Defunct
133-492: Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other In American politics , a conservative Democrat is a member of the Democratic Party with more conservative views than most Democrats. Traditionally, conservative Democrats have been elected to office from
266-900: A civil rights plank in the Democratic Party platform of 1948 led to a walkout of 35 delegates from Mississippi and Alabama . These southern delegations nominated their own States Rights Democratic Party, better known as the Dixiecrats , nominees with South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond leading the ticket (Thurmond would later represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate, and join the Republicans in 1964). The Dixiecrats held their convention in Birmingham, Alabama , where they nominated Thurmond for president and Fielding L. Wright , governor of Mississippi, for vice president. Dixiecrat leaders worked to have Thurmond-Wright declared
399-483: A faithless elector ). Both federal and state laws regulate elections. The United States Constitution defines (to a basic extent) how federal elections are held, in Article One and Article Two and various amendments . State law regulates most aspects of electoral law, including primaries, the eligibility of voters (beyond the basic constitutional definition), the running of each state's electoral college, and
532-426: A plurality of votes cast (i.e. more than any other candidate, but not necessarily a majority). Suffrage is nearly universal for citizens 18 years of age and older, with the notable exception of registered felons in some states. The United States is a constitutional federal republic , in which the president (the head of state and head of government ), Congress , and judiciary share powers reserved to
665-491: A sole commissioner , who is assisted by boards to supervise taxes and elections. Town or township governments are organized local governments authorized in the state constitutions and statutes of 20 Northeastern and Midwestern states, established as minor civil divisions to provide general government for a geographic subdivision of a county where there is no municipality. In New York, Wisconsin and New England, these county subdivisions are called towns . In many other states,
798-416: A Democrat and the governor of Virginia (2018–22), admitted that he voted for George W. Bush in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Despite this admission, Northam, a former state Senator who has served as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018, easily defeated the more progressive and cosmopolitan candidate, former Representative Tom Perriello , by 55.9 percent to 44.1 percent to win
931-556: A Democrat, being the last Democratic presidential candidate to win a majority of the states in the South as of 2024. In 1980 Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan won every southern state except for Georgia, although Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee were all decided by less than 3%. In 1980, Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan announced that he supported "states' rights." Lee Atwater , who served as Reagan's chief strategist in
1064-827: A Unionist Governor Thomas Holliday Hicks and the Union Army. Armed with the suspension of habeas corpus and Union troops, Governor Hicks was able to stop Maryland's secession movement. Maryland was the only state south of the Mason–Dixon line whose governor affirmed Lincoln's call for 75,000 troops. After secession, the Democratic vote in the North split between the War Democrats and the Peace Democrats or " Copperheads ". The War Democrats voted for Lincoln in
1197-621: A candidate for office, but deciding who will be the party's candidate in the general election is usually done in primaries open to voters who register as Democrats or Republicans. Furthermore, elected officials who fail to "toe the party line" because of constituent opposition said line and "cross the aisle" to vote with the opposition have (relatively) little to fear from their party. Parties have state or federal committees that act as hubs for fundraising and campaigning (see Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee ) and separate campaign committees that work to elect candidates at
1330-442: A check on legislation that its members perceive to be too far to the right or the left on the political spectrum. The Blue Dog Coalition is often involved in searching for a compromise between liberal and conservative positions. As of 2014, there was no mention of social issues in the official Blue Dog materials. Historically, Southern Democrats were generally much more conservative than conservative Democrats are now, and formed
1463-760: A coalition of labor unions , liberals, Catholics , African Americans , and southern whites . Roosevelt's program for alleviating the Great Depression , collectively known as the New Deal , emphasized only economic issues, and thus was compatible with the views of those who supported the New Deal programs but were otherwise conservative. This included the Southern Democrats , who were an important part of FDR's New Deal coalition. A number of chairmanships were also held by conservative Democrats during
SECTION 10
#17327867123411596-425: A constitution following the pattern of the federal constitution but differing in details. Each has three branches: an executive branch headed by a governor , a legislative body, and a judicial branch. At the local level, governments are found in counties or county-equivalents , and beneath them individual municipalities , townships , school districts , and special districts . Officials are popularly elected at
1729-511: A defined area, generally corresponding to a population center rather than one of a set of areas into which a county is divided. The category includes those governments designated as cities, boroughs (except in Alaska ), towns (except in Minnesota and Wisconsin), and villages. This concept corresponds roughly to the " incorporated places" that are recognized in by the U.S. Census Bureau, although
1862-472: A few other candidates, including William Campbell Preston Breckinridge for Congress in Kentucky, but they won no elections. Bryan and people he supported (especially Woodrow Wilson) usually dominated the party. However the conservatives did nominate their candidate in 1904, Alton B. Parker . The 1932 election brought about a major realignment in political party affiliation. Franklin D. Roosevelt forged
1995-657: A mass base, although appeals for small donations over the Internet have been successful. Opponents of campaign finance laws allege they interfere with the First Amendment 's guarantee of free speech. Even when laws are upheld, the complication of compliance with the First Amendment requires careful and cautious drafting of legislation, leading to laws that are still fairly limited in scope, especially in comparison to those of other developed democracies such as
2128-538: A part of the county government. In others, survey townships are non-governmental. Towns in the six New England states and townships in New Jersey and Pennsylvania are included in this category by the Census Bureau, despite the fact that they are legally municipal corporations , since their structure has no necessary relation to concentration of population, which is typical of municipalities elsewhere in
2261-418: A political party or seek public office as independents. Each state has significant discretion in deciding how candidates are nominated and thus eligible to appear on a given election ballot. Major party candidates are typically formally chosen in a party primary or convention , whereas candidates from minor parties and Independent candidates must complete a petitioning process. The current two-party system in
