, support for abortion is exceptionally high in the Midwest, but extremely low in the South. This regional mix of religiosity and racial polarization results in something quite striking: whites in virtually every southern county are significantly more Republican than their northern counterparts.}}

• In the swing states of Georgia and North Carolina, which Harris lost by 2.2% and 3.2%, Whites supported Trump 71-28% and 62-37%. Trump won White voters with college degrees in Georgia 57-43%, and lost White voters with college degrees in North Carolina 47–51%.
• White evangelicals supported Trump in Georgia (91-9%) and North Carolina (87-12%), on par with African American support for Harris in Georgia (88-11%) and North Carolina (86-12%).

New Mexico is half-Hispanic (49.3%), as the most heavily-Hispanic state in the country.{{Cite web|title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: New Mexico|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/NM|access-date=September 9, 2021|website=census.gov|language=en}} Of the 19 states and the District of Columbia won by Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, all except New Mexico had above-average educational attainment.{{cite web |title=EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=S1501&g=0100000US%240400000&tid=ACSST1Y2021.S1501&moe=false&tp=false |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=September 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220919003628/https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=S1501&g=0100000US%240400000&tid=ACSST1Y2021.S1501&moe=false&tp=false |archive-date=September 19, 2022 |url-status=live}} New Mexico also had the lowest population density and the highest poverty rate of any state carried by Harris.

File:Total Fertility Rate by U.S. state.svg

Since 1980, a "gender gap" has seen stronger support for the Democratic Party among women than among men. Unmarried and divorced women are more likely to vote for Democrats.[http://www.wvwv.org/docs/WVWV_2004_post-election_memo.pdf "Unmarried Women in the 2004 Presidential Election"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101195440/http://www.wvwv.org/docs/WVWV_2004_post-election_memo.pdf|date=January 1, 2016}} (PDF). Report by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, January 2005. p. 3: "The marriage gap is one of the most important cleavages in electoral politics. Unmarried women voted for Kerry by a 25-point margin (62 to 37 percent), while married women voted for President Bush by an 11-point margin (55 percent to 44 percent). Indeed, the 25-point margin Kerry posted among unmarried women represented one of the high water marks for the Senator among all demographic groups."{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21591624-republicans-should-worry-unmarried-women-shun-them-marriage-gap?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/themarriagegap|title=Republicans should worry that unmarried women shun them|date=December 14, 2013|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=September 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115185951/https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21591624-republicans-should-worry-unmarried-women-shun-them-marriage-gap?fsrc=scn%2Ftw%2Fte%2Fpe%2Fthemarriagegap|archive-date=January 15, 2018|url-status=live}} Although women supported Obama over Mitt Romney by a margin of 55–44% in 2012, Romney prevailed amongst married women, 53–46%.{{cite news|date=December 3, 2012|title=The Marriage Gap in the Women's Vote|first=Meg T.|last=McDonnell|url=http://www.crisismagazine.com/2012/the-marriage-gap-in-the-womens-vote|work=Crisis Magazine|access-date=December 11, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031034237/http://www.crisismagazine.com/2012/the-marriage-gap-in-the-womens-vote|archive-date=October 31, 2014|url-status=dead}} Obama won unmarried women 67–31%.{{cite news|first=Suzanne|last=Goldenberg|date=November 9, 2012|title=Single women voted overwhelmingly in favour of Obama, researchers find|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/09/single-women-voted-favour-obama|access-date=December 11, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231035001/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/09/single-women-voted-favour-obama|archive-date=December 31, 2014|url-status=live}} According to a December 2019 study, "White women are the only group of female voters who support Republican Party candidates for president. They have done so by a majority in all but 2 of the last 18 elections".{{Cite journal|last1=Junn|first1=Jane|author-link1=Jane Junn|last2=Masuoka|first2=Natalie|year=2020|title=The Gender Gap Is a Race Gap: Women Voters in US Presidential Elections|journal=Perspectives on Politics|volume=18|issue=4|pages=1135–1145|doi=10.1017/S1537592719003876|issn=1537-5927|doi-access=free}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/white-women-support-gop/507617/|title=White Female Voters Continue to Support the Republican Party|website=The Atlantic|date=November 14, 2016|access-date=January 30, 2021|archive-date=December 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215024943/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/white-women-support-gop/507617/|url-status=live}}

In the 2024 presidential election, LGBT voters supported Harris 86-12%, on par with African Americans. Harris lost married men (38–60%) and married women (47–52%), tied among unmarried men (48-48%), and won unmarried women (61-38%).{{Cite web|url=https://split-ticket.org/2022/11/22/struggling-to-attract-single-women-so-are-republicans/|title=Struggling to Attract Single Women? So are Republicans|date=November 22, 2022|first1=Clare|last1=Considine|website=Split Ticket|quote=It’s true—marriage has a conservatizing effect on the political attitudes of women. Married women are associated with lower levels of gender-linked fate, which is itself is associated with ideology, partisanship, and even positional attitudes such as support for abortion. Research tells us that marriage plays a distinct role in structuring legal abortion attitudes for women, particularly among white women. We know that the Dobbs decision created an inflection point in support for Democrats, and it’s not an unreasonable to understand why the issue would have outsized salience among unmarried women (86 percent of abortion seekers in the US are unmarried).}}

White women with college degrees do support Democrats somewhat strongly, with Harris winning them 58-41%, likely the best ever modern performance with this demographic. They were one of the few demographic groups that shifted towards Democrats from 2020 to 2024.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/steve-kornacki-white-men-white-women-gap-gender-gap-rcna196791|title=Steve Kornacki: White men, white women, and the gap within the gender gap|quote=New NBC News polling data illustrates the cultural and political gulf separating white men without college degrees and white women with college degrees.|first1=Steve|last1=Kornacki|publisher=NBC News|date=March 18, 2025|access-date=March 19, 2025}}

Total fertility rate is strongly negatively correlated with support for the Democratic Party. Specifically, as total fertility increased in states, Democratic vote share decreased.

{{See also|Solid South}}

File:Hispanic and Latino Americans by state.svg, and Puerto Rico as of the 2020 United States Census]]

Geographically, the party is strongest in the Northeastern United States, parts of the Great Lakes region and Southwestern United States, and the West Coast. The party is also very strong in major cities, regardless of region.

