When thinking about political parties, we normally think of conservative Republicans making a big slash on the opposite end of the political spectrum. But can it be said that the Democratic party is continuously getting more liberal? As we discussed recently in class the political spectrum, the conservative Republicans would be found on the far right of the spectrum and the liberal Democrats would be found on the far left. Based on recent polls done by Pew Research Center from the years 1987-2012 Democrats as a group have moved farther to the left.
One might ask what is so different about liberal Democrats than moderate Democrats? Well there can be some similarities but there are certainly more differences as their views are normally much more intense. Although the number of liberal Democrats is in the minority at 34 percent and the moderate/conservative Democrats hold the other 63 percent, it seems that the liberals are picking up steam for the 2016 election. This can be found in the last election where New Hampshire liberal Democrats made up 56 percent of primary voters and in Iowa made up 53 percent. With their place in popular sway states it can be said that differences will be made. On the other side, conservative Republicans make up 67 percent in the GOP with 32 percent being the moderate or liberal Republicans, showing them land on the far right of the political spectrum.
Some of the differences between liberal and moderate/conservative Democrats are not only ideological, but are also demographic. It is said that most women and white voters will lean to the liberal side, and it is also said that they are more educated. On the other hand moderate and conservative Democrats are more often male, poorer, less educated, and African American or Latino.
I would like to point out the major differences between the liberals and the moderates. Most liberals do not believe that people can make it by just tying hard. Most of these voters are looking for government handouts and things along that line. Also liberals tend to care less about the budget at hand while that is a pretty important subject for anyone else involved in politics. Most strongly are in favor of same-sex marriage, abortion rights, and citizenship for immigrants looking to attain it. And the last point I will make is the majority of liberals are not a fan of military strength but peace, which is different from the other Democrats. The liberals are mostly in favor of president Obama and his policies including the Affordable Care Act.
My question to the group is do you believe that this shift in the Democrats political spectrum will have an impact on upcoming elections both on local and national levels? Do you believe these polls are correct or could they be a misrepresentation of information? I'd love to hear your opinions, thank you.
Zach Stephenson
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/are-the-democrats-getting-too-liberal/2014/02/28/c0d42d7c-8d26-11e3-95dd-36ff657a4dae_story.html
http://www.pewresearch.org/2014/02/28/are-the-democrats-getting-too-liberal/
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2014/03/01/are_the_democrats_getting_too_liberal_326793.html
4 comments:
I would definitely agree that the Democratic party as a whole is changing quite a bit and is becoming more liberal in terms of social aid programs and government dependency and such. I would also say that Republican party is changing quite a bit, but not necessarily becoming more conservative. I think in this coming election we will see a greater change In the Republican party as it embrasses some of the constitutionalist and libertarian ideals that have seen a resurgance among youth voters as of late. While the Democratic has been shifting overtime, it seems to me that the Republican party is going to shift rapidly because of newly discovered youth interests in these ideologies. I believe that (we will see as I wrote in my blog) the Republican party shift into a much more libertarian direction as former libertarian and tea party voters subvert the establishment republicans.
Great Points Zach
To whom it may concern,
I am confused. It seems my definitions do not satisfy your thesis.
Please, view my post at:
http://politicalpartieselectionsandinterestg.blogspot.com/2014/03/politics-per-merrium-webster_9216.html
Please discuss how the definitions misalign with contemporary politics, if you want.
Thank you,
DB
I feel many republicans and democrats today are indepedent, even if not stated in their voter registration. We are now in and ever changing world with many different ideologies, technologies, and advances that seem to always be on the up rise. I feel that a sense of "party loyalty" is fading and we as people are straying to no matter what the party a person is we look at what the man stands for, rather than what party he claims.
To whom it may concern,
I will not be able to contribute to this blog as I am not a student of our professor's lectures. You can view your comments and my blog post at my new blog:
http://plymouthuniversitydmb.blogspot.com/
Thank you,
DB
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