Democracy | Democracy in New Mexico

Democratic Party History in America

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The Democratic Party in the United States can look back on a proud history that encompasses a national vision and political organization. This vision is primarily based on the power and strength of politically active, diverse, and economically empowered American people. Our Party’s founder, over the past two hundred years, have determined that social status and wealth entitlements. The belief of our founders was based the compassion and wisdom that was found within every person and that a stable government must come about by wide popular base.

Politics in American History

Former Chairman of the Democratic Party, the late Ron Brown, made a statement once that exuded to the fact that the thread that binds the Democratic history, from the likes of Thomas Jefferson to Bill Clinton, was found within hard working American families. He also went on to say that the commitment to helping the poor, disenfranchised, the excluded, has in turn strengthened our nation whereby they earned a piece of the American Dream. His thoughts were that we could hold on to the fact that this land was built by slaves and immigrants and those before them.

Thomas Jefferson who fought against the elitist Federalist Party and the Bill of Rights, founded the Democratic Party as a congressional caucus in 1792. In 1798, the party known as the “party of the common man” was formally named the Democratic-Republican Party. In 1800, Jefferson was elected the first Democratic President of the United States where he served two terms. James Madison followed Jefferson in 1808. Madison helped reaffirm American independence by strengthening America’s armed forces and conquering the British in the War of 1812. In 1816, James Monroe was elected president and served during a time where Democratic Republicans served with little opposition. This period in our nation was frequently referred to as “The Era of Good Feeling”.

Filed Under: Democracy, Democratic Party, Politics, Society Tagged With: Democratic, Democratic-Republican Party, Federalist, James Madison, James Monroe, Ron Brown, Thomas Jefferson, United States

The Democratic Party’s Powerful Force in History

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The History of the Democratic Party in the United States has enjoyed over 200 years leadership of which to be proud. The Democratic system has sought to economically empower, and strengthen, those involved in politics and socially diverse Americans. This national vision has led then to strive to build a stable government that is made up of the people.

In 1824 election of John Quincy Adams was greatly disputed and let to a 4-way split among the Democratic-Republicans. As a result of this split, Andrew Jackson became a national leader. Andrew Jackson was known as a war hero and one of the fore fathers of the Democratic Party, was noted with having a huge impact with his supporters that reached unprecedented numbers in American History. The Democrats in Jackson’s time, created the party platform, the national convention process, and brought together the Democratic Party from the victories Jackson won between 1828 and 1832. The first National Convention that the party held was in 1832 and President Jackson was nominated to his second term. The Party’s name was simplified to the Democratic Party by the National Convention in 1844.

The Powerful Democratic Party

The Democratic National Committee was established by the National Convention in 1848. This is still the longest running organization of politics in the world. The Democratic National Committee was given the responsibility, by the Convention, of preparing for the next convention and endorsing the cause of the Democrats between the conventions.

The Democratic Party started to support the immigrants who swamped the industrial centers and centers at the close of the 19th century by bringing them into the American mainstream thus creating the most powerful economic tool in American History. William Jennings, who was a Democratic Party leader, supported the right of women’s suffrage, led an agrarian reformers movement, directed election of Senators, and the evolution of income tax. The Democratic Party became a force in local urban politics as it entered the 20th Century.

Filed Under: Democracy, Politics, Society Tagged With: Andrew Jackson, Democratic, Democratic National Committee, John Quincy Adams, National Convention, Politics, Republican, United States

Comparing Democratic Systems

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When considering the benefits and the drawbacks of democracy in a state such as New Mexico, it is sometimes beneficial to do a comparison and contrast between the state in question and other locales all together. For example, you might look at the New Mexico democracy in comparison to basic Canada 411 to get a good idea of what the differences are. Countries like Canada have their own government and legal systems, and comparing them to the democratic system of the United States can give you some interesting insight into how the world works. The more you know about each side, the better able you will be to become informed on the subject.

