New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

ideological faction within the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

in the United States. As the

Third Way The Third Way is a centrist political position that attempts to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of centre-right economic policies with centre-left social policies. The Third Way was born from a ...

faction of the party, they are seen as

culturally liberal Cultural liberalism is a social philosophy which expresses the social dimension of liberalism and advocates the freedom of individuals to choose whether to conform to cultural norms. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, it is often expressed a ...

on social issues while being

moderate Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...

fiscally conservative Fiscal conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, and ''laissez-faire'' economics.M. O. Dickerson et al., '' ...

on economic issues. New Democrats dominated the party from the late 1980s through the mid-2010s.

History

Origins

After the

landslide defeat A landslide victory is an election result in which the victorious candidate or party wins by an overwhelming margin. The term became popular in the 1800s to describe a victory in which the opposition is "buried", similar to the way in which a geol ...

s by the Republican Party led by

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

and

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

in the 1980s, a group of prominent Democrats began to believe their party was out of touch and in need of a radical shift in

economic policy The economy of governments covers the systems for setting levels of taxation, government budgets, the money supply and interest rates as well as the labour market, national ownership, and many other areas of government interventions into the e ...

and ideas of

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, social norm, norms, power (social and political), power or language of an organized society over a social system (family, tribe, formal organization, formal or informal organization, a ...

.Wayne LeMieux, The Democrats' New Path, 2006, John F Harris, The Survivor:Bill Clinton in the White House, Random House, 2005, The

Democratic Leadership Council The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) was founded in 1985 and closed in 2011. Founded and directed by Al From, prominent members include Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton (who was elected president in 1992 and 1996), Delaware Senator Joe Biden ( ...

(DLC) was founded in 1985 by

Al From Al From (born May 31, 1943) is the founder and former CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council. His ideas and political strategies during the past quarter century played a central role in the resurgence of the modern Democratic Party. From is the ...

and a group of like-minded politicians and strategists. They advocated a political

as an antidote to the electoral successes of

Reaganism Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989). A Republican and former actor and governor of California, he energized the conservative movement in the United States from 1964. His basic foreign policy was to equal and ...

. The landslide 1984 presidential election defeat spurred

Democrats to action, and the DLC was formed. The DLC, an unofficial party organization, played a critical role in moving the Democratic Party's policies to the center of the American

political spectrum A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more geometric axes that represent independent political dimensions. The expressions politi ...

. Prominent Democratic politicians such as Senators

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

and Joe Biden (both future

Vice Presidents A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

, and Biden a future

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

) participated in DLC affairs prior to their candidacies for the 1988 Democratic Party nomination. Hale, Jon F. "The Making of the New Democrats." ''Political Science Quarterly'' 110, no. 2 (1995): 207-221. The DLC did not want the Democratic Party to be "simply posturing in the middle", and instead framed its ideas as "progressive" and as a "Third Way" to address the problems of its era. Examples of the DLC's policy initiatives can be found in ''The New American Choice Resolutions''. Although the New Democrat label was briefly used by a progressive

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...

group including Gary Hart and Eugene McCarthy in 1989, the term became more widely associated with the ''New Orleans Declaration'' and policies of the DLC which in 1990 renamed its bi-monthly magazine from ''The Mainstream Democrat'' to ''The New Democrat''. When then-Governor

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

stepped down as DLC chairman to run for the presidency in the

1992 United States presidential election The 1992 United States presidential election was the 52nd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1992. Democratic Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas defeated incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush, independent ...

, he presented himself as a New Democrat.

First wave

The

Watergate Babies The Watergate Babies were Democrats first elected to the United States Congress in the 1974 elections, after President Richard Nixon's resignation over the Watergate scandal, on August 9, 1974. Democrats picked up 49 seats in the House and 5 ...

from 1974 to the 1978-83 voter "tax revolts" were very similar to

Southern Democrats Southern Democrats, historically sometimes known colloquially as Dixiecrats, are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Southern Democrats were generally much more conservative than Northern Democrats wi ...

and the

Blue Dog Democrats The Blue Dog Coalition (commonly known as the Blue Dogs or Blue Dog Democrats) is a caucus in the United States House of Representatives comprising centrist members from the Democratic Party. The caucus was founded as a group of conservative ...

