Thursday, July 28, 2016

Democratic Party Culture 2016





What Do Democrats Want?

Previously I examined the Republican Party platform. Now the Democratic vision for America is available so I want to take a look at that in a similar fashion. The Democratic Party Platform document is a bit shorter at 55 pages compared to the Republican document.

Economic issues
Several traditional concerns of Democrats are evident in a call for raising wages and protecting workers’ rights. Also, they wish to protect and expand social security. There is an identified focus on jobs for younger persons and support for small businesses.

Related to the economy is a concern for fairness in the U.S. financial system, taxation, and trade. The fairness in taxation reflects a Democratic view of proportionality rather than equal or flat tax approaches.

Rights and Justice
Several concerns deal with human rights. In addition to concerns about racism and criminal justice, the platform planks include concerns for immigrants, women, and people who identify as LGBT. Additionally, there are concerns for people with disabilities and respect for people of faith. Fairness in voting rights and campaign fairness are also mentioned.

Similar groups to those in the preceding paragraph are mentioned in a section on values. For example, the platform addresses concern for women and girls, sexual and religious minorities, refugees, and issues such as trafficking and slavery, torture, and HIV/AIDS.

Education
There is a strong emphasis on education. Specifics include relief for students with high debt loads and promoting debt-free college education. They advocate control over the exploitive practices of some for-profit schools. Another widespread appeal is to provide universal preschool education.

Health and Safety
Not surprisingly, Democrats continue their focus on universal health care, more affordable prescriptions and note a specific focus on mental health and substance dependence. Special mentions include people with autistic disorders, reproductive rights, violence against women, and gun violence.

Defense and Military
Democrats support a strong military and care for veterans as well as active service members. They address concerns about global terror and identify issues associated with specific countries.

Leadership
A final section focuses on American leadership in the world and is organized by continents.


Search Term Frequency

To compare the emphasis of the Democrats with that reported in my post on Republicans, I analyzed the platform for the same concepts. I used the search tool in Adobe Reader to identify a few examples. In some cases, I searched both the singular and plural use of a term. My focus is generally on culture but I also looked at international issues.



Religion and Religious Freedom
Religious 11 + Religion 6 = 17
Religious freedom 3
Christian or Christians 1
God 3
Conscience 0
Muslims 5 (Muslim 1) = 6
Jewish 1
Hindu, Buddhist 0

Economic
Economic 47 + economy 45= 92
Tax 31 + taxes 6 = 37
Market 5 + Markets 10 = 15
Property 3
Wages 14

Defense and Safety Issues
Military 28
Border 2 + borders 3 = 5
Gun/ guns 11+1 = 12

Police 3

Leaders
Obama 6
Clinton 0
Bush 1
Trump 24

International Issues/ Sample of Countries
China 6
Israel 5
Russia 2
Mexico 1
Iran 9
Canada 2
India 1
United Kingdom 1
Palestine 0

Social and Cultural
Rights 79
Health care 43
Criminal 10 + crime 3 = 13
Abortion 5
Drug 16 + drugs 10 = 26
Disabilities 28, Disabled 0, disability 8 = 36
Marriage 0
Sex 3 + sexual 16 = 19
Immigration 17
Judge 0 + judges 3 = 3
Gun/ guns 11+1 = 12
Adoption related to children = 1
Race 11 + racism 7 + racist 1 = 19
Worship 0
Violence 24
Pornography 0
Rape 1
Divorce 0

 Related Posts
Psychology, Politics, and Donald Trump http://geoffwsutton.blogspot.com/2016/04/7-reasons-why-donald-trumps-republican.html

Shaping U.S. Culture in Cleveland http://geoffwsutton.blogspot.com/2016/07/shaping-u-s-culture-in-cleveland.html

  The Future of America http://geoffwsutton.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-future-of-america.html 

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I write about culture in general and Christian culture in particular. To read more, see my recent book.
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