What is the Democratic Party?

The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States and the world's oldest active political party. Its roots trace to the Democratic-Republican Party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the 1790s, though the modern Democratic Party emerged in the late 1820s when supporters of Andrew Jackson split from the older Democratic-Republicans. Jackson's election in 1828 marked the beginning of the modern party. The party's name was shortened to Democratic Party during this period.

Throughout the 19th century, the Democratic Party was associated with farmers, working-class voters, and the South. After the Civil War, the party was particularly strong in the former Confederate states, often dominating southern politics for nearly a century. In the early 20th century, urban industrial workers, immigrants, and Catholics increasingly joined the Democratic coalition, especially in northern cities.

Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s reshaped the party. Roosevelt assembled a coalition that included industrial workers, urban ethnic groups, African Americans (who began moving from the Republican to the Democratic Party), Southern whites (initially), Jewish Americans, intellectuals, and others. This New Deal coalition dominated American politics for decades. The party became closely associated with active federal government, social insurance, labor rights, and civil rights.

The 1960s civil rights legislation, championed by Democratic President Lyndon Johnson, fundamentally changed the party. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 cemented the party's commitment to racial equality but drove most southern white voters to the Republican Party over subsequent decades. The party's coalition became more diverse, with strong support among African Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Americans, urban voters, college-educated voters, women (particularly unmarried women), and younger voters.

The Democratic Party today generally supports active federal government roles in healthcare, education, climate policy, and economic regulation; progressive taxation; civil rights protections including for LGBT Americans, immigrants, and people of color; abortion rights; gun control; and labor protections. Recent Democratic presidents include Jimmy Carter (1977 to 1981), Bill Clinton (1993 to 2001), Barack Obama (2009 to 2017), and Joe Biden (2021 to 2025). The party is led at the national level by the Democratic National Committee, with state party committees in each state.