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1890s change to 1930s

Changed the date 1890's as the Republican Party per their platform planks and the administration's of Harrison, McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt still adhered to the progressive ideals of the original Republican Party and Lincoln. The switch in orientation began with during Taft's administration and throughout the Wilson and Roaring Twenties era finally culminating in the New Deal administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt of 1930s when a clear switch to a "free-market" orientation began for the Republican's made more complete by Goldwater and then later by Reagan (thus being in sinc with the party of Jefferson). Whereas the ideals of the party under F.D.R. for the Democrat's changed the orientation (began with rallies of Bryan and administration of Wilson to some degree) to 'liberal' and 'populist' forming into in ideals anyway the party of Lincoln (liberty and eqaulity plus economic populism rooted in the ideals of Clay and Adams, and the economic and strong government beliefs of Hamilton). Again, with the 1960's the transformation for the Democratic Party continued as Southern Democrats (Blue Dogs) left the party and joined the Republican Party (Bill Bennett is an example) affecting a transformation that today is almost complete. A very Northern-Western Democratic Party (old Lincoln-GOP coalition) oriented towards liberty and equality together with a Lincolnesque populism in economic affairs and a increasingly Southern dominated Republican Party (as the old Democratic coalition was from Jefferson and Jackson's time) oriented toward social conservatism (active government in personal affairs) and free-marketism in economic affairs (with free trade - inactive government in economic affairs) thus the new party of Jefferson. The dividing can be seen in the 2006 election (with the likes of Webb and Brown being not only opposed to the Iraq war - but economically more in sinc with Lincoln than Jefferson). --Northmeister 15:27, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

Bryan's anti-bank populism (1890s) was toned done and evolved into progressivism by Wilson's time. Liberal is just another name for progressive and both names are still in use today. FDR may have popularized the word "liberalism," but I hardly think he created the movement. Mainstream pre-Bryan U.S. politicans would all be conservative by modern standards. The 19th century Democratic vs. Republican split was about slavery and the status of blacks -- neither side questioned free market economics. Kauffner 04:41, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

Party's name as it is used in history books

My main concern is the assertion in the article that the "Democratic-Republican Party" turned into the modern day Democratic Party which is incorrect. Since the party's actual name was the Republican Party it leads people to assume they dropped the Republican from the name Democratic-Republican Party which was not the case. There was a hiatus between their collapse in the early 1820s and the emergence of the Democratic Party in the 1830s. Brianbonner (talk) 23:02, 23 September 2011 (UTC)

Previous editors of this article reached a concensus that the Demo-Repub Party's name is generally used in history books the way it is used in the title of this article -- Democratic-Republican Party. From the archive: Party's name as it is used in American history books. Please consider the archive discussion before revisiting this topic. Griot 22:24, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

There was no census achieved in your reference. There are hundreds of references we could bring forth to help mediate this 'dispute'; I've used one rough order of magnitude approach used in the past (focused searches in Google Scholar). The choices as I see it are;
  • Republican or republican: Used by Jefferson, Madison, and many other in that timeframe. Used by more historians on JSTOR, and in more historical textbooks. An excellent choice that can be disambiguated with only a few words. The use of a lowercase 'r' (or the interesting use of an asterisk) sets it apart from the current Republican party, and the link takes one to the appropriate article. Google Scholar hits for Madison "Republican party" Federalist -"Democratic Republican": 2220
Of course it was used that way by Jefferson, Madison, in that period. Your statement "used by more historians on JSTOR" is quite bold, given the number of history books on JSTOR. I commend you for reading them all. The use of a lowercase R is still confusing, and if you can find any instance in an encylopedia where a term is repeatedly asterisked, show me. Griot 04:04, 22 July 2007 (UTC)
I have edited many history textbooks. Narrow books focusing on the post-Colonial field use the word "Republican"; the vast majority of others use "Democratic-Republican," as this article does, to prevent confusion between this party and the current Republican Party. I have seen publishers' style sheets calling for this party to be called "Democratic-Republican." That is the common usage. Griot 04:04, 22 July 2007 (UTC)
  • Democratic Party: No historical basis for this, beyond extended lineage. Not a real candidate.
Basis for what? I don't understand this one. Griot 04:04, 22 July 2007 (UTC)
  • Jeffersonian Republican: Not used by them, but in frequent use by historians to disambiguate the term "Republican". I seen no confusion vis a viz Reagan Republican usage by 99.9% of the readership. Madison Federalist "Jeffersonian Republican"; 173
Frequent use? Where? Griot 04:04, 22 July 2007 (UTC)
I see Jeffersonian Republican as really being a subset of Republican, but both of those are clearly more in use than Democratic Republican; hence, either of those options would be the ones to pick from for party affiliation.
And the WP:MOS states;
"Use boldface in the first sentence for synonyms of the article title (including acronyms); for example, Río de la Plata: "
The Río de la Plata (from Spanish: “River of Silver”), also known by the English name River Plate, as in the Battle of the River Plate, or sometimes (La) Plata River. --Skyemoor 03:01, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

