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.

Issue positions

The principles and values of any political party - especially one as factional as the Democratic Party - are difficult to define and apply generally to all members of the party. There is always debate within either American major political party. Some members may disagree with one or more plank of his or her party's platform. However, it is important to give researchers and other readers a general idea of a particular party's position on the issues. The following will give readers a summary of the position expressed in the platforms that the Democratic Party adopted in 2000 and 2004.

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• Budget: In the platform of 2004, the Democrats swore to halve the yearly federal budget deficit by 2009. They also stated that they seek "a Constitutional version of the line-item veto to make it easier to root out pork-barrel spending."
• Civil Liberties: In regards to the USA PATRIOT Act, the Democratic agenda is to "change the portions of the Patriot Act that threaten individual rights, such as the library provisions." They further explained in their platform, "Our government should never round up innocent people only because of their religion or ethnicity, and we should never stifle free expression." The party is against racial profiling in the war against terror.
• Crime: Democrats place more focus on methods of prevention of crime rather than on what penalties are applied to crimes. They emphasize improved community policing and more on-duty police officers in order to help accomplish that. Their platforms for 2000 and 2004 also cite crackdowns on gangs and drug trafficking as preventive methods. The 2004 platform also calls for rehabilitation for prisoners, in order to "reintegrate former prisoners into our communities as productive citizens." Their platforms have also particularly addressed the issue of domestic violence, calling for strict penalties for offenders and protections for victims.
• Equality and nondiscrimination: Citing that "a day's work is worth a day's pay," and that on average a woman continues to earn 77% of what a man does, the Democrats call for laws for equitable pay. The Democrats wish to uphold the Americans with Disabilities Act to prohibit discrimination against people on the basis of physical or mental disability. The Democrats cite affirmative action as a method with which to redress past discrimination and to ensure equitable employment regardless of ethnicity or gender.
• Legal standing of same-sex unions: Many Democrats have publicly supported civil unions or same sex marriage, but it is not yet an official position of the party as a whole, or any of the members of the party leadership in Congress. The legal standing of gay marriage is a subject of debate within the Democratic Party. In the campaigns for the Party candidacy for the 2004 presidential election, candidates were divided, with John Kerry supporting civil unions while Howard Dean supported same-sex marriage. Most Democrats support the continued legalization of same-sex marriage and/or unions and progress in their nationwide acceptance. Many Democrats consider gay marriage to be a civil right of Americans.
• Health Care: In their 2004 platform, the Democrats affirmed the pursuit of federally funded zygotic stem-cell "research under the strictest ethical guidelines, but we will not walk away from the chance to save lives and reduce human suffering." Democrats also typically call for "affordable health care," and many advocate an expansion of government funding in this area.
• Choice/Abortion: The Democrats believe that privacy is a constitutional right under the 14th Amendment. Thus as a matter of privacy and gender equality, women should be allowed to control their fertility and child bearing, including access to termination of pregnancy, in accordance with Roe v. Wade. This includes access under Roe v. Wade to surgical termination of pregnancy. Many Democratic politicians include in this right practical access to abortion through government subsidies. In September 1993 Congress rewrote the Hyde Amendment to allow for federal funding of abortions. (NAF Abortion Facts) Their proposal (in 2000 and 2004) for public policy on termination of pregnancy is for abortion to be "safe, legal and rare" - namely, keeping it legal by rejecting laws that include governmental interference in any individual matter, and reducing the number performed by promoting both knowledge of reproduction and incentives for adoption. However, in the platform adopted in 2000, the Democrats stated a respectful inclusiveness of Democrats who feel differently about the issue. (See Democrats for Life.) It should be noted that not all Democratic party members are pro-choice; Democratic Senate minority leader Harry Reid, the party's ranking Congressional leader, is anti-abortion. A stand on abortion rights is sometimes more influenced by religious or personal beliefs than by political party preference.
• Gun Control: The Democratic Party has supported and introduced various gun-control measures over the last 100 years. Most notable of these is the National Firearms Act of 1934 (signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 1939 Gun Control Act (also signed into law by FDR), the 1968 Gun Control Act (introduced by Senator Dodd and heavily endorsed by Senator Edward Kennedy), the Brady law of 1993 (signed by President Bill Clinton), and the Crime Control Act of 1994 (signed by Bill Clinton).