Advertisement

Advertisement

Democratic Party

noun

  1. one of the two major political parties in the U.S., founded in 1828.


Democratic Party

noun

  1. (in the US) the older and more liberal of the two major political parties, so named since 1840 Compare Republican Party
  2. (in South Africa) a multiracial political party of the centre-left, now the main opposition to the African National Congress DP


Democratic party

1
  1. One of the two major political parties in the United States; the Democrats . The origins of the Democrats are in the Democratic-Republican party, organized by Thomas Jefferson in the late eighteenth century; the first president elected simply as a Democrat was Andrew Jackson . Always strong in the South, the party was severely damaged by secession , the Civil War , and Reconstruction , and did not produce a winning presidential candidate between 1861 and 1885, when Grover Cleveland was elected. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, in contrast to the Republicans , the Democrats tended to be the party of the South and West, opposed to the interests of business and the Northeast. Woodrow Wilson , the next Democratic president, was part of the Progressive movement . In the period of the New Deal , in the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt , the Democratic party reached enormous strength among labor union members, minority groups, and middle-income people. The Democratic presidents since Roosevelt have been Harry S. Truman , John F. Kennedy , Lyndon Johnson , James Earl Carter , and William Jefferson Clinton .


Democratic party

2
  1. A political party that arose in the 1820s from a split in the Democratic-Republican party. Andrew Jackson was the first president elected from the Democratic party. The other Democratic presidents elected before the Civil War were Martin Van Buren, James K. Polk , Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan. The party generally opposed the national bank, high protective tariffs , interference with slavery, and federal aid for internal improvements in the nation — all measures that the Whigs came to favor. The Democrats' greatest strength was with farmers, laborers, and people of the frontier.

Discover More

Notes

The Democrats' party symbol (see also symbol ) is the donkey .
Under President Clinton, the Democratic Party shed some of its New Deal legacies in order to win back white working-class and middle-class voters lost to the Republicans.
Since the New Deal , Democrats have emphasized the role of the federal government in promoting social, economic, and political opportunities for all citizens. They generally support a tax system that places a greater burden on the rich and large corporations , and they prefer spending on social programs to spending on defense. Today most blacks, along with Jews (see also Jews ), liberals , and labor unions, support the party, which since the 1930s has been strong in major cities. The Democrats' strength in the white South, its strongest base before 1950, has slipped significantly, and in the 1970s and 1980s many blue-collar workers shifted to the Republican party .

Discover More

Compare Meanings

How does Democratic Party compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

Discover More

Example Sentences

Much to the frustration of many Democratic Party activists, major Democratic organizations also tend to be based in Washington and often more focused on federal policy as opposed to what is happening in states and localities.

Since January 2005, for example, Democratic Party membership has been consistent while Republican Party membership has fallen.

The House, with its Democratic Party majority, would almost certainly not do that.

Photo by Adriana Heldiz On primary election night, San Diego County Democratic Party Chair Will Rodriguez-Kennedy spoke to a room full of supporters as the result rolled in.

Lierman, who lives in Fells Point, is the daughter of Maryland Democratic Party stalwart Terry Lierman.

Public unions have also created conflict with racial minorities, another core Democratic Party constituency.

Are future historians going to look back on the past weekend as the one in which Elizabeth Warren took over the Democratic Party?

No—the way the Democratic Party can best help the poor people of Mississippi is to control Congress and the White House.

White working class distrust of the Democratic Party has gone nationwide.

Is Clinton too close to the Wall Street-Goldman Sachs wing of the Democratic Party?

And look here, don't you try to read me out of the Democratic Party, young man.

Why, his paper would be an organ—an organ of the Democratic Party!

Moreover, he was one of the recognized leaders of the democratic party in this section of the state.

He belonged to the Modern Woodmen of America and he gave his political allegiance to the democratic party.

His political allegiance was given the democratic party and he was one of its recognized leaders.

Advertisement

Word of the Day

tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

Meaning and examples

Start each day with the Word of the Day in your inbox!

By clicking "Sign Up", you are accepting Dictionary.com Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


democratic deficitDemocratic-Republican