...Selena Briones 8 November 2012 Government The Democratic Party The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States along with the Republican Party. Since the 1930s, the party has promoted a social liberal and progressive platform, and its Congressional caucus is composed of progressives, liberals, centrists, and left-libertarians. The Democratic party believes, Rights of the Individual, Freedoms of the Individual, Responsibilities of the Individual, and Beliefs Concerning Societal Conditions and Governmental Responsibilities. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous operation in the United States and is among the oldest political parties in the world. The Democratic Party evolved from Anti-Federalist factions that opposed the fiscal policies of Alexander Hamilton in the early 1790s. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison organized these factions into the Democratic-Republican Party. The party favored states' rights and strict adherence to the Constitution; it opposed a national bank and wealthy, moneyed interests. The Democratic-Republican Party ascended to power in the election of 1800. Andrew Jackson is typically considered the first Democratic President of the United States. Current President of the United States Barack Obama is the 15th Democrat to hold that office. As of the 112th Congress following the 2010 elections, the Democratic Party currently holds a minority of seats in the House of Representatives and a...
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...What Is Democratic Socialism? Democratic Socialists believe that the economy and society should be run democratically - to meet the needs of the whole community, not to make profits for a few. To achieve a more just society, many structures of our government and economy must be trasnsformed to through greater economic and social democracy so that ordinary Americans can participate in the decisions that affect our lives. Democracy and socialism go hand in hand. All over the world, wherever the idea of democracy has taken root, the vision of socialism has taken root as well- everywhere but in the United States. Because of this, many false ideas about socialism have developed in the U.S. With this booklet, we hope to answer some of your questions about socialism. • Large corporations seem to be an almost permanent fixture in the US, so what is the point of working towards socialism? In the short term we can't eliminate large corporations, but we can bring them under democratic control. Government could use regulartions and tax incentives to encourage companies to act in the public interest and outlaw destructive activities such as exporting jobs to low-wage countries and polluting our environment. Public pressure and trade unions also have a critical role to play in the struggle to hold corporations accountable. Worker ownership of large corporations is another important possibility for democratizing our economy, and one that has recently seemed more and more attainable. ...
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...From the time of 1801 to 1817, the Democratic-Republicans were in control of the oval office. Jefferson was the first ever elected Democratic-Republican, and Madison was the second. The ideal image of a Democratic-Republican, or Jeffersonian, was an individual who believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution and had beliefs opposite of the Federalists. The Democratic-Republican Presidents, Jefferson and Madison, interpreted the Constitution strictly; however Jefferson often manipulated his interpretations to be favorable to himself. Thomas Jefferson was the first Democratic-Republican to take the oval office. He often interpreted the Constitution rather strictly, but sometimes interprets it loosely when beneficial. For example,...
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...All in all the democratic debate was a welcome change of pace from the republican debate. Unlike the republicans, the democrats were reasonable and most could be considered middle ground politics. Also none of the democratic candidates are widely considered to be insane with their politics (i.e Trump and Ted Cruz). Another nice change is how few democrats compared to republicans (5-21) because only one person is going to win the nomination. The real winner of the debate was Hillary Clinton. For months, she’s been flip flopping on a lot of tough (and often pointless) questions (emails, Benghazi, campaign donors) and she didn’t respond in the right way to stop the fire in time. Now at the debate, she proved why she was and probably will be the...
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... The Democratic-Republican party was one of the most influential parties which has been used to create other parties in the future. It’s founder was Thomas Jefferson. James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson were other leaders that were involved in this party. It was founded in 1792 and dissolved in 1825. The ideology of the Democratic-Republican party are American Republicanism, Classical Liberalism, Decentralization, Jeffersonianism, and agrarianism. American Republicanism is governing a state as a republic. Classical Liberalism is protection...