2394-421: A reference to Southern Democrats said to be so loyal they would even vote for a yellow dog before they would vote for any Republican. The term is also a reference to the "Blue Dog" paintings of Cajun artist George Rodrigue of Lafayette, Louisiana . The Blue Dog Coalition "advocates for fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense and bipartisan consensus rather than conflict with Republicans". It acts as
2527-640: A settled issue, conservative Democrats, mostly Southerners, managed to remain in the United States Congress throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These included Democratic House members as conservative as Larry McDonald , who was also a leader in the John Birch Society . During the administration of Ronald Reagan , the term " boll weevils " was applied to this bloc of conservative Democrats, who consistently voted in favor of tax cuts, increases in military spending, and deregulation favored by
2660-411: A specific level but do not direct candidates or their campaigns. In presidential elections, the party's candidate serves as the de facto party leader, whose popularity or lack thereof helps or hinders candidates further down the ballot. Midterm elections are usually considered a referendum on the sitting president's performance. Some (e.g., Lee Drutman and Daniel J. Hopkins before 2018) argue that, in
2793-506: A spokesman for big business. A different source of conservative Democratic dissent against the New Deal came from a group of journalists who considered themselves classical liberals and Democrats of the old school, and were opposed to big government programs on principle; these included Albert Jay Nock and John T. Flynn , whose views later became influential in the libertarian movement. The proclamation by President Harry S. Truman and Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey of support for
SECTION 20
#17327867123412926-590: A strong base among the Southern middle class. The Republican Party regained Congress in 1919. Southern Democrats held powerful positions in Congress during the Wilson Administration, with one study noting “Though comprising only about half of the Democratic senators and slightly over two-fifths of the Democratic representatives, the southerners made up a large majority of the party’s senior members in
3059-483: A unified voice after Democrats' loss of Congress in the 1994 Republican Revolution . The coalition consists of centrist and conservative Democrats. The term "Blue Dog Democrat" is credited to Texas Democratic U.S. Representative Pete Geren (who later joined the Bush administration ). Geren opined that the members had been "choked blue" by Democrats on the left. It is related to the political term " Yellow Dog Democrat ",
3192-552: Is called the Southern Strategy , though his speechwriter Jeffrey Hart claimed that his campaign rhetoric was actually a " Border State Strategy" and accused the press of being "very lazy" when they called it a "Southern Strategy". In the 1971 Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education ruling, the power of the federal government to enforce forced busing was strengthened when the Supreme Court ruled that
3325-595: The 1864 election , and Lincoln had a War Democrat — Andrew Johnson — on his ticket. In the South, during Reconstruction the White Republican element, called " Scalawags " became smaller and smaller as more and more joined the Democrats. In the North, most War Democrats returned to the Democrats, and when the " Panic of 1873 " hit, the Republican Party was blamed and the Democrats gained control of
3458-428: The 2006 midterm elections , the Democratic Party ran moderates and even a few conservative Democrats for at-risk Republican seats. The Blue Dog Democrats gained nine seats during the elections. The New Democrats had support from 27 of the 40 Democratic candidates running for at-risk Republican seats. In his 2010 campaign for reelection, Walter Minnick , U.S. Representative for Idaho's 1st congressional district ,
3591-545: The 2010 midterms . In the 2018 House of Representatives elections , the Democratic Party nominated moderate to conservative candidates in many contested districts and won a majority in the chamber. In the aftermath of the elections, the Blue Dog Coalition expanded to 27 members. During the 117th Congress with the Senate evenly split 50-50, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia wielded enormous influence as
3724-692: The American Civil War , although other parties have existed . There are major differences between the political system of the United States and that of many other developed countries , including: The federal entity created by the U.S. Constitution is the dominant feature of the American governmental system, as citizens are also subject to a state government and various units of local government (such as counties , municipalities , and special districts ). State governments have
3857-699: The American Independent Party campaign of George Wallace, the Democratic governor of Alabama, in 1968 . Wallace had briefly run in the Democratic primaries of 1964 against Lyndon Johnson , but dropped out of the race early. In 1968, he formed the new American Independent Party and received 13.5% of the popular vote, and 46 electoral votes, carrying several Southern states. The AIP would run presidential candidates in several other elections, including Southern Democrats ( Lester Maddox in 1976 and John Rarick in 1980 ), but none of them did nearly as well as Wallace. After 1968, with desegregation
3990-587: The Bible Belt . The South gradually became fertile ground for the Republican Party. Following the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , the large Black vote in the South held steady but overwhelmingly favored the Democratic Party. Even as the Democratic party came to increasingly depend on the support of African-American voters in the South, well-established White Democratic incumbents still held sway in most Southern states for decades. Starting in 1964, although
4123-654: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a significant event in converting the Deep South to the Republican Party; in that year most Senatorial Republicans supported the Act (most of the opposition came from Southern Democrats). From the end of the Civil War to 1961 Democrats had solid control over the southern states on the national level, hence the term " Solid South " to describe the states' Democratic preference. After
Conservative Democrat - Misplaced Pages Continue
4256-1185: The Delaware General Assembly , the Louisiana State Legislature , the Maryland General Assembly , the Mississippi Legislature , the North Carolina General Assembly , and the West Virginia Legislature , along with the Council of the District of Columbia , the Kentucky House of Representatives , and the Virginia Senate . Democrats lost control of the North Carolina and Alabama legislatures in 2010,
4389-624: The Farmer-Labor Party , Wisconsin Progressive Party , Conservative Party of New York State , and the Populist Party ); or continued to run candidates for office to publicize some issue despite seldom winning even local elections ( Libertarian Party , Natural Law Party , Peace and Freedom Party ). Factors reinforcing the two-party system include: Southern Democrats Southern Democrats are members of
4522-524: The Insular Cases , which were a series of 1901 Supreme Court cases that some consider to be reflective of imperialism and racist views held in the United States. Unequal access to political participation in US territories has also been criticized for affecting US citizens who move to territories, as such an action requires forfeiting the full voting rights that they would have held in the 50 states. As in