A democratic state and a democratic society are important considerations. The reason is because in a democracy, the people have the power to choose a leader. In New Mexico, all aspects of government are democratic. This means that the people get to put every measure to a vote before a decision is made. In New Mexico, politicians are chosen, ballot measures are voted on, and no serious decision can be made without the people first deciding as a whole. Just as the United States as a whole is a democratic environment, so is the governmental system in the state of New Mexico.

It is vitally important that you understand how a democracy works in order to take part in it. You must understand your role as a democratic citizen in order to best benefit from what this system affords you with. Once you know how a democracy is formed and run, that is when you can really make educated and informed decisions when you vote and participate in other democratic principles and processes. Take the time to get to know how the democratic process works, and what role you have in voting, and make your vote count in the New Mexico democracy.

Filed Under: Business, Democracy Tagged With: Canada, Democracy, Government, Legislature, New Mexico, Pakistan, Politics, United States

Our Country’s Democratic Leaders

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For over 200 years, the Democratic Party has been a powerful reminder of the wonderful history in politics our country has been a part. This party had a national vision that included diverse Americans of every socioeconomic realm, as the Party’s founders believed that social status and wealth did not entitle individuals to rule, but the broad base of the people was needed to build a stable government.

Political Democratic Leaders of Yesteryear

Woodrow Wilson, in 1912, became known as the first Democratic president of the 20th Century. Wilson fought strongly for the League of Nations, he let the country through World War I, passed the first child and labor welfare laws, and he instituted the Federal Reserve Board.

A generation after this, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president by running on the pledge of the New deal. Roosevelt energized citizens on the belief that the government could give them the assistant they needed and successfully pulled America out of the Depression. The New Deal electrified Appalachia, brought water to the Central Valley in California, and secured farms across the Midwest. The nation was made stronger by giving Americans a stake in the future and bringing them into systems such as the WPA, the Social Security System and the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Democrats began to fight in order to brig down barriers of gender and race with the election of Harry Truman. Truman oversaw the rebuilding of Europe and integrated the military by creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Marshall Plan.

President John F. Kennedy, in the 1960’s, encouraged the nation to build our country’s past experiences in history. Kennedy created the Peace Corps, negotiated a treaty prohibiting the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, and dared the country to put a man on the moon. Following the assassination of Kennedy, Johnson fought against the War on Poverty and created a series of society programs such Medicare so older Americans would receive health care.

Filed Under: Democracy, Politics, Society Tagged With: Civilian Conservation Corps, Democratic, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Marshall Plan, New Deal, United States

Democratic Politics and American Economic Re-Growth

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The Democratic Party in America has a proud heritage of a strong national vision and political organization that includes politically active and socially diverse Americans. For over 200 years the Party’s leaders have longed believed that a government built on a vast popular base as opposed to entitlements, should encompass a stable government.

How the Democrats brought Healing to America

With the election and win of Jimmy Carter as president in 1976, the nation’s trust in government began its healing process following the Watergate scandal. Carter did many positive things during his tenure as president, one of which was negotiating the Camp David historic peace accords between Israel and Egypt.

Governor Bill Clinton from Arkansas was elected President of the United states in 1992. President Clinton took the stand on a New Covenant for the hard working American families that were forgotten in this country. America was in a huge state of high unemployment, increasing crime, and record budget deficits, following 12 years of Republican presidents. President Clinton’s policies were aimed at putting people first and produced the longest period of economic growth in America’s peacetime history. Both the Senate and House passed what was known as the Deficit Reduction Act of 1993, without even one Republican vote. The Deficit Reduction Act ended up leading to a cease in perennial budget deficits and also put America on a road to fiscal recovery and responsibility. President Clinton’s final budget resulted in over a $ 200 billion surplus, which had followed an inherited $ 290 billion deficit in 1992. The Clinton and Gore Administration was also responsible for reducing crime to its lowest levels in a generation and reducing unemployment levels to it lowest levels in decades. With the win in the election of 1996, Clinton had become the first Democratic President since Roosevelt to be reelected.

