What Democrats Believe

To make the case that the programs and services of government serve an essential purpose, we have to connect the dots between them and these larger themes about what we believe: about our values, the role of government and our economic system.

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Photo by Antonia Scatton

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Our Values

• Democrats CARE what happens to other people, even people we don’t know.

• Democrats believe that every person has INHERENT WORTH; everyone deserves dignity and respect. We don’t leave people behind and we protect everybody’s rights, because everybody counts.

• Democrats believe in EQUALITY; we may all be different but we are all worth the same.

• Democrats believe in FREEDOM; we all have the right to self-determination, especially our fundamental political, economic and physical self-determination.

• Democrats believe in COOPERATION through DEMOCRACY (self-governance). Government is us, working together to make and carry out decisions about what kind of society we want to live in.

• Democrats believe in SOLIDARITY and SHARED PROSPERITY; we all depend on each other; we are all in this together.

• Democrats believe in DIVERSITY; the combination of our many differences is what makes our country unique, dynamic, and strong.

• Democrats believe in TRUTH and PROGRESS; by working together, we can learn from our mistakes and improve our society over time.

• Democrats believe in RESPONSIBILITY and FAIRNESS; we share responsibility for each other’s well-being and we are responsible for how our actions impact others.

• Democrats believe in everyone PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE.

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The Role of Government

We use government to take care of each other and improve our quality of life:

• Protect everybody’s rights: our freedom, equality, rights and civil liberties.

• Hold people responsible for their actions.

• Promote economic fairness and make sure our economic system works for everyone.

• Provide public benefits: public resources and services: things that benefit everybody.

• Make responsible investments: plan ahead and invest wisely in the American people and in our common future.

• Provide public insurance: meet each other’s basic needs, especially when the market fails us. Insure against economic and physical risks.

• Provide public protections: security, public safety, laws and rules to protect each other from physical and economic harm.

• Raise revenue fairly to pay for every thing we do to meet each other’s needs.

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Our Economic System

• We live in a society. What matters is the well-being of people. Our society has an economic system to serve our needs. When it fails to do so, we have the right to change it.

• The private sector is completely dependent on government and the public services we provide. In exchange for those benefits, businesses should make a positive contribution to society.

• The reality is that markets often fail. They need supervision and maintenance. Government involvement is critical to keeping markets stable and healthy.

• Government does a lot of things better and more efficiently than the private sector. The private sector serves private interests. The public sector serves the public interest.

• Economies grow from the bottom up. Put money in people’s pockets and increased consumer demand will create jobs.

• Our economy thrives when we invest in the American people. From new industries to working class families, everybody needs resources to improve their lives.

• You can trust Democrats to grow and manage a healthy and stable economy.

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Background Reading

Here are the full newsletters from which this “cheat sheet” was created: