Democratic Civil War

The Democratic Civil War refers to a series of primaries, campaigns, and political machinations between the progressive and neoliberal wings of the Democratic Party of the United States.

This politico-ideological conflict began primarily as a result of a controversy over economic inequality and the influence of money in politics. The progressive wing saw donations from millionaires/billionaires and corporations as a form of legalized bribery, while Neoliberals defended it as a natural and necessary part of politics.

The Democratic Civil War is generally considered to have begun with the 2016 Democratic Primary between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. It continued into 2018 where many scores of progressive from "Justice Democrats" and "Our Revolution" ran grassroots campaigns aimed at toppling Republican and Democratic incumbents. Most of these progressives were defeated but there a handful of victories, the most famous of which being Alexandrio Ocasio Cortez defeating Joe Crowly. AOC and the other victorious women from Justice Democrats would become known in the media as "The Squad".

In 2020 Bernie Sanders ran for president again in the Democratic Primary and this time he was successful.