The Democratic Party gradually lost its power in the Southern United States since 1964. Although Richard Nixon carried 49 states in 1972, including every Southern state, the Republican Party remained quite weak at the local and state levels across the entire South for decades. Republicans first won a majority of U.S. House seats in the South in the 1994 "Republican Revolution", and only began to dominate the South after the 2010 elections.{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/united-states/2010/11/11/the-long-goodbye|date=November 11, 2010|newspaper=The Economist|title=The long goodbye|quote=In 1981 Republicans took control of the Senate for the first time since 1953, but most Southern elected officials remained white Democrats. When Republicans took control of the House in 1995, white Democrats still comprised one-third of the South's tally. ... white Southern Democrats have met their Appomattox: they will account for just 24 of the South's 155 senators and congressmen in the 112th United States Congress.|access-date=February 20, 2023}} Since the 2010s, White Southerners are the Republican Party's strongest racial demographic, in some Deep South states voting nearly as Republican as African Americans vote Democratic. This is partially attributable to religiosity, with White evangelical Christians in the Bible Belt, which covers most of the South, being the Republican Party's strongest religious demographic.

The Democratic Party is particularly strong in the West Coast and Northeastern United States. In particular, the Democratic Party receives its strongest support from White voters in these two regions. This is attributable to the two regions having the highest educational attainment in the country and being part of the "Unchurched Belt," with the lowest rates of religiosity in the country.

The Democratic Party's support in the Midwest and Southwest are more mixed, with varying levels of support from White voters in both regions. In the Midwest, the Democratic Party receives varying levels of support, with some states safely Democratic, some swing states, and some safely Republican. In the Southwest, the Democratic Party also relies on Hispanic voters.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-06-16/columnist-mark-z-barabak-the-new-west|title=A series on political shifts in the West|first1=Mark Z.|website=Los Angeles Times|last1=Barabak|date=November 2023 |access-date=June 4, 2024}}

The Democratic Party is particularly weak in the Great Plains and some Mountain states. In particular, the states of Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,{{efn|Three Democrats (Barack Obama in 2008, Joe Biden in 2020, and Kamala Harris in 2024) have since won an electoral vote from Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, but Johnson remains the last Democrat to carry the state as a whole.}} Kansas, and Oklahoma have not voted for the Democratic Party since the 1964 presidential election. Montana has not voted for the Democratic Party since the 1992 presidential election.Sullivan, Robert David; [http://www.americamagazine.org/content/unconventional-wisdom/how-red-and-blue-map-evolved-over-past-century ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’]; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016

White voters have considerable regional variations. In 2024 presidential election, Kamala Harris lost Southern White voters 32–67% and Midwestern White voters 40–59%. Harris tied among White voters in the Northeastern United States 49-49%, and won White voters in the Western United States 52-45%. Harris lost White voters in the country as a whole to Trump 42–57%.

{{Main|Urban-rural political divide|List of states and territories of the United States by population density}}

The Democratic Party's support is strongly positively correlated with increased population density, consistent with the urban-rural divide observed globally.{{cite news |last=Rachman |first=Gideon |date=July 30, 2018 |title=Urban-rural splits have become the great global divider |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e05cde76-93d6-11e8-b747-fb1e803ee64e |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226190159/https://www.ft.com/content/e05cde76-93d6-11e8-b747-fb1e803ee64e |archive-date=February 26, 2021 |access-date=May 6, 2024 |work=Financial Times |issn=0307-1766}} Notably, in the 2024 presidential election, the swings against Kamala Harris were inversely correlated to population density, shrinking the urban-rural divide slightly.{{Cite web|url=https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/how-the-other-half-votes-the-big-counties-versus-the-rest-of-the-country-in-2024/|title=How the Other Half Votes: The Big Counties Versus the Rest of the Country in 2024|first1=Kyle|last1=Kondik|website=Sabato's Crystal Ball|date=January 9, 2025|access-date=February 8, 2024}} Harris still received higher support as population density increased. But relative to 2020, urban areas had the largest swings against Harris, suburban areas had lesser swings against Harris, and rural areas had the smallest swings against Harris.{{Cite web|url=https://split-ticket.org/2025/02/08/americas-demographic-revolution/|title=America's Demographic Revolution|first1=Harrison|last1=Lavelle|first2=Max|last2=McCall|date=February 8, 2025|access-date=February 8, 2025|website=Split Ticket}}

Specifically, Harris won voters in urban areas (60-38%), narrowly lost voters in suburban areas (47–51%), and lost voters in rural areas (34–64%). The urban-rural divide holds after controlling for race.

• Harris won White voters in urban areas (53-45%), lost them in suburban areas (41–57%), and lost them in rural areas (31–68%).
• Harris won Hispanic voters in urban areas (57-39%) and suburban areas (51-48%), and lost them in rural areas (33–66%).
• Harris won African American voters in urban areas (89-10%), suburban areas (86-12%), and rural areas (71-27%).

The only state of the ten least densely populated that Harris won was New Mexico, which is half-Hispanic (49.3%).

In the Southern United States, racial polarization is often stronger than the urban-rural divide. In particular, Democrats lose White voters in many Southern urban areas, while doing extremely well in rural majority-Black counties.

File:2021 Median household wealth, by highest educational attainment - US.svg

File:Median_Household_Income_per_County_as_of_2021_according_to_the_USDA_Economic_Research_Service_(3).png

File:Poverty in the U.S. by county.png

Until the 2016 victory of Republican Donald Trump, lower income was strongly correlated to voting for the Democratic Party among the general electorate.{{Cite web|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/education-not-income-predicted-who-would-vote-for-trump/|title=Education, Not Income, Predicted Who Would Vote For Trump|date=November 22, 2016|website=FiveThirtyEight|first1=Nate|last1=Silver}} However, in all three of Trump's elections in 2016, 2020, and 2024, the previous correlation between lower incomes and voting for the Democratic Party was eliminated.{{Cite web|url=https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2024-election-swings/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250204231156/https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2024-election-swings/|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 4, 2025|title=Where Have All The Democrats Gone?|first1=G. Elliott|last1=Morris|first2=Amina|last2=Brown|first3=Katie|last3=Marriner|website=FiveThirtyEight|quote=This all raises questions about Democrats’ messaging about the economy, or maybe suggests that the type of people they hypothesize would be helped most by their policies — such as wealth redistribution from progressive and corporate taxation and federal subsidies for companies that invest in underdeveloped areas, especially when it comes to manufacturing — are not as responsive as the party hoped to the type of so-called policy “deliverism” that the Obama and Biden administrations pursued. In a more dire framing for Democrats: If a party that tells itself it stands for working-class voters is systematically losing support with those people, something has gone terribly wrong for them.}} For White voters, instead higher educational attainment was strongly correlated with higher support for the Democratic Party.

