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Understanding the Left: What is a Democrat/Liberal/Socialist/Progressive?
A Democrat is an individual who supports the Democratic Party, one of the two major political parties in the United States. Martin Van Buren formed the Democratic Party of the United States in 1828.
Its predecessor, the Democratic Republican Party, supported extensive presidential powers, Slavocrary (right to enslave people), expansionism or imperialism, and agrarianism. However, the party split in 1860 over slavery.
While most political parties share common ideologies, such as civil liberties and respect for human rights, the Democratic Party distinguishes itself through social liberalism.
Also known as modern liberalism, the ideology differs sharply from classical liberalism (free markets/laissez-faire) or economic liberalism (market economy). It advocates for social justice, more government regulation and involvement in social change.
Subsequently, a Democrat is a person who supports the liberal policies of the Democratic Party, which includes social justice and equality.
Other values advocated by liberals include stricter gun laws, criminal justice reforms, immigration law reforms, expansion of social programs, universal healthcare and education, LGBTQ rights, equal opportunities, support for abortion rights, abolition of capital punishment, and climate change action, among others.
To achieve these goals, democrats support government intervention in various life aspects such as the economy, education, and healthcare. This intervention stems from progressivism, the belief that social change can be quickly realized through political action, usually by the government acting on behalf of the masses for the common good. Democrats who firmly hold this belief are called progressives and usually advocate for more government intervention, sometimes even in areas it has no jurisdiction over.
Subsequently, progressivism puts the Democrats on a collision course with Conservatives, who believe in limited government intervention in daily lives.
To further achieve social equality, a democrat may also believe in socialism, the idea that means of production should be equally distributed. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly two-thirds (65%) of Democrats view socialism positively. Similarly, a Gallup poll showed that 76% of democrats were willing to vote for a socialist president, making socialism a mainstream ideology of the Democratic Party.
Like democrats’ gender ideology, liberalism exists on a spectrum, from anarchists and socialists on the far left to libertarians on the right.
Some
of the most popular Democrats include the 39th president of the
United States, Jimmy Carter, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the
first black POTUS, Barrack Obama, former President John Kerry, and renowned
socialist Bernie Sanders. -
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