You may well ask yourself why the name "Democratic-Republican Party" appears at the top of this article. It appears there because that is the generally accepted name by historians. We should be consistent and stick with that name. Griot 14:22, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

You've provided no references or analytical proof; WP cannot be a source for itself. There was a large war over the name here and the current wording with Republican bolded was the consensus. --Skyemoor 21:21, 21 July 2007 (UTC)
Christ man, did you look at the archived arguments. It is necessary to over this all over again because you arrived late? Let's stick with the party's name as it is known at the top of this article rather than open up this can of worms. Historians chose D-R for a very good reason -- to distinguish this party from the modern-day Repbulican Party. An encyclopedia isn't supposed to confuse people. Griot 23:30, 21 July 2007 (UTC)
As far as the confusion issue goes, "Democratic Republican" is also confusing because it leads readers to believe that Democrats and Republicans were rival factions within a supposed "Democratic-Republican Party" and that these factions split and evolved into the modern parties. In fact, various political factions saw no conflict in proclaiming themselves both Democratic and Republican long after the breakup of the Jeffersonian party.Kauffner 05:52, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
You still haven't provided anything of substance to support your changes (to material which had stood as the consensus after a long, tiresome debate for over 8 months), so WP policy and guidelines will be followed. --Skyemoor 02:41, 22 July 2007 (UTC)
I don't know how much more substance I can provide. Very bureacratic of you to interpret WP policy for me... Griot 04:04, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

Yes indeed, they will be followed; and they include ways to settle disputes with a single-handed special-purpose account. Republican is neither common ussage nor clear; neither sophistry nor vandalism can change this. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 00:19, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Still nothing of substance to support violation of WP policies and guidelines. I'd be happy to take this up the chain and see you two try to defend this. --Skyemoor 01:28, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
I learned of this party in college as the Republican Party, though it had no lineage with the present day party of the same name in the US. It seems there is a lot of angst about this by some; is this because of current political leanings of some of the editors? Let's be unbiased here, this is an encyclopedia, not a political party info release. Think of the different uses of "Progressive Party". ComplexEndeavors 17:36, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

I just went through the seven U.S. history books in my library. These are general-purpose books that don't focus on one particular era. Seven use "Democratic-Republican" and one uses "Republican." Keep in mind when you search the JSTROR that the word "republican" often refers to people who supported republican principles, no the party, so JSTOR searches aren't really valid. 15:19, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

Upon review of the JSTOR search in question, I found it used "Republican party" as a quoted search string, which would not simply pick up hits on just "republican" or "Republican". Hence, the JSTOR search is a valid one (and an innovative one, I might add). ComplexEndeavors 17:36, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

I thought the discussion in the archives was quite clear that there was significantly more historical support for the use of Republican Party. Certainly, as a reference to the party the term is essentially non-existent during Jefferson's life. A Musing 15:52, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