In the 2024 presidential election, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris did better among higher-income voters than lower-income voters for the first time ever in modern American political history. High-income voters, including high-income White voters and White men with college degrees, are no longer Republican demographic strongholds and voted in line with the national popular vote in 2024.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2023/02/strange-death-centre-right-moderate-conservatism|title=The strange death of the centre right|quote=The traditional centre right of the postwar decades could do so by “bundling” moderate social conservatism (moderate by the standards of its day, at least) with the pro-business economic conservatism favoured by higher earners. But today those two elements are coming apart: richer folk are more likely to have gone to university and be socially liberal, while social conservatism is more associated with poorer groups. That puts centre-right politics in zugzwang: forced to move, but with no good options. It can emphasize its social conservatism and lose pro-business graduates to the centre, or play it down, shore up its support among those voters and lose social conservatives to the radical right.|first1=Jeremy|last1=Cliffe|date=February 15, 2023|access-date=February 5, 2025|website=New Statesman|archive-date=February 11, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250211103019/https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2023/02/strange-death-centre-right-moderate-conservatism|url-status=live}} Harris only narrowly lost White voters making $100,000 to $199,999 (49–50%), over $200,000 (48–51%), and White men with college degrees (48–50%), all on par with Harris losing the popular vote 48–50%. White men with college degrees are the highest-income demographic group.

Nate Silver argues that the urban-rural divide, educational polarization, and racial polarization have rendered income irrelevant to voters in the Trump era.{{Cite web |title=How culture trumps economic class as the new political fault line|date=March 28, 2024|website=Silver Bulletin|access-date=January 13, 2025|first1=Nate|last1=Silver|url=https://www.natesilver.net/p/how-culture-trumps-economic-class}}

African Americans continue to be the lowest-income demographic in the United States. According to 2024 exit polls, 45% of Black voters made less than $50,000 a year, compared to 27% of the electorate. Harris still won most of the lowest-income counties, which are mainly majority-Black counties in the Southern Black Belt.

Higher educational attainment is strongly correlated to higher income and wealth, and the 2021-2023 inflation surge resulted in lower-income voters losing purchasing power while higher-income voters gained from asset prices increasing due to inflation, including stocks and real estate.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/b0a60325-4c93-49a0-8dc6-817f0d8281fc|title=This was an election on the US economy. And for many Americans, the economy sucks|date=November 8, 2024|website=Financial Times|access-date=November 8, 2024|first1=Tej|last1=Parikh}}

• Among White voters in 2024, income was negatively correlated with support for Kamala Harris. Specifically, Harris lost White voters making less than $30,000 (34–63%), those making between $30,000 to $49,999 (37–62%), and those making $50,000 to $99,999 (42–56%). Harris only narrowly lost White voters making $100,000 to $199,999 (49–50%) and those making more than $200,000 (48–51%).{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/politics/390108/working-class-definition-voters-2024|title=What does 'working class' even mean?|quote=The criticism that Democrats left America’s working class behind surged after the 2024 election. Here’s why the term is so hard to define — and why that maters.|website=Vox|date=December 9, 2024|access-date=December 9, 2024}}
• Among the electorate as a whole, Harris won those making less than $30,000 (50–46%), lost those making between $30,000 and $99,999 (46–52%), won those making between $100,000 and $199,999 (51–48%), and won those making over $200,000 (52–46%). Harris' strongest income demographic were voters making over $200,000 a year.{{cite news |date=January 19, 2025 |title=Charting the Biden economy: Despite all the growth and jobs, a deeply unpopular president |publisher=CNBC |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/19/charting-the-biden-economy-deeply-unpopular-despite-growth-and-jobs.html|quote=Joe Biden leaves the presidency with what appears to be a sterling economic record. There's just one problem, and it is one that will forever taint the 46th president's legacy. Inflation and its onerous burden on households, particularly at the lower end of the income spectrum, dwarfed all the other good that happened on Biden's watch.}}

After controlling for education, there was little difference in White voter support for Harris by annual income. Note than 54% of White voters did not have degrees, and 46% of White voters did have college degrees.

• Harris lost White voters without college degrees making less than $50,000 (30–68%), making between $50,000 and $99,999 (32–67%), and making over $100,000 (33–66%). Among White voters without college degrees, 36% made less than $50,000, 35% made between $50,000 and $99,999, and 30% over $100,000.
• Harris won White voters with college degrees making less than $50,000 (54–44%), making between $50,000 and $99,999 (54–45%), and making over $100,000 (53–46%). Among White voters with college degrees, 11% made less than $50,000, 27% made between $50,000 and $99,999, and 62% made over $100,000.

According to a 2022 Gallup poll, roughly equal proportions of Democrats (64-35%) and Republicans (66-34%) had money invested in the stock market.{{cite web |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/266807/percentage-americans-owns-stock.aspx |first1=Lydia |last1=Saad |first2=Jeffrey M. |last2=Jones |title=What Percentage of Americans Own Stock? |date=May 12, 2022 |website= |publisher=Gallup, Inc. |access-date=May 12, 2022 |archive-date=May 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512001808/https://news.gallup.com/poll/266807/percentage-americans-owns-stock.aspx |url-status=live }}

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| alt1 = College White vote in the 2020 presidential election by state

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| alt2 = Non-college White vote in the 2020 presidential election by state

| footer = {{center|Top and bottom: College White vote and Non-college White vote in the 2020 presidential election by state.{{Cite web|url=https://split-ticket.org/2022/01/03/the-white-vote-and-educational-polarization/|title=The White Vote and Educational Polarization|first1=Lakshya|last1=Jain|date=January 3, 2022|access-date=January 4, 2025|website=Split Ticket|quote=Before proceeding, it is worth pointing out that educational attainment, while highly informative, is by no means definitive. As David Shor and Ezra Klein have both said, the metric really serves as a proxy for class polarization, but while it is increasingly predictive, it is not the sole determining factor in a person’s vote.}}}}

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File:Educational Polarization Ratios by State.jpg

In the 2020 presidential election, college-educated White voters in all 50 states voted more Democratic than non-college White voters, as displayed in the two maps. As of 2022, over 90% of American adults over the age of 25 have completed high school. However, only 35% have a Bachelor's degree and 17% have a graduate degree. Higher educational attainment among White voters corresponds to increased ideological support for the Democratic Party.

