From Police Brutality to Student Debt, A Complete Guide to the 2016 Democratic Platform

A breakdown of this year's most pressing issues, and what the Democratic Party will do to address them.

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Complex Original

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This year has seen one of the most contentious election seasons in history; the journey to the White House has been littered with heated debates, low blows, scandals, and some epic Twitter rants. Last week's Republican National Convention brought chaos as delegates walked out to protest Donald Trump as the party's nominee. And if you thought the Democratic National Convention would be less of a circus—think again. The first night was full of Bernie-or-bust protesters shouting down every speaker except for First Lady Michelle Obama.

As divided as the Democratic Party might seem, its leaders are united with this year's official platform. In his endorsement of presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called it "the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party."

Here are some of today's most pressing issues in the U.S., and how the Democratic Party hopes to address them:

Raising the minimum wage

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One popular topic this election season is raising the minimum wage, which in July 2015 was mandated at $7.25/hr. The Democratic platform concludes that “the current minimum wage is a starvation wage and must be increased to a living wage” and praises New York and California for implementing a $15 minimum wage.


We should raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour 4 over time and index it, give all Americans the ability to join a union regardless of where they work, and create new ways for workers to have power in the economy so every worker can earn at least $15 an hour.

The Fight for $15 was a main tenet of Bernie Sanders’ campaign, and Hillary Clinton formerly advocated for raising the wage to $13/hr. Some believe that with Sanders’ concession, Clinton was pushed further left on this issue.

Creating jobs for young Americans

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Reining in Wall Street

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“To restore economic fairness, Democrats will fight against the greed and recklessness of Wall Street,” the platform promises. Echoing some of the most common arguments of the Sanders campaign, Democrats “believe that no bank can be too big to fail and no executive too powerful to jail” and seeks to commit more resources to prosecute wrongdoing. To build a financial system and economy that “works for all Americans, not just a handful of billionaires,” the Democrats promise to no longer appoint officials beholden to “institutions they regulate” and crack down on corruption. This includes limiting conflicts of interest, banning golden parachutes for government jobs, and ending the “revolving door between the private sector—particularly Wall Street—and the federal government.”

Ending systemic racism

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The democratic platform stands firmly in the fight against systemic racism. The party stated that it “support[s] removing the Confederate battle flag from public properties, recognizing that it is a symbol of our nation's racist past that has no place in our present or our future,” as a concrete example of its “push for a societal transformation to make it clear that black lives matter and that there is no place for racism in our country.” The party makes an effort to address the many faces of systemic racism, releasing statements on the racial wealth gap, reforming the criminal justice system, honoring Indigenous Tribal Nations, and guaranteeing Civil Rights. 

Ending police brutality

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Immigration system reform

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The platform emphasizes that the U.S. was founded as a country of immigrants and makes a point to highlight Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric as dangerous. The Democratic Party says it “supports legal immigration, within reasonable limits,” but acknowledges that the current immigration system is broken, citing more than 11 million undocumented people in the U.S., backlogs that result in separated families, and a discriminatory quota system that especially harms immigrants of color.

Specific proposals include working with Congress to end forced expulsion for those trying to adjust their status, and incorporating undocumented immigrants already living in the U.S. completely into our society.


We believe immigration enforcement must be humane and consistent with our values. We should prioritize those who pose a threat to the safety of our communities, not hardworking families who are contributing to their communities. We will end raids and roundups of children and families, which unnecessarily sow fear in immigrant communities.

The Party also promises to work to ensure that Americans—documented or otherwise—have access to quality health care, and advocates for humane alternatives for people who pose no public threat.


We reject attempts to impose a religious test to bar immigrants or refugees from entering the United States. It is un-American and runs counter to the founding principles of this country. Finally, Democrats will not stand for the divisive and derogatory language of Donald Trump. His offensive comments about immigrants and other communities have no place in our society. This kind of rhetoric must be rejected.

Guaranteeing civil rights

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Debt-free college and student loan debt

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Supporting HBCUs and minority-serving institutions

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The Party also seeks to ensure “the strength of our Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions” and promises to push more schools to “take quantifiable, affirmative steps in increasing the percentages of racial and ethnic minority, low-income, and first-generation students they enroll and graduate.”


We will create a robust and historic dedicated fund to keep costs down, provide quality education, and ensure dedicated support to improve student outcomes and completion rates. We will provide further assistance to students at these schools, as well as other students across the country, by restoring year-round Pell funding so that low- and middle-income students from all backgrounds can get the support they need to make progress toward a college degree throughout the year.

Securing universal health care

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Securing reproductive rights

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Ending violence against women

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Preventing gun violence

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The Centers for Disease Control’s sobering statistics on firearm-related deaths—33,000 Americans die yearly due to gun violence—puts America’s gun issue into perspective. The Democratic Party urges for more studies on gun violence, stating “There is insufficient research on effective gun prevention policies, which is why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must have the resources it needs to study gun violence as a public health issue.”


Taking a stance when it comes to law enforcement, the party platform expresses:


We will fight back against attempts to make it harder for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to revoke federal licenses from law breaking gun dealers, and ensure guns do not fall into the hands of terrorists, intimate partner abusers, other violent criminals, and those with severe mental health issues.

The party also voiced concerns with current laws and loopholes that allow individuals and companies to evade responsibilities when it comes to firearm misuse. The DNC also wants to build on laws such as the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which mandates federal background checks on firearm purchases in the US. “We can respect the rights of responsible gun owners while keeping our communities safe[...] to build on the success of the lifesaving Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.” 

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