Do you mean Jefferson's term? The OED cites it, from the party newspaper, from 1811, and there are older uses. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 19:49, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
No, I mean his life - I'm aware of uses of it for local party groups, or in the older Democratic-Republican committees that existed before the party, but not for the national party as a whole - and I have looked, so I'm interested in any contrary examples. What is the newspaper cited in the OED? I'm not aware of any official national "party" newspaper (and, indeed, you'd have trouble finding much of an "official national party" at times), but there were papers that essentially served as mouthpieces of key party figures. A Musing 23:28, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
Hezekiah Niles' Weekly Register. A Baltimore and Washington paper, which received the Federal Government advertising and served as national paper. Of course it was not official; what American paper has ever been an official party paper? Septentrionalis PMAnderson 00:12, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
It was actually a paper that declared its intention in its first issue to be above party and is generally used as a relatively neutral source; Niles was a fairly Whiggish sort overall. I don't have on-line access to a full set, but the phrase Democratic-Republican was certainly attached to the local Baltimore party at that time (there had even earlier been a newspaper in Baltimore called the "Democratic-Republican"). I'll try to find copies and see what it's use is. A Musing
Hmm. I wonder where I picked up that description then. But you will find a much longer discussion of lots of evidence in the archives of this page. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 16:07, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
Yes, my eyes are swimming. However, there seems to be about equal evidence for both names. To be unbiased, we need to reflect both names, which the alt name bold mentioned above does. Also, since there doesn't seem to be agreement about which names historians prefer (yet), it would be best to remove the last sentence in the first paragraph completely. ComplexEndeavors 19:09, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
I would prefer not to say that Jefferson called it the "Republican Party". This will be understood to mean that he framed that proper name in 1792, which is not, I think, true; he used "republican party" in 1792, but as a common noun with adjective. I have rephrased the last sentence to what our survey seems to indicate. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 20:04, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

I don't see the problem here. "Democratic-Republican Party" is generally a historiographic term, just like "Byzantine Empire". As long as we explain that to the readers, we're doing our jobs fine.--Pharos 03:01, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

I understand that Jefferson likely did not use caps, but current historians and history books do, hence it should be capped in the first sentence. Later on where Jefferson is quoted, if that needs such a specific attribution, then it can be in lower case. The contorted sentence over what historians called the party is both unnecessary and confusing, and not unlikely unsupportable. 198.151.13.10 23:04, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

The quotation marks in the first sentence are a quotation; furthermore Jefferson's letter of May 23, 1792, divides Congress into the "corrupt squadron", the "republican party", and the "anti-federalists". These are not proper names; and Jefferson capitalizes none of them; these are descriptions. And do remember to sign in; sockpuppetry is deprecated. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 16:29, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
The first sentence should have the well-supported alternative name bolded, not quoted in lower case. Further down, Jefferson is quoted, which would be appropriate the way it is now. ComplexEndeavors 20:21, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

One of my efforts has been to add historical US rep rosters to various Rep districts (now focusing in New England). I have been reading with interest the discussion here, not knowing what party to affiliate some of the early reps with, or what to call some of them (in the spirit of accuracy). For what it is worth the Clerk of the US House of Reps (gov official website) identifies Jeffersonian Republicans, Crawford Republicans, Adams-Clay Republicans, and Jackson Republicans as parties of record. The Congressional Biography web site identifies the Jeffersonian Republicans as Republicans, and notes the other affiiations (Adams-Clay, Crawford and Jackson), so there is no concensus there either. For my money,though,for me, enough historical references and arguments have been provided above for me to continue with the use of Democratic-Republican as an identifier - we need to call them something, and many of the reps have already been identified as such, the change would be a nightmare this late in the game.....Maybe I've been too hasty creating the rosters?Pmeleski 22:37, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

Adams-Clay Republican

One thing I haven't worked out in my mind is if Adams-Clay Republicans should be grouped with Democratic-Republicans or National Republicans........Most of the rosters here show Adams-Clay as National Republicans, but outside sources show the election of 1824 shows the Democratic-Republican group (of which Adams-Clay was around then)as the only viable party at this time? Any thoughts?Pmeleski 22:37, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

  • The National Republicans were originally one faction within the party which had supported Monroe; they became an independent party after 1824, as the former DR's ceased to work with each other, having no motive to do so. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 17:46, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Infobox

This contains only disputable claims:

Let's remove it. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 17:46, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

  • Done

Correction to 1824 Election results

Hello. I am new to Wikipedia, but it seems that the following sentence (third paragraph) in this entry is incorrect:

" in 1824.... John Quincy Adams finished first in the Electoral College"

According to the National Atlas election maps, Jackson had 99 electoral votes to Adams' 84.

http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/elections.html#list

If someone could make this correction, it would be appreciated.