4655-553: The New Deal , and increasingly since the 1960s, the Democratic Party has generally positioned itself as a center-left party, while the Republican Party has generally positioned itself as center-right ; there are other factions within each. Unlike in many other countries, the major political parties in America have no strong central organization that determines party positions and policies, rewards loyal members and officials, or expels rebels. A party committee or convention may endorse
4788-532: The Northern Mariana Islands , Puerto Rico , and the U.S. Virgin Islands ; as well as minor outlying islands such as Baker Island , Howland Island , Jarvis Island , Johnston Atoll , Kingman Reef , Midway Atoll , Navassa Island , Palmyra Atoll , Wake Island , and others. American Samoa is the only territory with a native resident population and is governed by a local authority. Despite
4921-713: The Progressive Era ; they are written into several state constitutions, particularly in the Western states, but not found at the federal level. The United States Census Bureau conducts the Census of Governments every five years, categorizing four types of local governmental jurisdictions below the level of the state: In 2010, there were 89,500 total local governments, including 3,033 counties, 19,492 municipalities, 16,500 townships, 13,000 school districts, and 37,000 other special districts. Local governments directly serve
5054-713: The Roman Catholic Al Smith , but the behavior was short lived as the Stock Market Crash of 1929 returned Republicans to disfavor throughout the South. Nationally, Republicans lost Congress in January 1931 and the White House in March 1933 by huge margins. By this time, too, the Democratic Party leadership began to change its tone somewhat on racial politics. With the Great Depression gripping
5187-639: The Southern states , rural areas , and the Great Plains . In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that 14% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters identify as conservative or very conservative, 38% identify as moderate, and 47% identify as liberal or very liberal. Before 1964, the Democratic Party and Republican Party each had influential liberal, moderate, and conservative wings. During this period, conservative Democrats formed
5320-509: The United Kingdom and in other similar parliamentary systems , in the U.S. Americans eligible to vote, vote for an individual candidate (there are sometimes exceptions in local government elections) and not a party list. The U.S. government being a federal government, officials are elected at the federal (national), state and local levels. All members of Congress , and the offices at the state and local levels are directly elected, but
5453-498: The United Kingdom , France or Canada . The United States Constitution never formally addressed the issue of political parties , primarily because the Founding Fathers opposed them. Nevertheless, parties—specifically, two competing parties in a " two-party system "—have been a fundamental part of American politics since shortly after George Washington's presidency. In partisan elections, candidates are nominated by
Conservative Democrat - Misplaced Pages Continue
5586-408: The executive powers, including law enforcement and provision of services, to a highly trained and experienced professional city manager. The council-manager plan has been adopted by a large number of cities. Under this plan, a small, elected council makes the city ordinances and sets policy, but hires a paid administrator, also called a city manager, to carry out its decisions. The manager draws up
5719-462: The power to make laws on all subjects that are not granted to the federal government nor denied to the states in the U.S. Constitution . These include education , family law , contract law , and most crimes . Unlike the federal government, which only has those powers granted to it in the Constitution, a state government has inherent powers allowing it to act unless limited by a provision of
5852-448: The " Dixiecrats ", nominated South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond for president. The new party collapsed after Truman won the 1948 United States presidential election . Despite being a Southern Democrat himself, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 . These actions led to heavy opposition from Southern Democrats. Many scholars have stated that southern whites shifted to
5985-940: The "official" Democratic Party ticket in Southern states. They succeeded in Alabama, Louisiana , Mississippi, and South Carolina ; in other states, they were forced to run as a third-party ticket. Preston Parks , elected as a presidential elector for Truman in Tennessee , instead voted for the Thurmond-Wright ticket. Leander Perez attempted to keep the States Rights Party alive in Louisiana after 1948. Similar breakaway Southern Democratic candidates running on states' rights and segregationist platforms would continue in 1956 ( T. Coleman Andrews ), and 1960 ( Harry F. Byrd ). None would be as successful as
6118-431: The 1960s catalyzed the end of this Democratic Party coalition of interests by magnetizing Black voters to the Democratic label and simultaneously ending White supremacist control of the Democratic Party apparatus. A series of court decisions, rendering primary elections as public instead of private events administered by the parties, essentially freed the Southern region to change more toward the two-party behavior of most of
6251-478: The 1960s. However, most of the conservative Southern Democrats supported the foreign policy of Roosevelt and Truman. Roosevelt tried to purge the more conservative Democrats in numerous states in 1938. He especially tried to unseat those up for reelection who defeated his plan to pack the Supreme Court in 1937. He failed in nearly all cases, except for a major success in defeating John J. O'Connor in Manhattan,
6384-705: The 1970s and 1980s who supported local and statewide conservative Democrats while simultaneously voting for Republican presidential candidates. This tendency of many Southern Whites to vote for the Republican presidential candidate but Democrats from other offices lasted until the 2010 midterm elections. In the November 2008 elections , Democrats won 3 out of 4 U.S. House seats from Mississippi, 3 out of 4 in Arkansas, 5 out of 9 in Tennessee, and achieved near parity in
6517-495: The 1974 Milliken v. Bradley decision, however, the ability to use forced busing as a political tactic was greatly diminished when the U.S. Supreme Court placed an important limitation on Swann and ruled that students could only be bused across district lines if evidence of de jure segregation across multiple school districts existed. In 1976 , former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter won every Southern state except Oklahoma and Virginia in his successful presidential campaign as
6650-719: The 19th century, they defended slavery in the United States and promoted its expansion into the Western United States against the Free Soil opposition in the Northern United States. The United States presidential election of 1860 formalized the split in the Democratic Party and brought about the American Civil War . After the Reconstruction Era ended in the late 1870s, so-called redeemers were Southern Democrats who controlled all
