Although less important than it once was, every four years, both Republicans and Democrats gather within their parties to write up their party platforms for the next four years.
The party platform dates back to the 1800s and serves as a way for those within the party, from national to local politicians, to navigate political conversations and policy ideas. In a process between party leaders, interest groups, and others, there can be much back and forth before a platform gets adopted by the party for the next four years. In 2020, however, Republicans did not adopt a new platform and decided to reinstate the 2016 platform instead.
Now, both Democrats and Republicans are likely deep into their phase of designing or redesigning how their party will look as they gear up for their respective conventions. Here’s what goes into creating a party platform.
History of the party platform
In 1840, Martin Van Buren, a Democrat, was believed to have written the first party platform, which consisted of nine of his positions explained in 536 words. Andrew Jackson’s, his Democratic predecessor, departure from office forced the Democratic Party to contend with how to create a party identity when such a strong personality, such as Jackson’s, was leaving.
In 1856, Republicans launched their first party platform. By the end of the Civil War, leaders from opposing parties were reading each other’s party platforms in order to create their own platform in opposition.
In 1924, parties began writing their platforms in a way that would highlight their own party, notably if their party was in power, and celebrate their accomplishments. When Calvin Coolidge took over the office of the presidency after Warren Harding’s death, he took the opportunity to use the GOP platform to talk about Republican accomplishments rather than putting down the Democrats.
“[Platforms] matter within the party and among party activists there, they’re sending signals to certain groups within the party. I don’t think they matter much at all, and nor have they ever really mattered, for the general electorate,” Geoff Layman, chairman of the political science department at the University of Notre Dame, told the Washington Examiner.
“It’s almost even less about the actual policy position and more about sort of winners and losers within intra-party battles,” Layman continued.
How it gets written
Longtime party leaders, people from the presumed nominee’s campaign, and those who represent special interest groups all gather over the course of a few months to write their party manifesto.
The convention, either the Democratic National Convention or the Republican National Convention, ratifies the party platform as official. A typical platform is 50-70 pages, typically beginning with an overall vision for the nation, an outline of problems facing the county, and a way to solve those matters.
While the nominee can sometimes have final say if there is something in the platform they believe they simply cannot get on board with or sell to voters, it’s a mixed bag of who gets final say over what’s included or not in the platform: Whether that be the nominee or the party itself.
Layman pointed to one instance, however, in which the party won over the candidate when Bob Dole ran against President Bill Clinton for president.
“In 1996, there was some tension between the Bob Dole campaign and the Republican Party over the abortion stance. The Dole campaign wanted sort of a softer pro-life stance, and the party wanted a bit harder line on abortion,” Layman said.
The party ended up getting their way. He did note that Dole was “a real long shot candidate running against a popular incumbent,” so the Dole campaign may have been more inclined to “move a little bit more to the middle from the Republican Party’s traditional abortion stance.”
“I’m not sure that the nominee always has sort of absolute control over the platform, but their preferences are certainly strongly considered,” Layman said.
When asked about how parties change their platforms, whether that be for social movements making the current stance unpopular or other events, Layman pointed to a specific policy Republicans abruptly switched on.
“The Republicans had always endorsed the equal rights amendment for like 40 consecutive years, up through 1976 and then when Ronald Reagan was the nominee 1980, they completely reversed and opposed the Equal Rights Amendment,” Layman said.
What to expect in 2024 platforms
“In recent years, the platforms have become less important because the parties internally are sort of so homogenous ideologically. But every now and again, something rears its head, like Israel for the Democrats. It may be abortion for the Republicans,” Layman said.
In 2020, the Republican Party platform adopted the 2016 platform, which they chalked up to having limited availability to write it during COVID-19. The party did, however, lay out an agenda in 2020 for a second term under former President Donald Trump with an incredibly short list of wishful items without much explanation about how to get there, said in just 600 words.
Some items include “return to normal in 2021,” “cut prescription drug prices,” “create 10 million new jobs in 10 months,” and “create 1 million new small businesses.”
“If you are trying to stick a platform on one page, I’d submit to you that there will be no real platform,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said.
Scott Cooley, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago, told the Washington Examiner that Republicans’ choice to adopt the 2016 party platform in its entirety was also strange because it alluded to former President Barack Obama saying the former president was doing a “terrible job,” but in 2020 that would have been their own nominee, Trump.
“The lawyers at the Republican National Committee said ‘you can’t start amending it or you have to open it up for all kinds of amendments,’” Cooley said.
In 2020, Axios reported Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who was spearheading the platform rewrite, was butting heads with social conservatives on the abortion matter. In the end, with Republicans simply adopting the old platform, the problem was muted.
Since 1980, the Republican Party has had an item calling for the “protection of the right to life for unborn children” via a constitutional amendment. Some social conservatives, as Cooley pointed out, are concerned with any change in that language.
“The 2020 Republican National Convention will adjourn without adopting a new platform until the 2024 Republican National Convention,” the resolution from the decision to adopt the old platform states.
Crafting this year’s platform
Some predict the Republican Party in 2024 may not include anything on the topic of abortion in their platform. Republicans have switched their tune since Roe v. Wade was overturned, as many in the once anti-abortion party have now taken a ‘state’s right’ approach to the matter.
“Republicans [in 2024] are kind of grappling with this because there’s a part of the party that said, ‘Look, we were dedicated to overturning Roe v. Wade, it’s gone back to the States, we should be done with this.’ And there’s a part of the party that says ‘no, we want a Human Life Amendment,’” Cooley said.
“The trouble is social conservatives. They can deliver votes, they don’t have money, but they can deliver voter registration drives, they distribute voting guides to churches and things like that,” Cooley said.
Democrats have been torn on their own concern: Israel, notably after the Oct. 7 attacks and the war against Hamas resulting in mass casualties in Gaza. Because this conflict is so divisive within the party, Democrats will likely not touch on it and instead prefer a narrow approach.
“A fairly standard approach is you either don’t say anything, or you say something that’s sort of so broad and inclusive. And I suspect that is how the Biden campaign and the Democratic Party leadership will want to go,” Layman said.
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“It will be a very broad statement of, ‘We respect the sovereignty of Israel. The Democratic Party has long supported a two-state solution. We’re very concerned about the violence and the loss of life on both sides.’ That’s sort of so milk toast that it will at least be meant to make everyone happy, although it will probably make no one happy,” Layman predicted.
Each party’s platforms are expected to be rolled out at their conventions. The Democratic National Convention is August 19-22 in Chicago, and the Republican National Convention is July 15-18 in Milwaukee.