Thanks,

````DavidG —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.215.188.126 (talk) 01:52, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Foreign Interventionism

I propose that foreign interventionism be added to the party's ideology. Seeing as how they supported the French Revolution, the War of 1812, the Barbary Wars and supported France in the Napoleonic Wars, I don't see that it would be inaccurate. -- LightSpectra (talk) 08:15, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

No matter how many times they intervened abroad, that is not the same as having an ideology of interventionism. Wouldn't interventionism imply support for a strong military? Jefferson was well-known for his opposition to a standing army or navy. If the Republicans made pro-French interventions, the Federalists made pro-British ones. Kauffner (talk) 02:41, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
The Democratic-Republicans wanted America to be a world power to influence republicanism abroad. Although this isn't true for every single one, I think it's consistent enough to say that this should be listed as one of their ideologies. Also: Jefferson opposed a standing army, seeing it as a threat to our freedom; but (as far as I know) he had little quarrel with the navy that Adams built. -- LightSpectra (talk) 20:02, 4 September 2008 (UTC)
OK, it seems Jefferson was actually something of a naval enthusiast.[1] But his navy consisted of very small warships called "gunboats." These were supposedly for coastal defense, but not terribly useful even in that role. They were mostly a way of building an impressive number of ships without spending much money. There was no issue of using gunboats to protect U.S. shipping or to project power abroad as, say, Adams had done. Jefferson couldn't have defeated the Barbary pirates with the navy as he restructured it. Kauffner (talk) 02:17, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
Precisely. He was a gunboat enthusiast, in part because gunboats were cheap; but also because gunboats could not be used for foreign adventures. He wanted to lay the deep sea fleet up in Norfolk Harbor. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 17:48, 16 September 2008 (UTC)
I don't see how that's relevant. Jefferson still authorized engagement in such the war. In the six wars that came about during the lifespan of the Democratic-Republican Party: the French Revolution, the War of 1812, Barbary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, the D-Rs supported intervention in all of them. However, I will leave "non-interventionism" out of the box until we've come to a conclusion on this debate. -- LightSpectra (talk) 21:08, 5 September 2008 (UTC)
What held the D-Rs together was the conviction the Federalists would sell the country out to Britain. On pretty much everything else, the Jefferson (libertarian) and Madison (nationalist) wings of the party disagreed. So we can hardly describe the party as having an ideology at all. Kauffner (talk) 18:12, 8 September 2008 (UTC)
Both sides here are a tad exaggerated. Madison was Jefferson's friend, ally, and Secretary of State; the differences between them are hardly as great as Kauffner suggests. On the other hand, the DRs opposed intervention in the French Revolution; they did not support (and Jefferson notoriously excoriated) Napoleon. Beyond that, LightSpectra asserts that the DR's supported the wars which occurred when they were in power; there are very few parties of which this is not true. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 16:22, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Successor Parties

Many parties claim to be the successor to the D-R. To list a modern party as the single successor to the D-Rs strikes me as a partisan interpretation. If we talk about someone's successor as president or whatever, we mean the next guy who held the office. So the successors parties should be groups that contested elections in the years immediately after the D-R dissolved, i.e. in 1824 and 1828. This would be the Jacksonians, who later became the Democrats, and the National Republicans, who later became the Whigs. Kauffner (talk) 13:24, 7 September 2008 (UTC)

Interestingly enough my AP History teacher says the current D party has almost no direct connection to the D-R/R party. There is already a section on claims of heritage though. I don't know what should be done with the infobox, is it already discussed?ηoian ‡orever ηew ‡rontiers 03:30, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

As a University Academic, I would say that your AP teacher is completely wrong. The Democratic Party most certainly has connections with Jefferson's Republican Party. I would argue that the Democratic Party is a continuation of Jefferson's party. Some may say that is an offspring. But the Dems are certainly connected to the Dem-Rep.