6783-567: The 21st century, along with becoming overtly partisan , American politics has become overly focused on national issues and "nationalized" that even local offices, formerly dealing with local matters, now often mention the presidential election. "Third" political parties have appeared from time to time in American history but seldom lasted more than a decade. They have sometimes been the vehicle of an individual ( Theodore Roosevelt 's "Bull Moose" party , Ross Perot 's Reform Party ); had considerable strength in particular regions ( Socialist Party ,
SECTION 50
#17327867123416916-445: The Census Bureau excludes New England towns from their statistics for this category, and the count of municipal governments excludes places that are governmentally inactive. About 28 percent of Americans live in cities of 100,000 or more population. Types of city governments vary widely across the nation. Almost all have a central council, elected by the voters, and an executive officer, assisted by various department heads, to manage
7049-402: The Democratic Party as "the default vehicle for day-to-day political life, and the dominant presence, regardless of ideology, for state and local politics." In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that 14% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning registered voters identify as conservative or very conservative, 38% identify as moderate, and 47% identify as liberal or very liberal. Politics of
7182-623: The Democratic Party as "the default vehicle for day-to-day political life, and the dominant presence, regardless of ideology, for state and local politics." In the House after the 1994 Republican Revolution , the Blue Dog Coalition was formed, a caucus of conservatives and centrists willing to broker compromises with the Republican leadership who acted as a unified voting bloc in the past, giving its members some ability to change legislation, depending on their numbers in Congress. During
7315-487: The Democratic Party in most southern states. Southern Democrats of the 21st century tend to be more progressive than their predecessors. The title of "Democrat" has its beginnings in the South, going back to the founding of the Democratic-Republican Party in 1793 by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison . It held to small government principles and distrusted the national government. Foreign policy
7448-569: The Democratic Party. The New Deal program of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) generally united the party factions for over three decades, since Southerners, like Northern urban populations, were hit particularly hard and generally benefited from the massive governmental relief program. FDR was adept at holding White Southerners in the coalition while simultaneously beginning the erosion of Black voters away from their then-characteristic Republican preferences. The Civil Rights Movement of
7581-944: The Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2017. Both of Virginia's U.S. Senators are Democrats, while the incumbent governor Glenn Youngkin is a Republican. As of the 2020s, Southern Democrats who consistently vote for the Democratic ticket are mostly urban liberals or African Americans, while most White Southerners of both genders tend to vote for the Republican ticket, although there are sizable numbers of swing voters who sometimes split their tickets or cross party lines. Individuals are organized in sections by chronological (century they died or are still alive) order and then alphabetical order (last name then first name) within sections. Current or former U.S. Presidents or Vice presidents have their own section that begins first, but not former Confederate States Presidents or Vice presidents. Also, incumbent federal or statewide officeholders begin second. At various times, registered Democrats from
7714-416: The Democratic half of the conservative coalition . After 1964, the Democratic Party retained its conservative wing through the 1970s with the help of urban machine politics . In the 21st century, the number of conservative Democrats decreased as the party moved leftward. The Blue Dog Coalition represents centrist and conservative Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives . The Solid South describes
7847-470: The Democratic half of the conservative coalition . After the 1994 Republican Revolution , the Republican Party won a majority of U.S. House seats in the South for the first time since Reconstruction, with the remaining conservative Democrats forming the Blue Dog Coalition . Conservative Democrats are generally fiscally conservative , and are often also socially conservative . According to journalist Ed Kilgore, Yellow Dog Democrats were Southerners who saw
7980-536: The Democratic nomination for president. John Nance Garner , of Texas, 32nd Vice President of the United States under Roosevelt, a conservative Southerner, broke with Roosevelt in 1937 and ran against him for the Democratic nomination for president in 1940, but lost. By 1938 conservative Democrats in Congress—chiefly from the South—formed a coalition with Republicans that largely blocked liberal domestic policy until
8113-401: The Democrats if Republicans enforced the Voting Rights Act and blacks registered as Democrats. The trend toward acceptance of Republican identification among Southern White voters was bolstered in the next two elections by Richard Nixon . Denouncing the forced busing policy that was used to enforce school desegregation, Richard Nixon courted populist conservative Southern Whites with what
SECTION 60
#17327867123418246-512: The District of Columbia; they had lost control of both houses of the state legislatures in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and West Virginia. Nearly all White Democratic representatives in the South lost reelection in the 2010 midterm elections . That year, Democrats won only one U.S. House seat each in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Arkansas, and two out of nine House seats in Tennessee, and they lost their one Arkansas seat in 2012. Following
8379-427: The Georgia and Alabama delegations. Republicans first dominated presidential elections in the South, then won a majority of Southern gubernatorial and congressional elections after the 1994 Republican Revolution , and finally came to control a majority of Southern state legislatures by the 2010s. In 2009, Southern Democrats controlled both branches of the Alabama General Assembly , the Arkansas General Assembly ,
8512-428: The House of Representatives in 1875. The Democrats emphasized that since Jefferson and Jackson they had been the party of states rights , which added to their appeal in the White South. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Democrats, led by the dominant Southern wing, had a strong representation in Congress. They won both houses in 1912 and elected Woodrow Wilson , a New Jersey academic with deep Southern roots and
8645-405: The Louisiana and Mississippi legislatures in 2011 and the Arkansas legislature in 2012. Additionally, in 2014, Democrats lost four U.S. Senate seats in the South (in West Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Louisiana) that they had previously held. By 2017, Southern Democrats only controlled both branches of the Delaware General Assembly and the Maryland General Assembly, along with the Council of
8778-763: The New Deal years. Conservative Democrats came to oppose the New Deal, especially after 1936. They included Senator Harry F. Byrd and his powerful state organization in Virginia, Senator Rush Holt Sr. , Senator Josiah Bailey , and Representative Samuel B. Pettengill . The American Liberty League was formed in 1934, to oppose the New Deal. It was made up of wealthy businessmen and conservative Democrats including former Congressman Jouett Shouse of Kansas, former Congressman from West Virginia and 1924 Democratic presidential candidate, John W. Davis , and former governor of New York and 1928 Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith . In 1936, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of War, Henry Skillman Breckinridge ran against Roosevelt for
