Democratic Party

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States along with the Republican Party. Since the 1930s, the party has promoted a social liberal and progressive platform,[1][2][3] and its Congressional caucus is composed of progressives, liberals, centrists,[4] and left-libertarians. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous operation in the UnitedStates and is among the oldest political parties in the world.[5]
Current structure and composition:
President of the United States Barack Obama is the 15th Democrat to hold that office. As of the 112th Congress following the 2010 elections, the Democratic Party currently holds a minority of seats in the House of Representatives and a majority of seats in the Senate, as well as a minority ofstate governorships and control of a minority of state legislatures.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is responsible for promoting Democratic campaign activities. While the DNC is responsible for overseeing the process of writing the Democratic Platform, the DNC is more focused on campaign and organizational strategy than public policy. In presidential elections, it supervises theDemocratic National Convention. The national convention is, subject to the charter of the party, the ultimate authority within the Democratic Party when it is in session, with the DNC running the party's organization at other times. The DNC is currently chaired by Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.[15]
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) assists party candidates in Houseraces; its current chairman (selected by the party caucus) is Rep. Steve Israel of New York. Similarly, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), currently headed by Senator Patty Murray of Washington, raises large sums for Senate races. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), currently chaired by Mike Gronstal of Iowa, is a smaller organization with much less funding thatfocuses on state legislative races. The DNC sponsors the College Democrats of America (CDA), a student-outreach organization with the goal of training and engaging a new generation of Democratic activists. Democrats Abroad is the organization for Americans living outside the United States; they work to advance the goals of the party and encourage Americans living abroad to support the Democrats.The Young Democrats of America (YDA) is a youth-led organization that attempts to draw in and mobilize young people for Democratic candidates, but operates outside of the DNC. In addition, the recently created branch of the Young Democrats, the Young Democrats High School Caucus, attempts to raise awareness and activism amongst teenagers to not only vote and volunteer, but participate in thefuture as well. The Democratic Governors Association (DGA), chaired by Governor Martin O'Malley of Maryland, is an organization supporting the candidacies of Democratic gubernatorial nominees and incumbents. Likewise, the mayors of the largest cities and urban centers convene as the National Conference of Democratic Mayors.
Each state also has a state committee, made up of elected committee membersas well as ex-officio committee members (usually elected officials and representatives of major constituencies), which in turn elects a chair. County, town, city, and ward committees generally are composed of individuals elected at the local level. State and local committees often coordinate campaign activities within their jurisdiction, oversee local conventions and in some cases primaries orcaucuses, and may have a role in nominating candidates for elected office under state law. Rarely do they have much funding, but in 2005, DNC Chairman Dean began a program (called the "50 State Strategy") of using DNC national funds to assist all state parties and paying for full-time professional sta

Ideology
Further information: Political ideologies in the United States and Factions in the...