Any asserted ideological connections between the D-Rs and the modern Dems are tenuous at best. To the extent that Jefferson could be afforded a modern political label, he would best be described as a Libertarian, which places him on the right side of the spectrum. This is a man, after all, who was extremely distrustful of the central government, was a champion of states' rights, held expansive views of civil liberties and property rights, and was of southern sensibilities. He would be absolutely appalled at Democrat initiatives like 40%+ income tax rates, affirmative action, "Fairness" Doctrine, busing, judicial activism, nationalized health care, etc. Of course, he'd also be opposed to the Republicans' pro-business policies, the existence of a large standing army, and the PATRIOT ACT, amongst other things. In a strict historical sense, the modern Democrat Party may be able to trace its lineage back to Jefferson's party, but from a political or ideological standpoint, they're on opposite sides of the spectrum and they bear no resemblance to each other. Noian's AP teacher is correct in that regard.-PassionoftheDamon (talk) 00:19, 25 February 2009 (UTC)
PassionoftheDamon, I think the "historical sense" is the way the issue of successor parties should be looked at. If we were to instead look at it from the political and ideological sense, the modern Democratic Party has rather little in common even to earlier incarnations of itself, such as in the times of Samuel J. Tilden or Grover Cleveland—yet no one would deny that the party of FDR and Obama is a continuation of the party of Tilden and Cleveland. No matter the ideological differences, the Democratic Party is a descendant of the Democratic-Republican Party. --darolew (talk) 17:52, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

National Republicans

A conservative wing of the DR party, under John Quincy Adams, called themselves, and were called National Republicans; in general, they backed Clay and his program in 1824. Much the same group were later to organize themselves as the National Republican Party, before merging with the Whigs. This is not a bug, it's a feature. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 15:27, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Requested move

The following is a closed discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the proposal was Move Parsecboy (talk) 00:11, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

This page was moved in September from the hyphenated version to a dash version without discussion and with a summary reference to "WP:DASH". "Democratic-Republican" should be hyphenated,[2][3][4][5][6] and nothing at WP:MOS contradicts that. -Rrius (talk) 05:43, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Republican Party Roots

The Republican Party is often said to come out of the Federalist Party with the Democratic Party coming out of the Democrat-Republican Party of the 1790s. Can anyone clarify this for me because this seems just the opposite of what the parties have stood for for the past 50 years. The Federalist Party was the party of big government while the Democrat-Republican party was always the state's rights party. Republican Party currently is big about being anti big government while the Democrats are all for increasing government involvement in daily life. So, the comparison between modern parties and the original parties seems to be reverse, at least for the past 50 years. --RossF18 (talk) 19:01, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

Long standing political parties in a lot of countries have gone through significant shifts in their ideologies - look for instance at the history of both the British and Canadian Conservatives on issues like free trade or respective continental relationships where the position has shifted at several times and one generation finds itself implicitly repudiating the basic philosophy that defined the party at a crucial moment beforehand. Outside of single issue fringes and vanity vehicles, most political parties are broad tents that bring together a lot of personalities and interest groups who aren't 100% in agreement. The party as a whole follows a broad course that reflects the needs and demands of the interest groups as well as the national & world situation of the day. Over time the national & world situation changes, in turn changing the needs and demands of the interest groups backing the party. At the same time mini realignments can occur as one or more interest groups move from one broad party to another, shifting the balance within the party. Electoral effects also play a role as parties will seek to drop unpopular elements, even what might once have been seen as fundamental to the party in earlier times.
A few examples of the British Conservatives - they were protectionist until the 1850s (even deposing their Corn Laws repealing Prime Minister in 1846), then accepted free trade until the 1900s, then gradually adopted protectionism in spirit if not actual policy until finally implementing it in the 1930s, but then slowly embracing free trade, free markets and a firm opposition to state intervention across the post war years, culminating in the Thatcher era. They were also very enthusiastic about British membership of (what is now) the European Union from the early 1960s to the mid 1980s, but have since become decidedly more sceptical as the EU is now a very different beast.