Filed Under: Democracy, Politics, Society Tagged With: Arkansas, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Camp David, Democratic, Jimmy Carter, Republicans, United States

Democratic Party Leadership for the Future

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For over 200 years, the Democratic Party has accomplished much in the areas of American economic re- structuring and growth. To run a good, sound, stable government, the Party’s premise from its inception was a vision of government run and led by a broad base of people and not one focused on those with entitlements. Looking back, our country’s leaders can be proud on what has been accomplished.

Democrats Party’s Future Goals

With a history the encompasses over 2000 elections, the Democrats gained 4 more Senate Seats, one more gubernatorial seat, and one more House seat. Vice President Al Gore also won the popular vote for the Candidacy for President by over 500,000 votes. The Democrats once again regained control of the Senate in 2001, under Majority Leader Tom Daschle. During this period, the Democrats won victories all over the country including races for Virginia Lt. Governor and Governor, 39 major mayoral races including Houston and Los Angeles, and New Jersey Governor.

While the 21st Century can mark a time that our nation can look back and be proud of all the hard work that has been accomplished, we must continue ahead on what needs to be accomplished. Our nation needs to focus on incorporating every American into the fabric of our country. The success of the history in the next hundred years for America will only come about when we bridge the divisions of separation in areas such as ethnicity, region, class, and race. Some feel that the Democratic Party is now ready to take on the opportunities we currently are afforded to meet our nations’ challenges. The positive growth needed in this country will branch out as our nation continues to govern by opportunity, inclusion and strength, the same principles that have given America the title “the greatest nation on earth”.

Filed Under: Democracy, Politics, Society Tagged With: Al Gore, Democratic, Houston, Los Angeles, New Jersey Governor, Republican, United States, Virginia

A Growing Number of Democratic Voters

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The Democratic Party is currently one of the two main contemporary political parties in America, the other being the Republican Party. The party has had a history of liberal views and has been classified as more to “the left” on the U.S. political scale. As of 2004, the Democratic Party has the most registered voters that encompass any political organization worldwide, which makes up about 72 million voters. The results of polls taken from the last decade indicate that about 35% of American voters consider themselves Democrats.

The Melting Pot of Democratic Voters

The Democratic Party has had a strong history of support amongst Native Americans populations in areas such as New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Alaska, North Carolina, South Dakota, Idaho, Minnesota, and Washington. Records indicate that most Native Americans vote Democratic in borders that are led only by African-Americans.

The Democratic Party has also had significant support amongst a growing number of Asian Americans. Throughout history, most Asian Americans have held on to a more pro-business view, which has led them to have a stronghold on voting Republican. Starting between the years of 1996 and 2006 the Democratic appeal started to gain amongst the Asian American population with a 62% vote increase. Some feel that this leaning toward a more Democratic vote was largely due to a newer generation of more liberal Filipino American and Vietnamese youths and growing numbers of Indian and Chinese immigrants that were normally fiscal centrists but adopted a leftward approach on social policy. Currently, Vietnamese Americans still vote, on a large scale, Republican, while Indian Americans, Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, Pacific Island Americans, and Southeast Asians have primarily voted Democratic. Americans of Korean, Pakistani, and Filipino descent have recently leaned toward a more Democratic vote. In the last few elections, younger Asian Americans that encompass all backgrounds between the ages of 18-30 have also leaned toward the Democratic Party.

Filed Under: Democracy, Politics, Society Tagged With: Asian American, Democratic, Parties, Politics, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, Republican, South Dakota, United States

Social Media in Politics – a Changing Landscape

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Social media has become huge and important in nearly every area of our lives. People blog, connect on social networking sites, photo share and more. Is it any wonder that politicians, political parties, political action groups and nearly everyone else involved in the process have hopped on the social media bandwagon?

During Barack Obama’s bid for the White House in 2008, his campaign took to social media, conquering these channels and harnessing their power in ways no one had ever seen. But true to the fast-paced nature of social media, politicians at all levels are now adept at using this new medium.

Some experts speculate that use of social media in politics has placed our society at the edge of a monumental power shift. Traditionally, people with higher education levels and higher incomes have been the most involved in politics and have had the most influence. But social media is altering the landscape, giving people who haven’t traditionally had much of a voice in the political discussion greater influence. Nearly everyone seems to have access to a computer and the most widely used social media sites are free.