8911-414: The North, the newly formed anti-slavery Republican Party came to power and dominated the electoral college. In the 1860 presidential election , the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln , but the divide among Democrats led to the nomination of two candidates: John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky represented Southern Democrats, and Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois represented Northern Democrats. Nevertheless,
9044-431: The November 2010 elections, John Barrow of Georgia was left as the only White Democratic U.S. House member in the Deep South, and he lost reelection in 2014. There would no more White Democrats from the Deep South until Joe Cunningham was elected from a South Carolina U.S. House district in 2018, and he lost re-election in 2020. However, even since January 2015, Democrats have not been completely shut out of power in
9177-435: The Populist nomination. Conservative Democrats opposed him, especially in the Northeast where "Gold Democrats" were most active. "Gold Democrats" were supporters of Grover Cleveland , the hero of conservative Democrats. They formed the National Democratic Party and nominated John Palmer , former governor of Illinois, for president and Simon Bolivar Buckner , former governor of Kentucky, for vice-president. They also nominated
9310-418: The President, a compromise was eventually reached and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act was signed into law on August 22, 1996. During the Clinton administration , the southern strategy shifted towards the so-called " culture war ," which saw major political battles between the Religious Right and the secular Left. Chapman notes a split vote among many conservative Southern Democrats in
9443-409: The Reagan administration but were opposed to cuts in social welfare spending. Boll weevils was sometimes used as a political epithet by Democratic Party leaders, implying that the boll weevils were unreliable on key votes or not team players. Most of the boll weevils either retired from office or (like Senators Phil Gramm and Richard Shelby ) switched parties and joined the Republicans. Since 1988,
9576-473: The Republican Party after a civil rights culture change and accepted social conservatism . Republicans first dominated presidential elections in the South, then won a majority of Southern gubernatorial and congressional elections after the 1994 Republican Revolution . By the 21st century, and especially after the 2010 midterm elections , the Republican Party had gained a solid advantage over
9709-410: The Republican Party has generally supported right-leaning ones. Both parties have no formal central organization at the national level that controls membership, elected officials or political policies; thus, each party has traditionally had factions and individuals that deviated from party positions. Almost all public officials in America are elected from single-member districts and win office by winning
9842-476: The Republican Party's role in the Civil War and Reconstruction. In 1896 , William Jennings Bryan won the Democratic Party nomination by promoting silver over gold, and denouncing the banking system. He had a strong base in the South and Plains states, as well as silver mining centers in the Rocky Mountain states. He was weak in urban areas and immigrant communities which opposed prohibition. He also won
9975-522: The Republicans had a majority of the electoral vote regardless of how the opposition split or joined and Abraham Lincoln was elected. After the election of Abraham Lincoln , Southern Democrats led the charge to secede from the Union and establish the Confederate States . The United States Congress was dominated by Republicans; a notable exception was Democrat Andrew Johnson of Tennessee ,
10108-403: The South broke with the national party to nominate their own presidential and vice presidential candidates, generally in opposition to civil rights measures supported by the national nominees. There was at least one Southern Democratic effort in every presidential election from 1944 until 1968, besides 1952. On some occasions, such as in 1948 with Strom Thurmond, these candidates have been listed on
10241-494: The South. Democrat John Bel Edwards was elected governor of Louisiana in 2015 and won re-election in 2019 , running as an anti-abortion , pro-gun conservative Democrat . In a 2017 special election , moderate Democrat Doug Jones was elected a U.S. Senator from Alabama, though he lost re-election in 2020 . Democrat Roy Cooper was elected governor of North Carolina in 2016 and won re-election in 2020 . Southern Democrats saw some additional successes in 2019, as Andy Beshear
10374-645: The South. In the 2018 elections, Democrats nearly succeeded in taking governor's seats in Georgia and Florida and gained 12 national House seats in the South; the trend continued in the 2019 elections, where Democrats took both houses of the Virginia General Assembly , and in 2020 where Joe Biden narrowly won Georgia with Republicans winning down ballot, along with Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff narrowly winning both U.S. Senate seats in that state just two months later. However, Democrats would lose
10507-540: The Southern states split their support between parties in most presidential elections, conservative Democrats controlled nearly every Southern state legislature until the mid-1990s. On the eve of the Republican Revolution in 1994, Democrats still held a 2:1 advantage over the Republicans in southern congressional seats. Only in 2011 did the Republicans capture a majority of Southern state legislatures, and have continued to hold power over Southern politics for
10640-464: The Southern states, claimed that by 1968, a vast majority of southern Whites had learned to accept that racial slurs like " nigger " were offensive and that mentioning "states rights" and reasons for its justification, along with fiscal conservatism and opposition to social programs understood by many White southerners to disproportionally benefit Black Americans, had now become the best way to appeal to southern White voters. Following Reagan's success at
10773-571: The U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States . Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other Before the American Civil War , Southern Democrats were mostly whites living in the South who believed in Jacksonian democracy . In
10906-478: The United States [REDACTED] [REDACTED] In the United States , politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal republic . The three distinct branches share powers : the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legislative body comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate ; the executive branch , which is headed by the president of
11039-483: The United States , who serves as the country's head of state and government ; and the judicial branch , composed of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, and which exercises judicial power . Each of the 50 individual state governments has the power to make laws within its jurisdiction that are not granted to the federal government nor denied to the states in the U.S. Constitution. Each state also has
11172-550: The United States is made up of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party . These two parties have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and have controlled the United States Congress since at least 1856. From time to time, a third party , such as the Green and Libertarian Parties , has achieved some minor representation at the national and state levels. Since the Great Depression and