US parties were traditionally quite loose beasts because different states had different issues, whilst the election system & dynamics place much greater emphasis on individual candidates and make it relatively easy for mavericks to win nominations and slowly push the party their way. Over time this just adds to the shift effect. Timrollpickering (talk) 06:49, 28 May 2010 (UTC)
3 things. First, as noted, party ancestry does not always coincide with party ideology, particularly in the USA where the two biggest political parties are 1)firmly, legally entrenched and unassailable; and 2)vulnerable to entryism 3)not obliged to offer a single national program. In America it has always been more cost-effective for an ideological group to take over an existing party (Dem/Rep) than it has been to uproot them and establish an entirely new party.
Secondly, I don't think it is true to say that the Democrats' ideology owes nothing to the Jeffersonians, unless you conside the "size" of the government to be the only political issue that matters. Both parties share the characteristics pro-immigrant, pro-civil liberty, pro-farmer and anti-finance. Both Republicans and Federalists share a concern for national security, law and order, and the interests of business. Of course there are any number of issues (government size, protectionism, black suffrage, treatment of Amerindians, slavery, expansion) where Democrats and Republicans have taken different sides in different generations, or have taken one position in one part of the USA and the opposing position in another part.
Thirdly, while it is basically true to say that the Democrats are descended from the Jeffersonians, it is a gross oversimplification to say that the Republicans are the descendent of the Federalists. The Federalists expired as a party in the 1820s, essentially because the Jeffersonians had moved closer to their way of thinking, and the ex-Feds became a powerful "wing" of the Jeffs.
The ex- (or neo-)feds later formed the national republican party, which got nowhere. After that party folded, they formed the Whigs, who had modestly more success. Then they folded too. The Republicans were formed as a coalition between northern industry and finance interests (historically Federalist supporters) and the anti-slavery movement. Once abolition had been achieved, the antislavery aspect of their ideology receded, and they became the party of business in the 1870s-1890s.
So, that is the link between the modern Republicans and the federalists. As you can see, there is a gap of 100 years between the formation of the Federalists and the Republican party as we know it today. That said, it is hardly surprising that the two parties, though linked, faced different issues and reached different conclusions about them. BillMasen (talk) 16:44, 28 May 2010 (UTC)
The modern party system, with a conservative pro-business Republican Party and a pro-labor Democratic Party, dates from the 1896 election. In the 19th century, mainstream politicians were generally conservative, whatever party they belonged to. The 1800 election pitted liberal Jefferson against conservative Adams, but most early elections did not have a left/right division of this kind. You mustn’t extend Jefferson’s philosophy to the D-R party since the party had both a liberal "Old Republican" wing and a conservative "National Republican" wing. Nineteenth century presidential nominees were often chosen on the basis of their status as war heroes, their political views unknown or concealed until after the election. Historians have tried to categorize Jackson ideologically based on his various policies, but to the voters he was guy who defeated the Brits at New Orleans, which made him either a can-do war hero or an untrustworthy and brutal would be Napoleon. Whig ideology was to support the supremacy of the legislature over the executive, but on most other issues they could be found on both sides. For a pre-1896 liberal tradition, you have to look to the Workingman's Party, Locofocos, abolitionists, populists and similar groups on the outside looking in. Under Cleveland and the "Bourbon Democrats", it was the Democratic Party that was pro-business and conservative. Kauffner (talk) 04:30, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

The Party name and lede

The lede is again filled with various unsourced pet theories about the party's name. No, Jackson didn't call his party "Democratic Republican". It was "Republican", as you can see here. It you don't like "Democratic Republican Party" as the title, propose a vote to change the name. The text of the article, and especially the lede, is not a place to filibuster. Kauffner (talk) 13:58, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Did Jackson ever name his party? the 1832 source given here does not give an official party name, nor an unofficial party name. it does refer to "Republicans", but avoids the term Republican Party except once, on page 23, where it is talking about the past not the present. This goes to show the folly of depending on primary sources, which are very hard to interpret, and neglecting the many high quality secondary sources, prepared by scholars. Rjensen (talk) 14:06, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
