What Do Democrats Believe?

I will write a similar thing to what I wrote in my article on "What Republicans Believe?" Generalizing is a dangerous game because there are always exceptions. However, I think there are things that most Democrats believe, though I am not trying to characterize individuals. I'm trying to characterize the general Democrat. What do Democrats generally stand for? If you combined the beliefs of all Democrats, what would that belief system look like? Please feel free to disagree or qualify anything that I write. That's what these things are for.

Having said that, here's what Democrats believe.

Government should help people - it is the role of government to help people and solve problems. While Democrats, like Republicans, are capitalists, Democrats believe that government has a role to play when it comes to regulating business when business is engaged in activities that are harmful to people.

Keynesian Economics - Most Democratic economic theory derives from the philosophy of John Maynard Keynes, a 20th century economist. That philosophy basically says that government has a role in regulating the business cycle. For instance, the idea of stimulus funds as a solution to recession is derived from Keynesian economic theory.

Science trumps religion - in their roles as influences in people's lives, Democrats believe that science should be the basis for most decision-making. Certainly, Democrats are religious in numbers similar to Republicans, but Republicans have a more fundamentalist outlook. When decisions about policy issues must be made, Democrats are more likely to turn to science for the answers.

The above three points form the foundation of most Democratic thinking and the following points are derived from them. Here are some other things that Democrats believe.

Capital punishment is wrong - Generally, Democrats do not believe in the death penalty. This belief is derived mostly from research that the death penalty does not detour crime. However, it's also derived from data that shows that many people on death row are there due to the inability to defend themselves effectively.

Pro-choice on abortion - The quintessential Democrat favors allowing women to make decisions about their own health, including terminating a pregnancy.

Gun control - Democrats support some form of gun control and believe that the government has the right and the responsibility to monitor and sometimes prohibit the ownership of some weapons for the greater good. They believe that although the Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms, the founding fathers did not anticipate ownership of things such as automatic weapons and that some control is necessary.

Homosexuals deserve the same rights as everyone else - Gay people deserve the same rights as other people, including the right to get married.

The solution to illegal immigration isn't automatically deportation - Democrats believe that the U.S. has always been the land of opportunity and that immigrants enter this country illegally because of that opportunity. They support finding ways to allow illegal immigrants to stay in this country if those immigrants are contributing to our country. They also support penalizing companies who hire illegal immigrants as a first step to curbing illegal immigration.

Global Warming - Democrats believe that global warming is real, human caused, and worsening and that if we don't act, it'll be too late. This belief is based on the hard science that supports global warming.

Evolution - Democrats believe in the theory of evolution and do not believe that creationism should be taught in public schools. They believe that creationism is a religious belief and should be taught in church.