. The first wave sought the votes of

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

working-class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

Reagan Democrats A Reagan Democrat is a traditionally Democratic Party (United States), Democratic voter in the Northern United States, referring to working class residents who supported Republican Party (United States), Republican presidential candidates Ronald R ...

with the promise of property taxes that would, in part, subsidize start-ups and business ventures in post-industrial economies. This wave crested in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Despite a preponderance of these Democrats in the South, forerunners to "Atari Democrats" in

the West West is a cardinal direction or compass point. West or The West may also refer to: Geography and locations Global context * The Western world * Western culture and Western civilization in general * The Western Bloc, countries allied with NATO ...

and the Northeast applied these policy frameworks to their own post-industrial sectors. After 1985, the Democratic Leadership Council, spearheaded by Clinton, maintained its

southeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

emphasis on post-industrial finance and the Research Triangle Park, but canvassed and met with potential "Atari Democrat" campaign donors in

and the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

. These proponents of the California-New England-South Third Way became the U.S. "New Democrats."

, the founder of the DLC and its leader until 2009, had been a staffer for Louisiana Representative

Gillis Long Gillis William Long (May 4, 1923 – January 20, 1985) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a U.S. representative from Louisiana. He was a member of the Long family and was the nephew of former governors Huey Long and Earl Long ...

. Among the presidents of the DLC were Tennessee Senator

and Arkansas Governor

. At the

, Clinton was elected as the 42nd

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

, ending twelve years of Republican dominance. The 1994 United States elections gave Republicans control of the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, effectively wiping out Democratic representation in the South and West.

Second wave

Presidency of Bill Clinton

is the Democratic politician most identified with the New Democrats due to his promise of welfare reform in the 1992 United States presidential campaign and its subsequent enactment, his 1992 promise of a

middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...

tax cut A tax cut represents a decrease in the amount of money taken from taxpayers to go towards government revenue. Tax cuts decrease the revenue of the government and increase the disposable income of taxpayers. Tax cuts usually refer to reductions i ...

and his 1993 expansion of the

Earned Income Tax Credit The United States federal earned income tax credit or earned income credit (EITC or EIC) is a refundable tax credit for low- to moderate-income working individuals and couples, particularly those with children. The amount of EITC benefit depends ...

for the working poor. New Democrat successes under Clinton, underpinned by the writings of

Anthony Giddens Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens (born 18 January 1938) is an English sociologist who is known for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent modern sociologists and is t ...

on the

duality of structure Duality may refer to: Mathematics * Duality (mathematics), a mathematical concept ** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality ** Duality (optimization) ** Duality (order theory), a concept regarding binary relations ** Dual ...

, sustained a

unity of opposites The unity of opposites is the central category of dialectics, said to be related to the notion of non-duality in a deep sense.

that became the hallmark of

political economy. Allusions to this

syncretic politics Syncretic politics, or spectral-syncretic politics, combine elements from across the conventional left–right political spectrum. The idea of syncretic politics has been influenced by syncretism and syncretic religion. The main idea of syncreti ...

and ''

unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno ''Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno'' is a Latin phrase that means ''One for all, all for one''. It is the unofficial motto of Switzerland. The phrase describes the relation in monotheistic faiths. God is one5 Moses 6:4 He is the God of all mankin ...

'', should be explicated and the concepts assessed in shifting contexts. New Democrats are often regarded to have inspired

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

in the United Kingdom and his policies within the Labour Party as

New Labour New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...

, as well as prompting the continental conflation of Third Way approaches to

social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

with previous notions of

democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self- ...

. The two were often used interchangeably by political scientists and fostered popular conceptions of

as a social democratic variant of

libertarian socialism Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (201 ...

