Democratic Party Culture, Infrastructure, and Candidate Emergence

• In Event: Gender, Intersectionality, and American Party Politics

Abstract

Those who study American political party culture have historically described the Democratic Party’s culture as being open and decentralized and argue that party culture explains why a partisan gap in descriptive representation exists; indeed, because the Democratic Party has an established tradition of investing in diverse candidates, the party may be better equipped than others to promote the representation of underrepresented groups. However, prospective candidates – particularly women and women of color – do not universally believe that the Democratic Party is better for their prospects, and empirical work demonstrates that the party is not as conducive to the success of underrepresented candidates as we may think. This paper will use original interview data to explore deficiencies in the Democratic Party’s culture and organization that inhibit the progress of underrepresented and multiply marginalized candidates from the vantage point of leaders, delegates to, and participants in the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC) and DNC Women’s Caucus. The interview data for this project will be supplemented with an analysis of current and historical party documents. Ultimately, this project provides an updated characterization of the Democratic Party’s culture that will further shed light on structures of marginalization and their outcomes.

Author

• Cecilia Ritacco, Georgetown University