11305-606: The United States. In particular, towns in New England have considerably more power than most townships elsewhere and often function as legally equivalent to cities, typically exercising the full range of powers that are divided between counties, townships, and cities in other states. Township functions are generally overseen by a governing board, whose name also varies from state to state. Municipal governments are organized local governments authorized in state constitutions and statutes, established to provide general government for
11438-508: The ballot in some states as the nominee of the Democratic Party. George Wallace of Alabama was in presidential politics as a conservative Democrat except 1968, when he left the party and ran as an independent. Running as the nominees of the American Independent Party , the Wallace ticket won 5 states. Its best result was in Alabama, where it received 65.9% of the vote. Wallace was the official Democratic nominee in Alabama and Hubert Humphrey
11571-414: The city budget and supervises most of the departments. Usually, there is no set term; the manager serves as long as the council is satisfied with their work. Some states contain unincorporated areas , which are areas of land not governed by any local authorities below that at the county level. Residents of unincorporated areas only need to pay taxes to the county, state and federal governments as opposed to
11704-465: The city's affairs. Cities in the West and South usually have nonpartisan local politics. There are three general types of municipal government: the mayor-council , the commission, and the council-manager . These are the pure forms; many cities have developed a combination of two or three of them. This is the oldest form of city government in the United States and, until the beginning of the 20th century,
11837-461: The city), and often is responsible for preparing the city's budget. The council passes city ordinances, sets the tax rate on property, and apportions money among the various city departments. As cities have grown, council seats have usually come to represent more than a single neighborhood. This combines both the legislative and executive functions in one group of officials, usually three or more in number, elected city-wide. Each commissioner supervises
11970-425: The county; in the larger ones, supervisors represent separate districts or townships. The board collects taxes for state and local governments; borrows and appropriates money; fixes the salaries of county employees; supervises elections; builds and maintains highways and bridges; and administers national, state, and county welfare programs. In very small counties, the executive and legislative power may lie entirely with
12103-450: The district's charter or other founding document, and with sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as separate governments; known by a variety of titles, including districts, authorities, boards, commissions, etc., as specified in the enabling state legislation . The United States possesses a number of unincorporated territories , including 16 island territories across the globe. These are areas of land which are not under
12236-567: The fact that an organic act was not passed in Congress, American Samoa established its own constitution in 1967, and has self governed ever since. Seeking statehood or independence is often debated in US territories, such as in Puerto Rico, but even if referendums on these issues are held, congressional approval is needed for changes in status to take place. The citizenship status of residents in US unincorporated territories has caused concern for their ability to influence and participate in
12369-472: The federal courts had the discretion to include busing as a desegregation tool to achieve racial balance. Some southern Democrats became Republicans at the national level, while remaining with their old party in state and local politics throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Several prominent conservative Democrats switched parties to become Republicans, including Strom Thurmond , John Connally and Mills E. Godwin Jr . In
12502-584: The federal, state and local levels, with the major exception being the President, who is instead elected indirectly by the people through the Electoral College . American politics is dominated by two parties , which since the American Civil War have been the Democratic Party and the Republican Party , although other parties have run candidates . Since the mid-20th century, the Democratic Party has generally supported left-leaning policies, while
12635-580: The governor races in Florida and Georgia in 2022 by wider margins than in 2018, though Senator Warnock won re-election in Georgia. Virginia is a notable exception to Republican dominance in the former 11 Confederate states , due to Northern Virginia being part of the Washington metropolitan area , with both major parties continuing to be competitive in the State in the 21st century. Dr. Ralph Northam ,
12768-479: The issue of slavery; Northern Democrats, led by Stephen Douglas, believed in Popular Sovereignty —letting the people of the territories vote on slavery. The Southern Democrats, reflecting the views of the late John C. Calhoun , insisted slavery was national. The Democrats controlled the national government from 1853 until 1861, and presidents Pierce and Buchanan were friendly to Southern interests. In
12901-469: The jurisdiction of any state, and do not have a government established by Congress through an organic act . Citizens of these territories can vote for members of their own local governments, and some can also elect representatives to serve in Congress—though they only have observer status. The unincorporated territories of the U.S. include the permanently inhabited territories of American Samoa , Guam ,
13034-618: The most conservative member of the Senate Democratic Caucus . Manchin refused to abolish the Senate filibuster for non- budget reconciliation -related legislation, but did vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court and pass the Inflation Reduction Act . During the 2022 midterms , Democrats narrowly lost their House majority, though they gained a seat in the Senate. The Blue Dog Coalition
13167-536: The most part since. Many of the Representatives, Senators, and voters who were referred to as Reagan Democrats in the 1980s were conservative Southern Democrats. They often had more conservative views than other Democrats. But there were notable remnants of the Solid South into the early 21st century. In 1992 , Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton was elected president. Unlike Carter, however, Clinton
13300-736: The municipal government as well. A notable example of this is Paradise, Nevada , an unincorporated area where many of the casinos commonly associated with Las Vegas are situated. In addition to general-purpose government entities legislating at the state, county, and city level, special-purpose areas may exist as well, provide one or more specific services that are not being supplied by other existing governments. School districts are organized local entities providing public elementary and secondary education which, under state law, have sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as separate governments. Special districts are authorized by state law to provide designated functions as established in