Educational attainment is not the only factor that affects ideology among White voters. After controlling for education, there still remain huge variations by state and region. Educational polarization is weaker than racial polarization in the South.

• Southern White voters with college degrees remain strongly Republican, with Harris losing them 41–57% in the 2024 presidential election. Harris won White voters with college degrees in the Midwestern United States 50-48%, the Northeastern United States 61-38%, and in the Western United States 67-30%. Harris won White voters with college degrees as a whole 53-45%.
• Harris lost White voters without college degrees 24–75% in the Southern United States, 32–67% in the Midwestern United States, 37–61% in the Northeastern United States, and 42–56% in the Western United States. Harris lost White voters without college degrees as a whole 32–66%.

Educational polarization has benefitted Democrats in some well-educated Southern states, because it has not changed African American support for Democrats. Democrats are competitive in Georgia and North Carolina because there is much more room for Democrats to grow among White Southerners with college degrees than ground for Democrats to fall among White Southerners without college degrees. This also keeps Virginia reliably Democratic, despite its White voters voting Republican.{{Cite web|url=https://www.patrickruffini.com/p/why-trump-lost-georgia|title=Why Trump lost Georgia|date=September 26, 2023|first1=Patrick|last1=Ruffini|access-date=March 27, 2024|website=The Intersection|quote=But this proximity belies highly racially polarized voting. Black adults outnumber white adults by 1 point and Biden voters Trump voters by a nearly identical 4 points. The Black Belt is one of four regions—including Southern Georgia, the Northern Highlands, and the Metro Borderlands, where the white vote for Republicans ranges upwards of 80 percent. This fact alone helps explain why education polarization in the South hasn’t helped Trump: there are few non-college white Democrats to flip, but a lot of upside for Democrats in flipping still very Republican college-educated whites.}}

In the 2024 presidential election, among White voters educational attainment was strongly positively correlated with support for Kamala Harris. Specifically, as educational attainment increased among White voters, so did support for Harris. It wasn't only about having a college degree or not, but rather support for Harris continuously increased as educational attainment increased.

• In particular, Harris lost White voters with high school or less 25–73%, an Associate degree 31–67%, and some college 38–61%. Harris tied with Trump among White voters with a Bachelor's degree 49-49%, and won White voters with a graduate degree 58-40%.

Educational polarization is stronger than gender and marital status among White voters, but weaker than racial polarization in the South.{{cite news|date=November 6, 2024|title=Exit poll results 2024|url=https://www.cnn.com/election/2024/exit-polls/national-results/general/president/0|access-date=November 6, 2024|publisher=CNN}}

• Harris won White women with college degrees (58-41%) and lost White men with college degrees (48–50%) by the same as the popular vote.
• Harris lost White women without college degrees (35–63%) and White men without college degrees (29–69%).

According to a Gallup poll in November 2024, unionization rates were positively correlated to increased educational attainment and higher income. In particular, 15% of those with graduate degrees, 8% with bachelor's degrees, 9% with some college, and 5% with high school or less were unionized. Also, 11% of those with household incomes of $100,000 or more, 7% of those with $40,000 to $99,999, and 3% with less than $40,000 were unionized. Also only 6% of those in the private sector were unionized, compared to 28% of government employees.{{Cite web|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/265958/percentage-workers-union-members.aspx#:~:text=The%20more%20educated%20an%20employee,likely%20to%20be%20union%20members.|title=What Percentage of U.S. Workers Belong to a Labor Union?|date=November 20, 2024|website=Gallup|access-date=December 13, 2024}}

Many Democrats without college degrees differ from liberals in their more socially moderate views, and are more likely to belong to an ethnic minority.{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/12/politics/republicans-democrats-different-worlds/index.html|title=Republicans and Democrats increasingly really do occupy different worlds|last=Brownstein|first=Ronald|publisher=CNN|access-date=October 24, 2018|archive-date=October 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024113248/https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/12/politics/republicans-democrats-different-worlds/index.html|url-status=live|quote=On the one hand, non-college whites almost always expressed more conservative views than did either non-whites or whites with a college degree living in the same kind of geographic area.}}{{Cite web |last=Teixeira |first=Ruy |author-link=Ruy Teixeira |date=November 6, 2022 |title=Democrats' Long Goodbye to the Working Class |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/11/democrats-long-goodbye-to-the-working-class/672016/ |access-date=November 8, 2022 |website=The Atlantic |language=en |quote=As we move into the endgame of the 2022 election, the Democrats face a familiar problem. America's historical party of the working class keeps losing working-class support. And not just among White voters. Not only has the emerging Democratic majority I once predicted failed to materialize, but many of the non-White voters who were supposed to deliver it are instead voting for Republicans... From 2012 to 2020, the Democrats not only saw their support among White working-class voters — those without college degrees — crater, they also saw their advantage among non-White working-class voters fall by 18 points. And between 2016 and 2020 alone, the Democratic advantage among Hispanic voters declined by 16 points, overwhelmingly driven by the defection of working-class voters. In contrast, Democrats' advantage among White college-educated voters improved by 16 points from 2012 to 2020, an edge that delivered Joe Biden the White House. |archive-date=January 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107212010/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/11/democrats-long-goodbye-to-the-working-class/672016/ |url-status=live }} White voters with college degrees are more likely to live in urban areas.

• There was no difference in support for Harris from African Americans based on education, with Harris winning African Americans with and without a college degree 86-13%.
• There was a modest difference in support for Harris among Hispanic voters with a college degree (54-42%) and without a college degree (51-48%). This was far less than the differences among Hispanic voters in urban (57-39%), suburban (51-48%), and rural areas (33–66%).{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2014/9/24/6840037/white-high-school-dropouts-have-more-wealth-than-black-and-hispanic|title=White high school dropouts are wealthier than Black or Latino college graduates|first1=Danielle|last1=Kurtzleben|date=September 24, 2014|website=Vox}}

{{further|Factions in the Democratic Party (United States)}}

File:Educational Attainment in the States won by Kamala Harris in 2024.png

Upon foundation, the Democratic Party supported agrarianism and the Jacksonian democracy movement of President Andrew Jackson, representing farmers and rural interests and traditional Jeffersonian democrats.John Ashworth, "Agrarians" & "aristocrats": Party political ideology in the United States, 1837–1846(1983) Since the 1890s, especially in northern states, the party began to favor more liberal positions (the term "liberal" in this sense describes modern liberalism, rather than classical liberalism or economic liberalism). Historically, the party has represented farmers, laborers, and religious and ethnic minorities as it has opposed unregulated business and finance and favored progressive income taxes.