. Clinton presented himself as a

candidate to draw White middle-class voters who had left the

for the Republican Party. Until 2016 and even after, the

defined and dominated notions of

centrism Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

in U.S. partisan politics. In 1990, Clinton became the DLC chair. Under his leadership, the DLC founded two-dozen chapters and created a base of support. Running as a New Democrat, Clinton won the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and 1996 presidential elections. Legislation signed into domestic law with bipartisan support under President Clinton includes: * The

North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...

(core international agreement signed during Bush Administration without NAALC/NAAEC, required Congressional approval for implementation) * The

Don't Ask, Don't Tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on Decemb ...

ban on

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

people serving in the Armed Forces ( repealed in 2010). * The

Defense of Marriage Act The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limiting the definition of marr ...

that prohibited the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages (ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013). * The

Religious Freedom Restoration Act The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Pub. L. No. 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488 (November 16, 1993), codified at through (also known as RFRA, pronounced "rifra"), is a 1993 United States federal law that "ensures that interests in religiou ...

federal religious discrimination statute. * The

Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, commonly referred to as the 1994 Crime Bill, the Clinton Crime Bill, or the Biden Crime Law, is an Act of Congress dealing with crime and law enforcement; it became law in 1994. It is t ...

, sometimes referred to as the 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill. New Democrats dialectically adopted GOP proposals and platforms during the campaigns for the 1992 Congressional/state elections and

. Below are subsequent Congressional legislative authorships and voting percentages. Please note that both the 1996

and 1996

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) is a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The bill implemented major changes to ...

became law three months before the 1996 Congressional/state elections and

1996 United States presidential election The 1996 United States presidential election was the 53rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton defeated former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the Republican nominee ...

. ''Legislative Authorship'' * 1996

Bob Barr Robert Laurence Barr Jr. (born November 5, 1948) is an American attorney and politician. He served as a federal prosecutor and as a United States House of Representatives, Congressman. He represented Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Re ...

(R-GA) (GOP introduction) * 1996

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasic ...

(R-OH) with Ideas/Provisions from Clinton's 1994 proposal * 1997 Taxpayer Relief Act:

(R-OH) with Ideas/Provisions from New Democrats * 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act:

Phil Gramm William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was ...

(R-TX),

Jim Leach James Albert Smith Leach (born October 15, 1942) is an American academic and former politician. He served as ninth Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2009 to 2013 Pogrebin, Robin"Rocco Landesman Confirmed as Chairman of the ...

(R-IA), and Thomas Bliley (R-VA) with Ideas/Provisions from New Democrats ''Congressional Democrat Voting Percentages'' * 1996

: 64% Dem Representatives support & 72% Dem Senators support * 1996

: 50% Dem Representatives support & 53% Dem Senators support * 1997 Taxpayer Relief Act: 80% Dem Representatives support & 82% Dem Senators support * 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act: 75% Dem Representatives support & 84% Dem Senators support The

Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...

, supported by Congressional New Democrats, was responsible for proposing and passing the

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (or OBRA-93) was a federal law that was enacted by the 103rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 10, 1993. It has also been unofficially referred to as the De ...

, which increased Medicare taxes for taxpayers with annual incomes over $135,000, yet also reduced Medicare spending and benefits across all tax brackets. Congressional Republicans demanded even deeper cuts to Medicare, but Clinton twice vetoed their bills. The

in turn taxed individuals earning annual incomes over $115,000, but also defined taxable "small business" earnings as less than approximately $10 million in annual gross revenue, with tax brackets for high-gross incorporated businesses beginning at that number. According to the Clinton Foundation, the revised brackets and categories increased taxes on the wealthiest 1.2% of taxpayers within these new brackets, while cutting taxes on 15 million

low-income Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

families and making tax cuts available to 90% of small businesses. "Small businesses" and taxpayer classifications were reconfigured by these new tax brackets. Again, according to the Clinton Foundation, these brackets raised the top

marginal tax rate In a tax system, the tax rate is the ratio (usually expressed as a percentage) at which a business or person is taxed. There are several methods used to present a tax rate: statutory, average, marginal, and effective. These rates can also be ...

