The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States. It is a big tent of competing and often opposing viewpoints, but modern American liberalism, a variant of social liberalism, is the party's majority ideology. The party also has notable centrist and social democratic factions. Its main political rival has been the Republican Party since the 1850s.
Considered to be a historical successor to the left-wing Democratic-Republican Party, the Democratic Party was founded in 1828 and predominantly built by Martin Van Buren, who assembled politicians in every state behind war hero Andrew Jackson, making it arguably the world's oldest active political party. The party supported expansive presidential power, the interests of slave states, agrarianism, and expansionism, while opposing a national bank and high tariffs. It split in 1860 over slavery and won the presidency only twice in the fifty years between 1860 and 1910, although it won the popular vote a total of four times in that period. In the late 19th century, it continued to oppose high tariffs and had fierce internal debates on the gold standard. In the early 20th century, it supported progressive reforms and opposed imperialism, with Woodrow Wilson winning the White House in 1912 and 1916.
Since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition after 1932, the Democratic Party has promoted a social liberal platform, including Social Security and unemployment insurance. The New Deal attracted strong support for the party from recent European immigrants but diminished the party's pro-business wing. From late in Roosevelt's administration through the 1950s, a minority in the party's Southern wing joined with conservative Republicans to slow and stop progressive domestic reforms. Following the Great Society era of progressive legislation under Lyndon B. Johnson, which was often able to overcome the conservative coalition in the 1960s, the core bases of the parties shifted, with the Southern states becoming more reliably Republican and the Northeastern states becoming more reliably Democratic. The party's labor union element has become smaller since the 1970s, and as the American electorate shifted in a more conservative direction following Ronald Reagan's presidency, the election of Bill Clinton marked a move for the party toward the Third Way, moving the party's economic stance towards market-based economic policy. Barack Obama oversaw the party's passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. During Joe Biden's presidency, the Democrats moved closer to the principles of internationalism, advocating for large-scale military support to Israel and Ukraine in response to their conflicts.
The party's philosophy of modern American liberalism blends civil liberty and social equality with support for a mixed capitalist economy. On social issues, it advocates for abortion rights, the legalization of marijuana, stricter gun laws, LGBT rights, as well as criminal justice and immigration reform. Expansion of social programs, including enacting universal healthcare coverage, equal opportunity, and consumer protection form the core of its economic agenda. On abortion, trade, immigration, and foreign policy, the party has taken widely varying positions throughout its history.
As of the 2020s, the party does best among Jewish and Black Americans, women, postgraduates, higher-income voters, sexual minorities, voters under 30, and individuals who live in urban areas. Democrats hold the presidency and a majority in the U.S. Senate, as well as 24 state governorships, 19 state legislatures, 17 state government trifectas, and the mayorships in the majority of the country's major cities. By registered members, the Democratic Party is the largest party in the U.S. and the fourth largest in the world. Including the incumbent, Biden, 16 Democrats have served as president of the United States.
History
Democratic 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. That party died out before the modern Democratic Party was organized; the Jeffersonian party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Historians argue that the modern Democratic Party was first organized in the late 1820s with the election of Andrew Jackson. It was predominately built by Martin Van Buren, who assembled a wide cadre of politicians in every state behind war hero Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, making it the world's oldest active political party.