"Republican" is on the title page. "Republican party" is used six times. On page 13, the "republican party" is contrasted with "national republicans." Historians call Jackson's party the "Democratic Party," not D-R. In any case, it wasn't the D-R party as defined in this article, so this stuff should be removed from the lede. Kauffner (talk) 14:23, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Four names in the lede??

The party is called four different names in the first paragraph -- Democratic-Republican, Republican, Jeffersonian, and Jeffersonian Republican. I quote WP:lede: "if there are more than two alternative names, these names can be moved to and explained in a "Names" or "Etymology" section." Kauffner (talk) 15:09, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

What the PARTY is named and what the MEMBERS are called are different issues. The party itself gets two names in the lede (D-R and JR). The members of the party are called republicans or Jeffersonians. so we fit the guidelines. Rjensen (talk) 15:21, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
You are claiming that "republican" refers only to the members and not to the party? What about the next section? Madison started the party among Congressmen in Philadelphia (the national capital) as the Republican party; Kauffner (talk) 15:38, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
1) it's not in the lede; 2) it's paraphrasing a quote (in the note)Rjensen (talk) 15:44, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
You put the alternatives in the lede when there ARE only two alternatives. There are many alternatives names in this case. It's not, "Pick the two that you like." Is there some reason for putting so many names in the lede? Those unfamiliar with the topic might think that more than one group is being referred to. "Democratic Party" isn't mentioned even though it is probably the most common way to refer to this party nowadays -- think of all the references to Jefferson as the founder of the Democratic Party. Kauffner (talk) 16:44, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
We should call the entire thing Democratic-Republicans, and mention J-R as only an alternative name. Not everybody in the D-R party followed Jefferson's ideals (he didn't follow his own ideals particularly well; he carried on the policies of the Federalists).
We can't be guided solely by what they called themselves. Their use of party names was not only inconsistent, but disingenuous. All parties at the time wanted to maintain the fiction (current in US politics today) that their prescriptions were just common sense, and didn't spring from any ideological source. This was, and remains, untrue.
Sometimes the D-Rs even called themselves Federalists, and vice versa. After all both names were chosen because of their positive associations, not their descriptive power. BillMasen (talk) 17:06, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
the rule at Wikipedia is to follow what the reliable sources are doing. In the last two decades, historians have strongly preferred Republican party, and Republicans; while political scientists prefer Democratic-Republican. Rjensen (talk) 17:33, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
Right. And the reliable sources use more than two names, such as Old Republican and Democratic. Therefore we pick one and put the rest in another section. BillMasen (talk) 20:41, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
The "Old Republicans" (or "Quids") were a distinctive faction. Few if any RS use "Democratic" alone--I cannot think of any.Rjensen (talk) 21:11, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
Yep, and the list of reliable sources that use "Republican" or "Jeffersonian Republican" without ever mentioning the somewhat obsolete term "Democratic-Republican" is quite long: Wood, Wilentz, Elkins & McKitrick, all the way back to Henry Adams. As far as I can tell, these guys, in their standard, prize-winning works, never use the term "Democratic-Republican" to describe Jefferson's party, and never even mention the term as an alternative. Even the Library of Congress Subject Heading, not exactly on the leading edge of current terminology, gives you this response if you search for the term: "Democratic Republican Party is not used in this library's catalog; Republican Party (U.S. : 1792-1828) is used instead." The argument that "Democratic-Republican Party" need be the only name mentioned in the lede is not rooted in a knowledge of the reliable sources. —Kevin Myers 21:38, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
to repeat: historians strongly prefer "R" and political scientists strongly prefer "D-R". So we include both in the lede. Rjensen (talk) 21:48, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
I agree, the lede must include the terms preferred by reliable sources, or our lede gives the reader an insufficient introduction to the topic. —Kevin Myers 21:57, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Recent edits in lede

(1) The unsourced claim the name "Democratic-Republican" originated post-1824 has been repeatedly reinserted into the lede. The Party name section cites numerous earlier examples.