In the 1930s, the party began advocating social programs targeted at the poor. Before the New Deal, the party had a fiscally conservative, pro-business wing, typified by Grover Cleveland and Al Smith.Susan Dunn, Roosevelt's Purge: How FDR Fought to Change the Democratic Party (2010) pp. 202–213. The party was dominant in the Southern United States until President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In foreign policy, internationalism (including interventionism) was a dominant theme from 1913 to the mid-1960s. The major influences for liberalism were labor unions (which peaked in the 1936–1952 era) and African Americans. Environmentalism has been a major component since the 1970s.

Even after the New Deal, until the 2010s, the party still had a fiscally conservative faction,{{cite news |last1=Kane |first1=Paul |date=January 15, 2014 |title=Blue Dog Democrats, whittled down in number, are trying to regroup |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/blue-dog-democrats-whittled-down-in-number-are-trying-to-regroup/2014/01/15/37d4e7e2-7dfd-11e3-95c6-0a7aa80874bc_story.html |url-status=live |access-date=July 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116091758/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/blue-dog-democrats-whittled-down-in-number-are-trying-to-regroup/2014/01/15/37d4e7e2-7dfd-11e3-95c6-0a7aa80874bc_story.html |archive-date=January 16, 2014 |quote=Four years ago, they were the most influential voting bloc on Capitol Hill, more than 50 House Democrats pulling their liberal colleagues to a more centrist, fiscally conservative vision on issues such as health care and Wall Street reforms.}} such as John Nance Garner and Howard W. Smith.{{cite book|first=James T.|last=Patterson|title=Congressional Conservatism and the New Deal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y8MfBgAAQBAJ&pg=PR7|year=1967|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|pages=vii–viii|isbn=9780813164045}} The party's Southern conservative wing began shrinking after President Lyndon B. Johnson supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and largely died out in the 2010s, as the Republican Party built up its Southern base. The party still receives support from African Americans and urban areas in the Southern United States.{{cite web |last1=Kilgore |first1=Ed |title=A Different Kind of Democratic Party Is Rising in the South |date=November 9, 2018 |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/changing-southern-democratic-party.html |work=New York |access-date=November 9, 2018}}{{Cite news|title=National Results 2020 President exit polls.|url=https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/exit-polls/president/national-results|access-date=December 4, 2020|publisher=CNN|language=en}}

The 21st century Democratic Party is predominantly a coalition of centrists, liberals, and progressives, with significant overlap between the three groups. In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that among Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters, 47% identify as liberal or very liberal, 38% identify as moderate, and 14% identify as conservative or very conservative.{{cite web |last1=Gilberstadt |first1=Hannah |last2=Daniller |first2=Andrew |date=January 17, 2020 |title=Liberals make up the largest share of Democratic voters, but their growth has slowed in recent years |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/01/17/liberals-make-up-largest-share-of-democratic-voters/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200117201701/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/01/17/liberals-make-up-largest-share-of-democratic-voters/ |archive-date=January 17, 2020 |access-date=June 12, 2020 |website=Pew Research Center}}{{cite web |last1=Brownstein |first1=Ronald |title=The Democrats' Coalition Could Fundamentally Change by 2020 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/05/democrats-progressive-agenda-and-2020-election/589066/ |website=The Atlantic |date=May 9, 2019 |access-date=March 13, 2020 |archive-date=March 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323161712/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/05/democrats-progressive-agenda-and-2020-election/589066/ |url-status=live}} Political scientists characterize the Democratic Party as less ideologically cohesive than the Republican Party due to the broader diversity of coalitions that compose the Democratic Party.{{Cite journal|last1=Gidron|first1=Noam|last2=Ziblatt|first2=Daniel|date=May 11, 2019|title=Center-Right Political Parties in Advanced Democracies |journal=Annual Review of Political Science|language=en|volume=22|issue=1|pages=17–35|doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-090717-092750|s2cid=182421002|issn=1094-2939|doi-access=free }}{{Cite book|last1=Grossman|first1=Matt|url=https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190626594.001.0001/acprof-9780190626594|title=Asymmetric Politics: Ideological Republicans and Group Interest Democrats|last2=Hopkins|first2=David A.|date=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-062659-4|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190626594.001.0001|access-date=November 10, 2021|archive-date=November 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128121511/https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190626594.001.0001/acprof-9780190626594|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last1=Lelkes|first1=Yphtach|last2=Sniderman|first2=Paul M.|year=2016|title=The Ideological Asymmetry of the American Party System|journal=British Journal of Political Science|language=en|volume=46|issue=4|pages=825–844|doi=10.1017/S0007123414000404|issn=0007-1234|doi-access=free}}