from 31% to 40%. Additionally, it mandated that the

budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...

be balanced over a number of years through the implementation of spending restraints. Bill Clinton's promise of welfare reform was passed in the form of the

of 1996. Prior to 2018, critics such as Yascha Mounk contended that Clinton's arguments for the virtues of "negative" notions of "personal responsibility 'New Orleans Declaration'': 'individual responsibility'" propounded within DLC circles during the 1980s, stemmed more from

's and

Peggy Noonan Margaret Ellen Noonan (born 1950), known as Peggy Noonan, is a weekly columnist for ''The Wall Street Journal'', and contributor to NBC News and ABC News. She was a primary speechwriter and Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan from 1984 t ...

's specific conception of "accountability" than any "positive notion of responsibility" or even multifarious approaches to "accountability." Additional critics distinguish the New Democrat idea of "personal responsibility" from arguments over the extent of limitations on government, if any, in platforms that advance

social responsibility Social responsibility is an ethical framework in which an individual is obligated to work and cooperate with other individuals and organizations for the benefit of the community that will inherit the world that individual leaves behind. Social ...

. The

, the temporary relegation of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

to the global promotion of

microcredit :''This article is specific to small loans, often provided in a pooled manner. For direct payments to individuals for specific projects, see Micropatronage. For financial services to the poor, see Microfinance. For small payments, see Micropayme ...

, partisan compromises over this act, conflicts within the Democratic Party, as well as the act's multivalent consequences, all contributed to deliberations over passage and execution of the PRWORA.

Presidency of Barack Obama

In March 2009,

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

, said in a meeting with the

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a moderate-to-conservative approach to fiscal matters. As of ...

that he was a "New Democrat" and a "pro-growth Democrat", that he "supports free and fair trade" and that he was "very concerned about a return to

protectionism Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

". Throughout the Obama administration, a "free and

fair trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and enviro ...

" attitude was espoused, including in a 2015 trade report entitled ''The Economic Benefits of U.S. Trade'' that noted that

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

"help developing countries lift people out of poverty" and "expand markets for U.S. exports". Throughout Obama's tenure, approximately 1,000 Democrats lost their seats across all levels of government. Specifically, 958 state legislature seats, 62 house seats, 11 Senate seats, and 12 governorships, with a majority of these elected officials identifying as New Democrats. Some analysts such as Henry Eten at ''

FiveThirtyEight ''FiveThirtyEight'', sometimes rendered as ''538'', is an American website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States. The website, which takes its name from the number of electors in th ...

'', believe this was due to the changing demographic shift, as more Democrats identified as liberal in 2016 than moderate. Consequently, many pundits believed that Obama's tenure marked an end of the New Democrats' dominance in the party.

Recent years

Hillary Clinton presidential campaign

Ahead of the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries, many New Democrats were backing the

presidential campaign President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

, the wife of former New Democrat president,

who served as a Senator from New York during the 2000s and as Barack Obama's Secretary of State during the early 2010s. Originally considered to be an expected nominee, Clinton faced an unexpected challenge from Vermont Senator,

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

, whose

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

garnered the support of progressive and younger Democrats. Ultimately, Clinton won 34 of the 57 contests, compared to Sanders' 23, and garnered about 55 percent of the vote. Nevertheless, commentators saw the primary as a decline in the strength of New Democrats in the party, and an increasing influence of progressive Democrats within the party. Ahead of the formal announcement of the

2016 Democratic National Convention The 2016 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28, 2016. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party, the majo ...