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...After watching many of the presidential and congressional ads, the Democratic party was most compelling. The Democratic party supports many of the most crucial issues that are hurting our country today such as affordable health care, creating an economy that works for everyone, and end the epidemic of gun violence. Affordable health care is a basic human right that should be accessible to all people. The Democratic party is working towards bringing down the cost not only for the average American, but for low-income families and all immigrants no matter what their status is. Also, lowering prescription drug costs for hardworking families and seniors are a top priority for Democrats. Republicans however, plan on repealing and replacing Obamacare...
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...collection of thoughts and positions on given controversial issues could become a major political party. If you were to believe that only women should be in political office and that abortion should be illegal and birth control banned from sale, you are entitled to this as a free citizen. If you happened to name this “The Democratic Party” it would have no impact on the beliefs that you hold true. Creating a clear division into two major parties excludes the consideration of a hybridization or a complete deviation from both or either. A newly registered citizen that emigrated from Northern Ireland and happens to be a devout Catholic...
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...Democratic peace theory, in its wider interpretation, is the empirical observation that democracies rarely, if ever, fight one another and it is this empirical dyadic observation that that has been described as the “closest thing we have to empirical law” in international relations. [1] Although what is meant by democratic peace is contested, and indeed as its validity as this essay will explore, the theory has been previously under Woodrow Wilson and more currently the Presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, a significant conceptual factor in the formation of American foreign policy.[2] Our aim is a democratic peace, a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman. America acts in this course with friends and allies at our sides, yet we understand our special calling: this great republic will lead the cause of freedom. In light of this statement, ongoing U.S. policy and its likely persistence an examination and understanding of the democracy peace proposition is clearly with merit. This essay will look at the democratic peace proposition at a several levels of analysis: at the monadic level of interstate war on whether democracies generally are more peaceful and whether transitional democracies are more inclined to war; and at the intrastate level as to whether democracies experience more or less civil war. It will examine the validity of the proposition(s), reasons for is occurrence and postulate on what implication there may be for...
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...Democratic Debate Before watching the Democratic Debate, I thought that the setting in which it took place would be more private and formal. I didn’t know that the candidates would be answering some questions from other people, but that idea really appealed to me. I also thought that the contestants would nicely raise their hand in order to respond to a question or an opinion instead of blurting out arguments. The placement also might have affected the whole event since the two candidates on the outside did not get to speak frequently so I barely have any information from them so I will not include them in these topics. But overall, it was a pleasure to spectate the discussion. While I listened to some of the contenders’ opinion on how we whould fix gun control, I have to say that Martin O’Malley, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders all had great concepts of adjusting it. Sanders, Clinton, and O’Malley all said that we should expand background checks so that we can hopefully confirm that we are selling a weapon to someone who’s not going to violently violate the law. Even though Sanders came from a rural city and their views on gun control is completely different from urban cities, I...
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...World Bank and IMF are lending institutions that provide funding to developing countries. These developing countries are to use this funding to support projects and/or policies that are designed to fight poverty and other economic concerns. Developing countries such as, Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) are plagued with poverty, health concerns and lack many of the basic necessities to live. Many question whether the support from these institutions are beneficial or do they actually hinder the development of countries such as DRC. I believe that, developing countries can benefit from the aid the World Bank and IMF can provide them. With the support from the World Bank and IMF they can build hospitals, roads, schools, or put in place reforms to help become a developed country. The DRC once plagued with conflict and civil wars leaving the country in a fragile place. The outlook for the DRC looks promising, they have made significant economic progress since the wars. The World Banks shows that DRC registered a growth rate of 8.5% in 2013 and it also shows that inflation was at 53% in 2009 but it fell to 1% in 2013. The World Bank expects the economy to grow steadily in the medium term at around 7 to 8%.These results are not just from funding from the World Bank but a combination of a change in government structure and also public investments. The country has made great strides in rebuilding the country. The change in the government matrix and the funding from World Bank allowed...