The party has lost significant ground with voters without college degrees in the 21st century, in line with trends across the developed world. The realignment unfolded gradually, first with White voters in the South{{Cite web|url=https://washingtonmonthly.com/2014/11/10/from-yellow-dogs-to-blue-dogs-to-new-dogs/|title=From Yellow Dogs To Blue Dogs To New Dogs|first1=Ed|last1=Kilgore|date=November 10, 2014|website=Washington Monthly|access-date=December 24, 2016|quote=Even more to the point, once the ancient white Democratic voting habits were broken, there was really no going back. Blue Dogs were a fading echo of the Yellow Dog tradition in the South, in which the Democratic Party was the default vehicle for day-to-day political life, and the dominant presence, regardless of ideology, for state and local politics. ... So Martin’s right: the Blue Dog model is gone for good. But I would warn against the very popular assumption that Democrats can simply intone "economic populism" and regain traction among "the economically pressed white voter" of the Deep South. All the reasons Democrats are struggling with non-college-educated white voters nationally are especially strong in the South: racial and religious fears, anti-urbanism, militarism, and mistrust of unions as well as Wall Street. And for a whole host of reasons, including exceptionally weak union affiliation levels and a neo-colonial heritage as a region starved for capital, the Deep South is going to be more “pro-business” than most of the country.}} and Midwest,{{Cite web|url=https://unherd.com/newsroom/is-obama-the-reason-democrats-are-now-underdogs/|title=Is Obama the reason Democrats are now 'underdogs'?|date=August 21, 2024|access-date=December 10, 2024|website=UnHerd|first1=Michael|last1=Cuenco|quote=Consider that when Obama last ran, the Midwest was still known as an impenetrable Blue Wall, while Florida and Ohio were still purple states. When Bill Clinton gave his acceptance speech in 1996, the Democrats were competitive throughout large swathes of the South. During that period, they had gone on to win not just Clinton’s Arkansas and Al Gore’s Tennessee, but states such as Kentucky and Louisiana too. The story of the last three decades has been one of political success for Democrats, who have won the popular vote in seven out of the last nine elections. Yet it is also one of narrowing political constituencies and pyrrhic victories, as the party attracted college-educated professionals at the expense of the non-college-educated majority. In particular, non-college-educated whites were lost, but in recent years they have increasingly been joined by significant numbers of non-college-educated minorities.}} and later with voters as a whole without college degrees, except for African Americans.{{Cite web|url=https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/the-end-of-the-line-for-red-state-senate-democrats/|title=The End of the Line for Red State Senate Democrats|date=December 5, 2024|access-date=January 17, 2025|first1=Kyle|last1=Kondik|website=Sabato's Crystal Ball|quote=As part of capturing the Senate this year, Republicans knocked out the final remaining Democratic senators from a group of 20 states that have consistently voted Republican for president since at least the 2000 election. A quarter-century ago, Democrats held nearly a third of the Senate seats from these 20 states. But that tally was down to just 2 leading into this election, and Republican victories in Montana and West Virginia reduced it to 0.}}

Democrats have consistently won voters with graduate degrees since the 1990s, including a majority of White voters with graduate degrees.{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/10/13/polarisation-by-education-is-remaking-american-politics|title=Polarisation by education is remaking American politics|newspaper=The Economist|date=October 13, 2024|quote=From 1952 to 2000, a majority of white voters with college degrees self-identified as Republicans. Starting with the 2012 election, this affiliation began to weaken. It loosened even more once [Donald] Trump became the Republican standard-bearer in 2016. By 2020, the college-educated called themselves Democrats by a 2:1 margin. And there were many more of them; their share of the electorate rose from 8% in 1952 to 40% in 2020. Had the party held on to the rest of its support, this would have ensured an enduring majority. Yet at the same time, Democrats lost support among whites without college degrees. They now favour Republicans by their own margin of 2:1.}} Since the 2010s, the party's main demographic gains have been among White voters with college degrees, which were previously a Republican-leaning group until 2016.{{cite web|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/even-among-the-wealthy-education-predicts-trump-support/|title=Even Among The Wealthy, Education Predicts Trump Support|date=November 29, 2016|first1=Harry|last1=Enten|website=FiveThirtyEight|quote=First, it's clear from the exit polls that for white voters, every bit of extra education meant less support for Trump. ... Second, education matters a lot even when separating out income levels. ... Third, Trump saw little difference in his support between income levels within each education group.}} The party still receives extremely strong support from African Americans, but has lost ground among other racial minorities, including Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asian Americans.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/25/upshot/democrats-trump-working-class.html|title=How Democrats Lost Their Base and their Message|website=The New York Times|first1=Nate|last1=Cohn|date=November 25, 2024|access-date=November 25, 2024|quote=Donald Trump's populist pitch bumped Democrats off their traditional place in American politics. ... It has long been clear that the rise of Donald J. Trump meant the end of the Republican Party as we once knew it. It has belatedly become clear that his rise may have meant the end of the Democratic Party as we knew it as well. After three Trump elections, almost every traditional Democratic constituency has swung to the right. In fact, Mr. Trump has made larger gains among Black, Hispanic, Asian American and young voters in his three campaigns since 2016 than he has among white voters without a college degree, according to New York Times estimates. In each case, Mr. Trump fared better than any Republican in decades. ... The overarching pattern is clear. In election after election, Democrats underperformed among traditional Democratic constituencies during the Trump era. Sometimes, it was merely a failure to capitalize on his unpopularity. Other times, it was a staggering decline in support. Together, it has shattered Democratic dreams of building a new majority with the rise of a new generation of young and nonwhite voters. This overarching pattern requires an overarching explanation: Mr. Trump’s populist conservatism corroded the foundations of the Democratic Party’s appeal. It tapped into many of the issues and themes that once made these voters Democrats.}}

{{see also|Modern liberalism in the United States}}

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| image1 = Self-identified liberals 2018 Gallup.svg

| alt1 = Percent of self-identified liberals by state in 2018

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| alt2 = Correlation between Educational Attainment and Liberalism by State

| footer = {{center|Top: Percent of self-identified liberals by state in 2018, according to a Gallup poll.{{Cite web|last=Jones|first=Jeffrey M.|date=February 22, 2019|title=Conservatives Greatly Outnumber Liberals in 19 U.S. States|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/247016/conservatives-greatly-outnumber-liberals-states.aspx|access-date=December 27, 2021|website=Gallup|language=en}} Bottom: Linear regression of educational attainment vs. liberalism by state, based on the same Gallup data.}}

}}

Modern liberals are a large portion of the Democratic base. According to 2018 exit polls, liberals constituted 27% of the electorate, and 91% of American liberals favored the candidate of the Democratic Party.{{cite web |title=Exit Polls |url=https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/exit-polls |website=CNN Politics |access-date=July 4, 2020 |archive-date=November 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114225635/https://www.cnn.com/election/2018/exit-polls |url-status=live}} White-collar college-educated professionals were mostly Republican until the 1950s, but they had become a vital component of the Democratic Party by the early 2000s.{{cite web|last=Judis|first=John B.|title=The trouble with Howard Dean|work=Salon|url=http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2003/07/11/dean/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921000516/http://www.salon.com/2003/07/11/dean_15/|archive-date=September 21, 2012|date=July 11, 2003|access-date=July 19, 2007|url-status=dead}}

According to a 2025 Gallup poll, 37% of American voters identify as "conservative" or "very conservative", 34% as "moderate", and 25% as "liberal" or "very liberal". For Democrats, 9% identified as conservative, 34% as moderate, and 55% as liberal.{{cite web|website=Gallup|title=U.S. Political Parties Historically Polarized Ideologically|first1=Megan|last1=Brenan|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/655190/political-parties-historically-polarized-ideologically.aspx|date=January 16, 2025|access-date=January 16, 2025}}