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...

published the Democratic National Committee email leak, in which DNC operatives, many of whom were New Democrats, seemed to deride Bernie Sanders' campaign and discuss ways to advance Clinton's nomination, leading to the resignation of DNC chair, and New Democrat member,

Debbie Wasserman Schultz Deborah Wasserman Schultz (née Wasserman; born September 27, 1966) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from , first elected to Congress in 2004. A member of the Democratic Party, she is a former chair of the Democrat ...

and other implicated officials. The leak was allegedly part of an operation by the

Russian government The Government of Russia exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers. It has its legal basis in the Constitution of the Russia ...

to undermine Hillary Clinton. Although the ensuing controversy initially focused on emails that dated from relatively late in the primary, when Clinton was nearing the party's nomination, the emails cast doubt on the DNC's neutrality towards progressive and moderate candidates. This was evidenced by alleged bias in the scheduling and conduct of the debates, as well as controversial DNC–Clinton agreements regarding financial arrangements and control over policy and hiring decisions. Other media commentators have disputed the significance of the emails, arguing that the DNC's internal preference for Clinton was not historically unusual and didn't affect the primary enough to sway the outcome.Heersink, Boris (November 4, 2017)
"No, the DNC didn’t 'rig' the Democratic primary for Hillary Clinton"
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. Retrieved March 8, 2018. The controversies ultimately led to the formation of a DNC "unity" commission to recommend reforms in the party's primary process.

Decline

Presidency of Joe Biden

The winner of the

2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...

, was Joe Biden, who served as Vice President to Barack Obama. Joe Biden is the 46th president of the United States. In the

2020 United States House of Representatives elections The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 3, 2020, to elect representatives from all 435 congressional districts across each of the 50 U.S. states, as well as six non-voting delegates from the District of C ...

, 13 Democrats lost their seats. All thirteen Democrats that lost their seats had won in the 2018 mid-term elections. Of those 13 members, 10 of them were New Democrats. During the

117th United States Congress The 117th United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on ...

, the New Democrat Coalition lost its status as the largest ideological coalition in favor of the more left leaning

Congressional Progressive Caucus The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most Left-wing politics, left-leaning faction of the ...

Ideology

According to Dylan Loewe, New Democrats tend to identify as

to fiscally moderate and socially liberal. Columnist

Michael Lind Michael Lind (born April 23, 1962) is an American writer and academic. He has explained and defended the tradition of American democratic nationalism in a number of books, beginning with '' The Next American Nation'' (1995). He is currently a pro ...

argued that

neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

for New Democrats was the "highest stage" of left liberalism. The

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

of the 1960s became more fiscally conservative in the 1970s and 1980s but retained their cultural liberalism. Many leading New Democrats, including

, started out in the

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pres ...

wing of the

and gradually moved toward the right on economic and military policy. According to historian

Walter Scheidel Walter Scheidel (born 9 July 1966) is an Austrian historian who teaches ancient history at Stanford University, California. Scheidel's main research interests are ancient social and economic history, pre-modern historical demography, and com ...

, both major political parties shifted towards promoting

free-market capitalism In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or an ...

in the 1970s, with Republicans moving further to the political right than Democrats to the political left. He noted that Democrats played a significant role in the financial deregulation of the 1990s. Anthropologist

Jason Hickel Jason Edward Hickel (born 1982) is an economic anthropologist whose research focuses on ecological economics, global inequality, imperialism and political economy. He is known for his books ''The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and ...

and historian

Gary Gerstle Gary Gerstle (born 1954) is an American historian and academic. He is the Paul Mellon Professor of American History at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College. Early life Gary Gerstle received his BA from Brown Univers ...

contended that the neoliberal policies of the Reagan era were carried forward by the Clinton administration, forming a new economic consensus which crossed party lines. According to Gerstle, "across his two terms, Clinton may have done more to free markets from regulation than even Reagan himself had done." New Democrats have faced criticism from those further to the left. In a 2017

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

interview,

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

said that "the Democrats gave up on the working class forty years ago". Political analyst

Thomas Frank Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

asserted that the Democratic Party began to represent the interests of the

professional class A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

rather than the

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

Elected to public office

Presidents

(former) #

(former) # Joe Biden

Vice presidents

(former) # Joe Biden (former)

Senate

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...