Young adults – those 18 to 29 – are becoming more interested in politics, thanks to social media. They are commenting on blogs and news stories, “liking” political candidates and more. And those that take these steps online have been proven to be more likely to participate in the political process offline, too. Gaining the interest of these young voters has become crucial to almost every political candidate’s success.

You can be sure that candidates, pundits, political activists and nearly everyone else involved in the political process is watching these trends closely. Those involved work tirelessly to develop social media plans and strategies aimed at capturing your online interest – and converting that online interest into a “yes” vote.

Filed Under: Democracy, Politics, Society Tagged With: Barack Obama, Facebook, Politician, Politics, Social media, Social network, Twitter, White House

What Happens Next with Campaign Finance Reform?

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Those interested in the subject of campaign finance reform may be surprised to know the topic dates all the way back to 1867, when a Naval appropriations bill prohibiting government employees from asking Navy yard workers for campaign contributions was passed. This law came about because at the time, political parties depended so much on money from government employees that they even assessed funds from their pay.

Despite this law and other efforts along the way, including the Tillman Act in 1907, it wasn’t until the 1970s that meaningful reform began to occur. The Federal Election Campaign Act was passed in 1971. It required campaigns and political parties to disclose where they received money from. After Watergate in 1974, this law was amended to establish the Federal Election Commission. The commission was tasked with enforcing the new regulations that were also outlined in the amendment.

In 2001 and 2002, congress passed and the president signed into law the McCain-Feingold bill. This bill made significant changes to the way politicians and parties fund campaigns, but it was controversial. Senators, political parties, not-for-profit groups and other groups were unhappy with various aspects of the reform and challenged it in court. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, where it was upheld.

People continue to try to put more campaign finance reform in place. They feel corporations and the wealthy are still better represented in the political process than the poor or uneducated – an argument that was central to some of the original attempts at campaign finance reform. Some want to publicly fund all campaigns by giving each candidate a set amount of money. Others want to provide voters with vouchers worth a set amount of money that they can donate to the candidate or party of their choice.

What will happen next with campaign finance reform remains to be seen, but more change will come as we work to fine-tune the process.

Filed Under: Democracy, Politics, Society Tagged With: Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, Campaign finance, Campaign finance reform in the United States, Federal Election Campaign Act, Federal Election Commission, Supreme Court, Supreme Court of the United States, Watergate scandal

Brief History of the Democratic Party

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The Democratic Party was founded more than 200 years ago. From the beginning, it was designed to serve the common man – farmers, factory workers, immigrants and others – and represent their interests in Washington, D.C. As the party primarily in power from the 1830s to the 1850s, they stood on the platform of westward expansion, opposed the development of a national bank, and staunchly believed in Manifest Destiny. The early Democrats opposed elitism and many programs proposed by their main opposition, the Whigs, that they felt would make life harder for small farmers.

The party grew from the collapsed Democratic-Republican Party in the 1830s, largely supported by Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, both of whom would go on to become Democratic presidents. The Democratic National Convention was established in 1848, but the democrats lost that election, mostly due to the party being split over the issue of slavery.

Under the Democrats in the 1840s and 1850s, the country experienced the development of culture, literature and an infrastructure that the young country needed. Roads, telegraphs, railroads and more were constructed. Harbors were modernized. Canals and roadways were built. The country was prepped and prepared for economic growth.

In the 1850s the Whig party dissolved and the Republican Party developed. The election of Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, in 1860, led to a loss of power for the Democrats. After many years of back-and-forth politics for the presidency, the Democrats lost that office in 1896 and it remained in the hands of the Republicans for 28 of the next 36 years.

It wasn’t until 1932 and the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt that the Democrats again became the dominant party. Roosevelt instituted his New Deal – a progressive plan that successfully brought the country out of the Great Depression. They controlled the House of Representatives almost exclusively from 1930 – 1994.

Filed Under: Democracy, Politics, Society Tagged With: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, Democratic, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Van Buren, Republican, United States, Whig Party