A large majority of liberals favor moving toward universal health care. A majority also favor diplomacy over military action; stem cell research, same-sex marriage, stricter gun control, environmental protection laws, as well as the preservation of abortion rights. Immigration and cultural diversity are deemed positive as liberals favor cultural pluralism, a system in which immigrants retain their native culture in addition to adopting their new culture. Most liberals oppose increased military spending and the mixing of church and state.{{cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/11/09/beyond-red-vs-blue-the-political-typology-2/|title=Pew Research Center. (May 10, 2005). Beyond Red vs. Blue, p. 1 of 8|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731155950/http://www.people-press.org/2005/05/10/beyond-red-vs-blue/|archive-date=July 31, 2012|access-date=July 12, 2007|url-status=dead |date=May 10, 2005}} As of 2020, the three most significant labor groupings in the Democratic coalition were the AFL–CIO and Change to Win labor federations as well as the National Education Association, a large, unaffiliated teachers' union. Important issues for labor unions include supporting unionized manufacturing jobs, raising the minimum wage, and promoting broad social programs such as Social Security and Medicare.{{cite web |last1=Lipka |first1=Michael |last2=Smith |first2=Gregory A. |date=January 31, 2020 |title=Among Democrats, Christians lean toward Biden, while 'nones' prefer Sanders |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/01/31/among-democrats-christians-lean-toward-biden-while-nones-prefer-sanders/ |access-date=November 16, 2020 |website=Pew Research Center |archive-date=February 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211092938/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/01/31/among-democrats-christians-lean-toward-biden-while-nones-prefer-sanders/ |url-status=live }}

This ideological group is strongly correlated with high educational attainment. According to the Pew Research Center, 49% were college graduates, the highest figure of any typographical group. It was also the fastest growing typological group since the late 1990s to the present. Liberals include most of the academia{{cite news|title=College Faculties A Most Liberal Lot, Study Finds|last=Kurtz|first=Howard|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8427-2005Mar28.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604090510/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8427-2005Mar28.html|archive-date=June 4, 2012|access-date=July 2, 2007|date=March 29, 2005|url-status=dead}} and large portions of the professional class.

{{see also|New Democrats (United States)|New Democrat Coalition|Blue Dog Coalition}}

Moderate Democrats, or New Democrats, are an ideologically centrist faction within the Democratic Party that emerged after the victory of Republican George H. W. Bush in the 1988 presidential election.{{cite web |title=DLC: The New American Choice Resolutions |url=http://www.dlc.org/ndol_cid211.html?kaid=86&subid=194&contentid=1251 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140111224830/http://www.dlc.org/ndol_cid211.html?kaid=86&subid=194&contentid=1251 |archive-date=January 11, 2014 |access-date=February 25, 2013 |work=Democratic Leadership Council}} Running as a New Democrat, Bill Clinton won the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections.Alvarez, R. Michael, and Jonathan Nagler. "Economics, Entitlements, and Social Issues: Voter Choice in the 1996 Presidential Election." American Journal of Political Science 42, no. 4 (1998): 1361. They are an economically liberal and "Third Way" faction that dominated the party for around 20 years, until the beginning of Obama's presidency.{{cite web |last1=Yglesias |first1=Matthew |title=Bill Clinton is still a star, but today's Democrats are dramatically more liberal than his party|url=https://www.vox.com/2016/7/26/12280198/democrats-changed-since-1992 |website=Vox |date=July 26, 2016 |access-date=May 31, 2022}} They are represented by organizations such as the New Democrat Network and the New Democrat Coalition.

The Blue Dog Coalition was formed during the 104th Congress to give members from the Democratic Party representing conservative-leaning districts a unified voice after the Democrats' loss of Congress in the 1994 Republican Revolution.{{cite web |last1=Dumain |first1=Emma |date=May 12, 2015 |title=20 years in, Blue Dogs not ready to roll over |url=https://www.rollcall.com/news/blue-dogs |website=rollcall.com}}{{cite web |title=History |url=http://ross.house.gov/BlueDog/history.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20120405021833/http://ross.house.gov/BlueDog/history.htm |archive-date=April 5, 2012 |access-date=April 10, 2012 |website=ross.house.gov/BlueDog/ |publisher=Blue Dog Coalition}}{{cite news |last=Bendavid |first=Naftali |date=July 28, 2009 |title='Blue Dog' Democrats hold health care overhaul at bay |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal}} However, in the late 2010s and early 2020s, the Coalition's focus shifted towards ideological centrism. One of the most influential centrist groups was the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), a nonprofit organization that advocated centrist positions for the party. The DLC disbanded in 2011.{{cite web |date=February 7, 2011 |title=Democratic Leadership Council will fold |url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0211/Democratic_Leadership_Council_will_fold.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626020036/http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0211/Democratic_Leadership_Council_will_fold.html |archive-date=June 26, 2015 |access-date=September 18, 2011 |website=Politico}}

Some Democratic elected officials have self-declared as being centrists, including former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, Senator Mark Warner, Kansas governor Laura Kelly, former Senator Jim Webb, and President Joe Biden.{{cite web |title=Members – New Democrat Coalition |url=https://newdemocratcoalition-kind.house.gov/members |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907005152/https://newdemocratcoalition-kind.house.gov/members |archive-date=September 7, 2016}}{{cite journal |last=Hale |first=Jon F. |date=January 1, 1995 |title=The Making of the New Democrats |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=110 |issue=2 |pages=207–232 |doi=10.2307/2152360 |jstor=2152360}} The New Democrat Network supports socially liberal and fiscally moderate Democratic politicians and is associated with the congressional New Democrat Coalition in the House.{{cite web |title=New Democrat Coalition |url=http://newdemocratcoalition.house.gov/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308074931/https://newdemocratcoalition.house.gov/ |archive-date=March 8, 2022 |access-date=March 11, 2022}} Annie Kuster is the chair of the coalition, and former senator and President Barack Obama was self-described as a New Democrat.{{cite web |date=March 10, 2009 |title=Obama: 'I am a New Democrat' |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2009/03/obama-i-am-a-new-democrat-019862 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419161022/http://www.politico.com/story/2009/03/obama-i-am-a-new-democrat-019862#ixzz3o9jykSUe |archive-date=April 19, 2017 |access-date=April 16, 2017 |work=Politico}} In the 21st century, some former Republican moderates have switched to the Democratic Party.{{cite web |last=Tatum |first=Sophie |title=3 Kansas legislators switch from Republican to Democrat |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/19/politics/kansas-legislature-republican-democrat/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=December 20, 2018 |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030091356/https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/19/politics/kansas-legislature-republican-democrat/index.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Weiner |first=Rachel |title=Charlie Crist defends party switch |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2012/12/10/charlie-crist-defends-party-switch/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-date=February 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225143218/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2012/12/10/charlie-crist-defends-party-switch/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Davis |first=Susan |title=Meltdown On Main Street: Inside The Breakdown Of The GOP's Moderate Wing |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/08/23/753404051/meltdown-on-main-street-inside-the-breakdown-of-the-gops-moderate-wing |publisher=NPR |date=August 23, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=June 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617124126/https://www.npr.org/2019/08/23/753404051/meltdown-on-main-street-inside-the-breakdown-of-the-gops-moderate-wing |url-status=live }}

