The Democratic Party and American liberalism: ideology and evolution

Democratic Party and Liberalism

Liberalism and democracy have existed together for quite some time, especially in the United States. To understand liberalism in America, it is important first to under the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party involves politicians and objectives that share liberal views on society and regulation. The Democratic Party exists as one of two primary modern political parties within the United States, alongside its conservative right wing counterpart, the Republican Party. Tracing its roots back to James Madison and Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans, the present-day Democratic Party was established around 1828, making the Democratic Party the world's oldest and active party. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Since the 1930's the party has been considered the foundation of classical liberalism (to some degree libertarianism within the United States). Within their liberal ideals, the party has promoted a social-liberal, center-left, platform. This platform continually supports a mixed economy and social justice. The Democrats' philosophy concerning modern American liberalism promotes the advocacy of economic and social equality alongside the welfare state. The stance of Democrats towards a mixed economy is done through offering government intervention as well as government regulation in American economy.

Looking at the party's background, the types of interventions vary but include the introduction and implementation of social programs, moves toward equal opportunity and universal health care, support for formation of labor unions, and consumer and environmental protection. Such form the fundamentals of the party's fiscal policy. Well into the tail end of the 1900's, the party shared a conservative pro-business wing that attracted robust support from European ethnics, the majority of which were Catholics. These Catholics were based in the main cities and encompassed a populist-conservative as well as evangelical wing established in the bucolic South.

After 1932 in addition to Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal," the commercial wing declined and, in three decades (from the 1960s-1990s) Southern whites as well as numerous European ethnics moved away from the Democratic party into the Republican Party. Currently, the congressional Democratic committee is composed regularly of centrists and progressives, with a lesser minority of conservatives. What once was a mixed assembly of supporters (from both liberal and conservative ideologies) transformed to mainly liberal. Although the Democratic Party has existed for over a century and a half, there have only been fifteen Democratic presidents. The first of which was Andrew Jackson, having served from 1829-1837. The most recent Democratic president was Barack Obama, having served since 2009.

In terms of current Democratic Party makeup, social liberals or modern liberals, and progressives create the majority of Democratic voter base and Democratic politicians. Liberals and liberalism thereby form the leading united demographic in the Democratic base. Conferring to the results from the 2012 exit polls, liberals made up 25% or a quarter of the electorate. (Firstprinciplesjournal.com) In addition, 86% of American liberals preferred the Democratic Party candidate. White-collar and college-educated professionals leaned more towards the Republican side until the 1950s. From the 1950's and onwards, they compose an important part of the Democratic Party.

Things a big majority of liberals favors are universal health care and diplomacy. In fact, many support a single-payer system. The majority of liberals also favor diplomacy instead of military action. Other issues they wish to bring to the forefront are the legalization of same-sex marriage, stem cell research, stricter gun control, as well as environmental protection laws and the protection of abortion rights. Majority liberals also deem positive cultural diversity and immigration. This is because liberals favor cultural pluralism. Meaning, a system in which immigrants preserve their native culture alongside adopting a new culture. Some divisions exist however on free trade agreements including organizations like NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). Overwhelmingly, most liberals are against increased military spending as well as the mixing of church and state. (Firstprinciplesjournal.com)

Department of Homeland Security

The Department of Homeland Security or DHS, has recent roots in America. Now that the United States faced and continues to face a string of international and national terrorist threats, the DHS should change some policies in order to adapt to the current need of the public. DHS remains the third-largest department within the federal government, even though it does not integrate the entirety of homeland security functions within the federal level. That and the fact the definition of homeland security remaining unsettled, along with questions about efficiency and effectiveness of the department changes have been proposed.

Specific issues with the Department of Homeland Security can be split into five general categories. These categories are:

1. Border Security and Trade

2. Counterterrorism and Security Management,

3. Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery,

4. Immigration, and

5. Departmental Management.

Each of these areas contains a potential assessment of subjects that can be briefly examined through Congressional Research Service specialists. However, first, just like with any topic, a brief introduction and background of DHS is needed in order to understand what changes can be made in present day.

Through the Homeland Security Act of 2002, The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established. The act was signed into law November 25, 2002. Assembly of the new department came from pulling components of over 22 various government agencies. The department began its official operations from March 1, 2003 and onward. Since then, DHS faced a series of reorganizations and restructurings in order to improve its efficiency and effectiveness.

While DHS encompasses many of the homeland security utilities of the federal government, some of these functions remain at their original place, the executive branch departments and agencies, including the Departments of State, Justice, State, Transportation, and Defense. Because the department has had such a short time as a department, some of the issues pertaining to policy reform are important to address within the context of infancy and lack of established processes.