Evan Bayh Birch Evans Bayh III ( ; born December 26, 1955) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011 and the 46th governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997. Bayh ...

(former) #

Mark Begich Mark Peter Begich ( ; born March 30, 1962) is an American politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Alaska from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously ser ...

(former) # Jacky Rosen #

Jeanne Shaheen Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen ( ; née Bowers, born January 28, 1947) is an American retired educator and politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Hampshire since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Shaheen served as the 78 ...

Maria Cantwell Maria Ellen Cantwell (; born October 13, 1958) is an American politician and former businesswoman serving as the junior United States senator from Washington since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the Washingto ...

Tom Carper Thomas Richard Carper (born January 23, 1947) is an American politician and former military officer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Delaware, having held the seat si ...

Bob Casey Jr. Robert Patrick Casey Jr. (born April 13, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Pennsylvania, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, Casey previously served as Penn ...

Max Cleland Joseph Maxwell Cleland (August 24, 1942 – November 9, 2021) was an American politician from Georgia. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a disabled U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, a recipient of the Silver Star and the Bronze Star fo ...

(former) #

Kent Conrad Gaylord Kent Conrad (born March 12, 1948) is a former American politician who was a United States Senator from North Dakota. He is a member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, the North Dakota affiliate of the Democratic Party. First elec ...

(former) #

Chris Coons Christopher Andrew Coons (born September 9, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Delaware since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Coons served as the county executive of New Castle Cou ...

Joe Donnelly Joseph Simon Donnelly Sr. (born September 29, 1955) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 2013 to 2019. Since 2022, he has served as the United States Ambassador to the Holy Se ...

(former) #

Byron Dorgan Byron Leslie Dorgan (born May 14, 1942) is an American author, businessman and former politician who served as a United States Representative (1981–1992) and United States Senator (1992–2011) from North Dakota. He is member of the Democratic ...

(former) #

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...

NDN: Senate New Democrat Coalition Members (August 2002)
/ref> #

(former) #

Maggie Hassan Margaret Coldwell Hassan (; née Wood; born February 27, 1958) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from New Hampshire. A Democrat, Hassan was elected to the Senate in 2016 while serving as the 81st ...

Heidi Heitkamp Mary Kathryn "Heidi" Heitkamp ( ; born October 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from North Dakota from 2013 to 2019. A member of the North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party, ...

(former) #

John Hickenlooper John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. (; born February 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Colorado since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 42nd governor of Colorado from 2011 to 20 ...

# Tim Johnson (former) # Doug Jones (former) #

Ted Kaufman Edward Emmett Kaufman (born March 15, 1939) is a retired American politician and businessman who served as a United States senator from Delaware from 2009 to 2010. He chaired the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Oversight of the Troubled As ...

(former) #

Amy Klobuchar Amy Jean Klobuchar ( ; born May 25, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Minne ...

Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from New York since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as member of the U.S. House of ...

Mary Landrieu Mary Loretta Landrieu ( ; born November 23, 1955) is an American entrepreneur and politician who served as a United States senator from Louisiana from 1997 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Landrieu served as the Louisiana State Treasure ...

(former) #

Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party (Uni ...

(former) #Blanche Lincoln (former) #Claire McCaskill (former) #Bill Nelson (former) #

(former) #Mark Pryor (former) #Ken Salazar (former) # Debbie Stabenow #Jon Tester #Mark Warner #Michael Bennet #Jon Ossoff #Mark Kelly #Bob Menendez #Martin Heinrich #Tim Kaine #Patty Murray #Catherine Cortez Masto #Ben Ray Luján #Chris Van Hollen #Richard Blumenthal