13433-443: The municipality and the county have been merged into a unified, coterminous jurisdiction —that is to say, these counties consist in their entirety of a single municipality whose city government also operates as the county government. Some counties, such as Arlington County, Virginia , do not have any additional subdivisions. Some states contain independent cities that are not part of any county; although it may still function as if it
13566-440: The nation, and with the lives of most Americans disrupted, the assisting of African-Americans in American society was seen as necessary by the new government. During the 1930s, as the New Deal began to move Democrats as a whole to the left in economic policy, Southern Democrats were mostly supportive, although by the late 1930s there was a growing conservative faction . Both factions supported Roosevelt's foreign policies. By 1948
13699-408: The national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments. The federal government is divided into three branches, as per the specific terms articulated in the U.S. Constitution: The federal government's layout is explained in the Constitution. Two political parties , the Democratic Party and the Republican Party , have dominated American politics since
13832-462: The national level, the Republican Party moved sharply to the New Right , with the shrinkage of the "Eastern Establishment" Rockefeller Republican element that had emphasized their support for civil rights. Economic and cultural conservatism (especially regarding abortion and LGBT rights ) became more important in the South, with its large religious right element, such as Southern Baptists in
13965-681: The needs of the people, providing everything from police and fire protection to sanitary codes, health regulations, education, public transportation, and housing. Typically local elections are nonpartisan — local activists suspend their party affiliations when campaigning and governing. The county is the administrative subdivision of the state, authorized by state constitutions and statutes. The county equivalents in Louisiana are called parishes , while those in Alaska are called boroughs . The specific governmental powers of counties vary widely between
14098-664: The only senator from a state in rebellion to reject secession. The Border States or Border South of Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri of the Upper South were torn by political turmoil. Kentucky and Missouri were both governed by pro-secessionist Southern Democratic Governors who vehemently rejected Lincoln's call for 75,000 troops . Kentucky and Missouri both held secession conventions, but neither officially declared secession, leading to split Unionist and Confederate state governments in both states. Southern Democrats in Maryland faced
14231-569: The passage of this Act, however, their willingness to support Republicans on a national level increased demonstrably. In 1964, Republican presidential nominee Goldwater , who had voted against the Civil Rights Act, won many of the "Solid South" states over Democratic presidential nominee Lyndon B. Johnson , himself a Texan , and with many this Republican support continued and seeped down the ballot to congressional, state, and ultimately local levels. A further significant item of legislation
14364-529: The politics of the United States. In recent decades, the Supreme Court has established voting as a fundamental right of US citizens, even though residents of territories do not hold full voting rights. Despite this, residents must still abide by federal laws that they cannot equitably influence, as well as register for the national Selective Service System , which has led some scholars to argue that residents of territories are essentially second-class citizens. The legal justifications for these discrepancies stem from
14497-590: The president is elected indirectly, by an Electoral College whose electors represent their state and are elected by popular vote. (Before the Seventeenth Amendment was passed, Senators were also elected indirectly, by state legislatures.) These presidential electors were originally expected to exercise their own judgement. In modern practice, though, the electors are chosen by their party and pledged to vote for that party's presidential candidate (in rare occurrences they may violate their pledge, becoming
14630-642: The protection of segregation led Democrats in the Deep South to reject Truman and run a third party ticket of Dixiecrats in the 1948 United States presidential election . After 1964, Southern Democrats lost major battles during the Civil Rights Movement . Federal laws ended segregation and restrictions on black voters. During the Civil Rights Movement, Democrats in the South initially still voted loyally with their party. After
14763-540: The reliable electoral support of the U.S. Southern states for Democratic Party candidates for almost a century after the Reconstruction era. Except for 1928 , when Catholic candidate Al Smith ran on the Democratic ticket, Democrats won heavily in the South in every presidential election from 1876 until 1964 (and even in 1928, the divided South provided most of Smith's electoral votes). The Democratic dominance originated in many Southerners' animosity towards
14896-551: The rest of the nation. In the presidential elections of 1952 and 1956 Republican nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower , a popular World War II general , won several Southern states, thus breaking some White Southerners away from their Democratic Party pattern. The senior position of Southern Congressmen and Senators, and the discipline of many groups such as the Southern Caucus meant that Civil Rights initiatives tended to be blunted despite popular support. The passage of
15029-550: The right to choose any political figure outside their respective areas and can only elect a non-voting delegate to serve in the House of Representatives . All states and the District of Columbia contribute to the electoral vote for president. Successful participation, especially in federal elections, often requires large amounts of money, especially for television advertising. This money can be very difficult to raise by appeals to
15162-451: The rights of the people and a plan for organizing the government, and are generally more detailed. At the state and local level, the process of initiatives and referendums allow citizens to place new legislation on a popular ballot, or to place legislation that has recently been passed by a legislature on a ballot for a popular vote. Initiatives and referendums, along with recall elections and popular primary elections, are signature reforms of
15295-405: The running of state and local elections. Who has the right to vote in the United States is regulated by the Constitution and federal and state laws. Suffrage is nearly universal for citizens 18 years of age and older. Voting rights are sometimes restricted as a result of felony conviction , depending on the state. The District, and other U.S. holdings like Puerto Rico and Guam , do not have
15428-485: The signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , the old argument that all Whites had to stick together to prevent civil rights legislation lost its force because the legislation had now been passed. More and more Whites began to vote Republican, especially in the suburbs and growing cities. Newcomers from the North were mostly Republican; they were now joined by conservatives and wealthy Southern Whites, while liberal Whites and poor Whites, especially in rural areas, remained with
15561-489: The southern states and disenfranchised African-Americans. The monopoly that the Democratic Party held over most of the South showed signs of breaking apart in 1948, when many white Southern Democrats—upset by the policies of desegregation enacted during the administration of Democratic President Harry Truman —created the States Rights Democratic Party . This new party, commonly referred to as