{{see also|Congressional Progressive Caucus|Progressivism in the United States|Social democracy}}

File:Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez & Bernie Sanders (54401273607).jpg and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during the Fighting Oligarchy Tour]]

Progressives are the most left-leaning faction in the party and support strong business regulations, social programs, and workers' rights.{{cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/65/pr/progrsvsm.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629030845/http://www.bartleby.com/65/pr/progrsvsm.html|archive-date=June 29, 2008|title=Progressivism|publisher=Columbia Encyclopaedia|year=2007|access-date=January 19, 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~ppennock/Progressive%20Reforms.htm|title=Important Examples of Progressive Reforms|publisher=University of Michigan|access-date=April 2, 2014|archive-date=February 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212014328/http://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~ppennock/Progressive%20Reforms.htm|url-status=dead}} In 2014, progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren set out "Eleven Commandments of Progressivism": tougher regulation on corporations; affordable education; scientific investment and environmentalism; net neutrality; increased wages; equal pay for women; collective bargaining rights; defending social programs; same-sex marriage; immigration reform; and unabridged access to reproductive healthcare.{{cite news|url=http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/elizabeth-warren-s-11-commandments-of-progressivism-20140718|title=Elizabeth Warren's 11 Commandments of Progressivism|work=National Journal|access-date=October 22, 2014|archive-date=October 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020041916/http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/elizabeth-warren-s-11-commandments-of-progressivism-20140718|url-status=dead}} The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a caucus of progressive Democrats chaired by Pramila Jayapal of Washington.{{cite web |url=https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/jayapal-joins-pocan-as-co-chair-of-congressional-progressive-caucus |title=Jayapal Joins Pocan As Co-Chair of Congressional Progressive Caucus |last=McPherson |first=Lindsey |date=November 29, 2018 |website=rollcall.com |access-date=January 20, 2019 |archive-date=January 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121064755/https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/jayapal-joins-pocan-as-co-chair-of-congressional-progressive-caucus |url-status=live}}{{cite book |last=Gerstle |first=Gary |author-link=Gary Gerstle |date=2022 |title=The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-neoliberal-order-9780197519646?cc=us&lang=en& |publisher=Oxford University Press |quote=The most sweeping account of how neoliberalism came to dominate American politics for nearly a half century before crashing against the forces of Trumpism on the right and a new progressivism on the left. ... As he shows, the neoliberal order that emerged in America in the 1970s fused ideas of deregulation with personal freedoms, open borders with cosmopolitanism, and globalization with the promise of increased prosperity for all.|isbn=978-0197519646 |access-date=August 1, 2024 |archive-date=June 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626220259/https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-neoliberal-order-9780197519646?cc=us&lang=en& |url-status=live }} Its members have included Representatives Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, John Conyers of Michigan, Jim McDermott of Washington, Barbara Lee of California, and Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota. Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, and Ed Markey of Massachusetts were members of the caucus when in the House of Representatives. As of 2024, the CPC is the second-largest ideological caucus in the House Democratic Caucus by voting members, behind the New Democrat Coalition.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/378644/progressives-left-backlash-retreat-kamala-harris-pivot-center|title=The big political shift that explains the 2024 election|date=October 21, 2024|first1=Andrew|last1=Prokop|website=Vox|access-date=October 21, 2024}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.semafor.com/article/10/15/2024/no-matter-who-wins-the-country-is-moving-to-the-right|title=No matter who wins, the US is moving to the right|first1=David|last1=Weigel|date=October 15, 2024|access-date=October 24, 2024|website=Semafor}} Senator Bernie Sanders has often been viewed as a leader of the progressive movement;{{cite web |title=Inside Bernie Sanders' decision to run again |url=https://www.axios.com/2024/05/06/bernie-relection-campaign-2024-age |website=axios.com |date=May 6, 2024 |publisher=Axios |access-date=January 21, 2025}}{{cite web |title=Bernie Sanders: From small-town mayor to godfather of the progressive left |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-bernie-sanders-career-journey-president-socialism-2024-4 |work=Business Insider |access-date=January 21, 2025}}{{cite web |title=Sanders says next term is likely his last |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/10/bernie-sanders-senate-term-00193608 |work=Politico |date=December 10, 2024 |access-date=January 21, 2025}} he ran presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020.{{cite web |title=2020 Bernie Sanders is losing to 2016 Bernie Sanders |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/04/politics/candidate-bernie-sanders-2016-vs-2020/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=March 4, 2020 |access-date=January 24, 2025}} Other members of the progressive faction include the Squad.{{cite news |last=Cornwell |first=Susan |title=Expanding the 'Squad:' U.S. liberals challenge moderate Democrats to move party left |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-democrats/expanding-the-squad-us-liberals-challenge-moderate-democrats-to-move-party-left-idUSKBN1X00ZY |work=Reuters |date=October 21, 2019 |quote=Ocasio-Cortez [...] has since become the face of the 'Squad', freshman Democrats aiming to move the party farther left on issues such as healthcare and climate change. |access-date=November 13, 2019 |archive-date=November 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113110414/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-democrats/expanding-the-squad-us-liberals-challenge-moderate-democrats-to-move-party-left-idUSKBN1X00ZY |url-status=live }}

{{see also|List of presidents of the United States|Republican Party (United States)#Republican presidents}}

{{as of|2025}}, there have been a total of 16 Democratic presidents.

{{see also|Party divisions of United States Congresses}}

{{unclear-section|date=April 2025}}

{{see also|List of United States Democratic Party presidential tickets}}

{{Portal|Liberalism|Politics|United States}}

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