(2) Disputes about the name belong in the "Party name" section, not the lede. "Once such a (name) section or paragraph is created, the alternative English or foreign names should not be moved back to the first line," according to WP:Lede. The title of this article was chosen by a formal vote and consensus. The lede is "a summary of the important aspects of the subject of the article," not the place to dispute this decision. As far as which name is more common goes, "Jeffersonian Republican Party" gets 267 hits on Google Scholar while "Democratic-Republican Party" gets 1,800. Kauffner (talk) 02:49, 19 August 2010 (UTC)

Are you talking about the current version of the lede? If so, most of your comments are no longer relevant; the current version is accurate (unlike some previous versions) and reasonably succinct, though it could be tightened. "Jeffersonian Republican Party" absolutely belongs in the lede, since that's the label (along with simply "Republican") favored by scholars over the last 25 years or so. Witness Gordon Wood's recent entry in the Oxford History of the United States series, Empire of Liberty (2009), in which the chapter on this topic is called "The Emergence of the Jeffersonian Republican Party". It's fairly uncommon to find scholars in the 21st century who uses the label "Democratic-Republican" for Jefferson's party; I could find no examples in my own library. In the archives of this talk page, a user did a nice survey of current college textbooks, and found that "Jeffersonian" and "Republican" was preferred to "Democratic-Republican" by 7 to 1. He was casting his pearls before swine, however, since he was unable to get his arguments past a now-banned abusive sockpuppet. As always, Wikipedia suffers when knowledgeable people get shouted down by naifs.

Your citation from WP:Lede is for when there are more than two alternate names, so it does not apply here. Also, your Google Scholar count is off, since it includes hundreds of entries for the Korean Democratic-Republican Party, among other false positives, and does not account for the name most commonly used by scholars, which is simply "Republican".

Your comments also conflate two issues: the wording of the lede, and the title of the article. I don't care what the article is called; Britannica's article is entitled "Democratic-Republican Party", so that's good enough for me, but note their second sentence: "Organized in 1792 as the Republican Party...." —Kevin Myers 04:38, 19 August 2010 (UTC)

There are many more than two alternative names for this party, so the citation from WP:Lede certainly applies. "Jeffersonian" and "Republican" are two other alternative names for the party, neither of which should be conflated with the name "Jeffersonian Republican."
Perhaps there are one or two contemporary citations for "Jeffersonian Republican Party", but this is almost entirely a historian's term. To say that the Madison or Monroe were Jeffersonian Republican presidents is confusing the poor reader for no good reason. If we say someone is a Reagan Republican, it doesn't imply that non-Reagan Republicans are in a different party. Even if J-R really was a better name than D-R, the lede is not the place to compare the two.
I can do a more sophisticated searches, but the bottom line is that "Democratic Republican" still ends up with a substantial edge. "Jeffersonian Republicans" | "Jefferson Republican Party" gets 1,980 hits, while "Democratic Republicans" | "Democratic Republican Party" -Korea" gets 3,050. Restricted to 1985-2010, its 1,470-2,140. Kauffner (talk) 15:03, 29 August 2010 (UTC)
Again, I don't really see the relevance of your comments. I guess your argument is not really with me, but with the many historians who use a term that you think might be confusing to readers. You'll have to take that up with them; in the meantime, we'll have to be guided by WP:RS, and mention in the lede the label that leading scholars like Gordon S. Wood use. For my part, I think it's essential for readers to understand that Madison and Monroe were Jeffersonians; they were, after all, his most famous protégés. But my opinion about the labels, like yours about confusing the readers, is irrelevant here; it's what the reliable sources think that matters, as always. —Kevin Myers 13:06, 19 August 2010 (UTC)
Do you read what I write before replying? The stuff about alternative names belongs in the "Party name" section, not the lede. That is what the guidelines say and it is only common sense when there are so many alternatives, as in this case. Kauffner (talk) 08:10, 20 August 2010 (UTC)

POV Problem

The article contains the following text: "The Republican party of 2010 bears little resemblance to the original, as it is now a promoter of big business, corporation, millionaires/billionaires and have little sympathy for the "common" people."

Just delete, no? This is partisan propaganda and would seem to have no place in an encyclopedia article . . . Nomenclaturist (talk) 20:46, 7 September 2010 (UTC)

Indeed. I reverted the edit and sent a message to the user who added that statement. --Orlady (talk) 20:57, 7 September 2010 (UTC)
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