15694-413: The state or national constitution. Like the federal government, state governments have three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The chief executive of a state is its popularly elected governor , who typically holds office for a four-year term (although in some states the term is two years). Except for Nebraska , which has unicameral legislature, all states have a bicameral legislature, with
15827-457: The state) does not operate under a county-level government at all. In areas that do not have any county governmental function and are simply a division of land, services are provided either by lower level townships or municipalities, or the state. Counties may contain a number of cities , towns, villages, or hamlets . Some cities—including Philadelphia , Honolulu , San Francisco , Nashville , and Denver —are consolidated city-counties , where
15960-532: The states. In some states, mainly in New England , they are primarily used as judicial districts. In other states, counties have broad powers in housing, education, transportation and recreation. County government has been eliminated throughout Connecticut , Rhode Island , and in parts of Massachusetts ; while the Unorganized Borough area of Alaska (which makes up about a half of the area of
16093-570: The term boll weevils has fallen out of favor. Split-ticket voting was common among conservative Southern Democrats in the 1970s and 1980s. These voters supported conservative Democrats for local and statewide office while simultaneously voting for Republican presidential candidates. For example, Kent Hance defeated future president George W. Bush in the 1978 midterms . They were sometimes humorously called " Yellow dog Democrats ", or " boll weevils " and " Dixiecrats ". According to journalist Ed Kilgore, Yellow Dog Democrats were Southerners who saw
16226-465: The term town does not have any specific meaning; it is simply an informal term applied to populated places (both incorporated and unincorporated municipalities). Moreover, in some states, the term town is equivalent to how civil townships are used in other states. Like counties, the specific responsibilities to townships vary based on each state. Many states grant townships some governmental powers, making them civil townships , either independently or as
16359-472: The two houses. They exerted great weight in the two Democratic caucuses and headed almost all of the important congressional committees.” From 1896 to 1912 and 1921 to 1931, the Democrats were relegated to second place status in national politics and didn't control a single branch of the federal government despite universal dominance in most of the " Solid South ." In 1928 several Southern states dallied with voting Republican in supporting Herbert Hoover over
16492-461: The upper house usually called the Senate and the lower house called the House of Representatives , the Assembly or something similar. In most states, senators serve four-year terms, and members of the lower house serve two-year terms. The constitutions of the various states differ in some details but generally follow a pattern similar to that of the federal Constitution, including a statement of
16625-453: The work of one or more city departments. Commissioners also set policies and rules by which the city is operated. One is named chairperson of the body and is often called the mayor, although their power is equivalent to that of the other commissioners. The city manager is a response to the increasing complexity of urban problems that need management ability not often possessed by elected public officials. The answer has been to entrust most of
16758-494: Was elected governor of Kentucky and won re-election in 2023 . As of February 2024, Democrats control the governorships of Kentucky, North Carolina, Maryland, and Delaware and the state legislatures of Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia. Since 2017, most U.S. House or state legislative seats held by Democrats in the South are majority-minority or urban districts. Due to growing urbanization and changing demographics in many Southern states, more liberal Democrats have found success in
16891-477: Was a consolidated city-county, an independent city was legally separated from any county. Some municipalities are in multiple counties ; New York City is uniquely partitioned into five boroughs that are each coterminous with a county. In most U.S. counties, one town or city is designated as the county seat , and this is where the county government offices are located and where the board of commissioners or supervisors meets. In small counties, boards are chosen by
17024-664: Was a major issue. After being the dominant party in U.S. politics from 1801 to 1829, the Democratic-Republicans split into two factions by 1828: the federalist National Republicans (who became the Whigs ), and the Democrats. The Democrats and Whigs were evenly balanced in the 1830s and 1840s. However, by the 1850s, the Whigs disintegrated. Other opposition parties emerged but the Democrats were dominant. Northern Democrats were in serious opposition to Southern Democrats on
17157-551: Was endorsed by Tea Party Express , an extremely rare occurrence for a Democrat. Minnick was the only Democrat to receive a 100% rating from the Club for Growth , an organization that typically supports conservative Republicans. Minnick lost to Raúl Labrador , a conservative Republican, in the general election. The Washington Post noted the waning influence of the conservative Democrat Blue Dog Coalition voting bloc, losing over half of their previously more than 50 U.S. House members in
17290-528: Was only able to win the southern states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. While running for president, Clinton promised to "end welfare as we have come to know it" while in office. In 1996, Clinton would fulfill his campaign promise and the longtime Republican goal of major welfare reform came into fruition. After two welfare reform bills sponsored by the Republican-controlled Congress were successfully vetoed by
17423-444: Was reduced to eight members, the lowest number in its history. In 2023, Joe Manchin , described as the most conservative Democratic U.S. Senator, announced he would not seek re-election in 2024 . Manchin left the Democratic Party and registered as an Independent on May 31, 2024. The Blue Dog Coalition was formed in 1995 during the 104th Congress to give members from the Democratic Party representing conservative-leaning districts
17556-727: Was the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , which targeted for preclearance by the U.S. Department of Justice any election-law change in areas where African-American voting participation was lower than the norm (most but not all of these areas were in the South); the effect of the Voting Rights Act on southern elections was profound, including the by-product that some White Southerners perceived it as meddling while Black voters universally appreciated it. Nixon aide Kevin Phillips told The New York Times in 1970 that "Negrophobe" Whites would quit
17689-425: Was used by nearly all American cities. Its structure is like that of the state and national governments, with an elected mayor as chief of the executive branch and an elected council that represents the various neighborhoods forming the legislative branch. The mayor appoints heads of city departments and other officials (sometimes with the approval of the council ), has the power to veto over ordinances (the laws of
#340659