Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major parties in the United States. The party is currently the minority party in the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, and among state governors. The party also trails in state legislatures as the Republican Party controls 21 legislatures and Democrats control 19. Ten states are divided legislatures. Of the two major U.S. parties, the Democratic Party is to the left of the Republican Party, though its politics are not as consistently leftist as the traditional social democratic and labor parties in much of the rest of the world.

Related Topics:
Parties - United States - Minority party - Senate - House of Representatives - State legislatures - Republican Party - Left - Social democratic - Labor

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The Democratic Party started out as a conservative party in the early nineteenth century, later moving to the left over the course of the 20th century. The Republican Party had experienced a similar transition, from a progressive party to conservative party. In a way, one could say the parties "switched sides" with each other on the political spectrum. Recently, the party has been divided between two factions: the "Progressives" and the "New Democrats". Progressives have a left-wing position on most issues and work to move the party left or keep the party from moving to the right anymore than it already has, while the New Democrats, who like the New Labour faction of the UK Labour Party, have been working to move the party rightward to a centrist or conservative position.

Related Topics:
Progressives - New Democrats - New Labour

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