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...Democratic Peace Theory Democratic Peace Theory, which is firstly originated by Immanuel Kant back in 18th century, is a theory in political science that prevents armed conflict among democracies. The Democratic Peace indicates that democratic states will not get into war with each other; they have a separate peace On the other hand, it is possible for these democratic states to go to war with authoritarian regimes or stateless people. Scholars and academicians believe that democracies find an alternative way to get into a war such as compromises and arbitrations. It has been examined that democratic states have not engaged in a war with one another. Inherently, the number of democratic states expected to rise in the upcoming years of 18th century. As there are more democratic states, as there will be less armed conflicts among each other, which is going to lead the world to a better international system. It has been observed that democracies do get into armed conflict however not with one another; they usually get into war with non-democratic states. It is a significant observation. Democratic Peace Theory is consisted from Immanuel Kant’s “Perpetual Peace”. Immanuel Kant claims that peace is a reasonable outcome of the interaction of states with a republican form of government. The main idea behind Immanuel Kant’s “Perpetual Peace” is that ‘Democracy’ must be spread and made a universal system, in order to create peace amongst the states. This idea of Democratic Peace...
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...claim was made by Jefferson in his Political Writings declaring, “We of the United States are constitutionally and conscientiously democrats,” (291). Further entertaining the idea of Jefferson’s passion moreover expanding the support for the Republican cause. The Republicans didn’t refer to themselves as the Democratic-Republicans, officially, until 1798 after embracing the mockery of the Federalist Party (Wagner 12). Reinforcing the concept of the Democratic-Republican view, Jefferson affirms, “The main body of our citizens… remain true to the Republican principles,” (Jefferson 416). Making the case for the Democratic-Republicans, seem that much sweeter. They seem more stable as if they have the backing of the country behind them. So, if people have not understood by now, Jefferson claims, “I am not a Federalist, not by religion, philosophy, or politics,” he claims he can think for himself and implies that he does not like the idea of Federalism at all (Jefferson 410)....
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...How influential are conservatives in Democratic part? A way that the conservatives are still influential in the Democratic Party is through foreign affairs. Through foreign policy they take a conservative approach in which they intervene in other countries. For example Obama initiated a military surge in Afghanistan, showing that conservative ideologies are still influential in the Democratic Party. However this may be because through foreign policy the president can express more of his powers and position in the party. So actions in foreign policy may not show an influence of conservatism but rather a way in which the president can take more leadership in. Another example of how the Democratic Party holds some conservative values is that some pro-life democrats influence Obama not to allow Federal money to be used to support abortion. Demonstrating that the Democratic Party can be traditional in their views i.e. being pro-life – believing that all life is sacred. Also some democratic supporters hold some traditional conservative views. For example Latinos, who supported Obama in 2008, are not generally pro-choice. Showing that those that support the Democratic Party may not necessarily support some of their policies as they may contradict with their conservative views. Thus conservatism is still influenced in the Democratic Party. However the Democratic Party still hold their liberal values. This is illustrated in the history of Obama’s presidency and Clinton’s presidency...
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...After the fall of the Federalist Party America had a central party for a number of years. However this did not mean that the American people’s belief had homogenized, in fact it quite the opposite. Tensions rose in the new renamed Democratic Party until it eventually split in 1833. Once again the nation was divided into two distinct parties. The conservative Democratic Party, which was made up of made up of poor farmers, city workers, entrepreneurs testing their luck, and all others who distrusted the government. And the Whig Party, filled with successful banker, merchants, and rich plantation owners. The divide in demographics was very similar to that of the Federalist and Anti-Federalist of the first party systems.The difference in party beliefs separated, as the Whigs fought for a bigger government and the Democrats fought for individual...
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...The Democratic Party is strongly committed to strengthening the American Community as a whole (www.democrats.org). They want to out-educate, innovate, and build the rest of the world (www.democrats.org). The Democratic Party thinks that America needs an economy that manufactures the products that the rest of the world needs and that creates the jobs of the future, not an economy built on outsourcing, loopholes, or risky financial deals that jeopardizes the middle class of America (www.democrats.org). The Democrats want to put Americans back to work, support Obama’s Recovery Act, which was the largest clean energy investment ever, and was the broadest tax cut in America’s history (www.democrats.org). They want to cut taxes on the Middle Class,...
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