House of Representatives

# Pete Aguilar # Colin Allred # Brad Ashford (former) # Cindy Axne # Ami Bera # Don Beyer # Lisa Blunt Rochester # Carolyn Bourdeaux # Brendan Boyle # Anthony Brindisi (former) # Anthony Brown (Maryland politician), Anthony Brown # Shontel Brown # Julia Brownley # Cheri Bustos # Lois Capps (former) # Salud Carbajal # Tony Cardenas # André Carson # Troy Carter (politician), Troy Carter # Sean Casten # Joaquin Castro # Gerry Connolly # Jim Cooper # Lou Correa # Jim Costa # Joe Courtney (politician), Joe Courtney # Angie Craig # Charlie Crist # Jason Crow # Henry Cuellar # Sharice Davids # Susan Davis (California), Susan Davis (former) # Madeleine Dean # John Delaney (Maryland politician), John Delaney (former) # Suzan DelBene # Val Demings # Eliot L. Engel (former) # Veronica Escobar # Elizabeth Esty (former) # Lizzie Fletcher # Bill Foster (Illinois politician), Bill Foster # Vicente Gonzalez (politician), Vicente Gonzalez # Josh Gottheimer # Gwen Graham (former) # Josh Harder # Denny Heck (former) # Jim Himes # Steven Horsford # Chrissy Houlahan # Sara Jacobs # Bill Keating (politician), Bill Keating # Derek Kilmer # Ron Kind # Ann Kirkpatrick # Raja Krishnamoorthi # Ann McLane Kuster # Rick Larsen # Brenda Lawrence # Al Lawson # Susie Lee # Elaine Luria # Tom Malinowski # Sean Patrick Maloney # Kathy Manning # Lucy McBath # Donald McEachin # Gregory Meeks # Joe Morelle # Seth Moulton # Patrick Murphy (Florida politician), Patrick Murphy # Donald Norcross # Beto O'Rourke (former) # Jimmy Panetta # Chris Pappas (politician), Chris Pappas # Scott Peters (politician), Scott Peters # Ed Perlmutter # Dean Phillips # Pedro Pierluisi (former) # Mike Quigley (politician), Mike Quigley # Kathleen Rice # Cedric Richmond (former) # Deborah K. Ross # Raul Ruiz (politician), Raul Ruiz # Loretta Sanchez (former) # Adam Schiff # Brad Schneider # Kurt Schrader # David Scott (Georgia politician), David Scott # Kim Schrier #

# Terri Sewell # Mikie Sherrill # Elissa Slotkin # Adam Smith (Washington politician), Adam Smith # Darren Soto # Greg Stanton # Haley Stevens # Marilyn Strickland # Norma Torres # Lori Trahan # David Trone # Juan Vargas # Marc Veasey # Filemon Vela Jr. (former) # Jennifer Wexton # Susan Wild # Nikema Williams

Governors

(former) #Mike Beebe (former) #Andy Beshear #Phil Bredesen (former) #Steve Bullock (American politician), Steve Bullock (former) # John Carney (politician), John Carney #

(former) #Roy Cooper #Jim Doyle (former) #Mike Easley (former) #Dave Freudenthal (former) #Christine Gregoire (former) #

(former) #Brad Henry (former) #

(former) #Laura Kelly #Ted Kulongoski (former) #Ronnie Musgrove (former) #Janet Napolitano (former) # Jared Polis #Gina Raimondo (former) #Brian Schweitzer (former) #Kathleen Sebelius (former) #Don Siegelman (former) #Earl Ray Tomblin (former) #Mark Warner (former)

Notes

References

External links

About the New Democrat movement, DLC
{{neoliberalism Centrism in the United States Centrist political advocacy groups in the United States Democratic Party (United States) Factions in the Democratic Party (United States) Neoliberalism Political history of the United States Presidency of Bill Clinton Presidency of Barack Obama Presidency of Joe Biden

History

Origins

First wave

Second wave

Presidency of Bill Clinton

Presidency of Barack Obama

Recent years

Hillary Clinton presidential campaign

Decline

Presidency of Joe Biden

Ideology

Elected to public office

Presidents

Vice presidents

Senate

House of Representatives

Governors

See also

Further reading

Notes

References

External links