There has been little scholarly attention paid to the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) despite the fact that it represents an influential faction within the Democratic Party. As a result, questions remain about the institutional character of the DLC, particularly with respect to its ideological structure and coherence. This represents a missed opportunity to examine the formation, operation and success (or failure) of ideological factions. The present article begins to address this oversight by examining the ideology of members of the House New Democrat Coalition. After a brief conceptual and historical description of the DLC, I offer an explanation of the Third Way, the DLC's guiding philosophy. Having established a set of expectations about DLC members, I then examine the ideological make-up of New Democrats in the 106th House of Representatives. Using ADA, National Journal and DW-NOMINATE scores, I attempt to determine whether New Democrats are ideologically distinct from their more traditional (i.e. liberal) colleagues. The results indicate that they are, though the differences may be confined to economic issues. And while ideological moderation helps explain membership in the House New Democrat Coalition, electoral vulnerability also plays a role.
Baer, Kenneth S. (2000) Reinventing Democrats: The Politics of Liberalism from Reagan to Clinton. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
2.
Barnes, James A. (2002) `Centrist Democrats Central to Party', National Journal, 3 August: 2328—9.
3.
Barone, Michael and Richard E. Cohen (2001) The Almanac of American Politics . Washington, D.C.: National Journal .
4.
Beller, Dennis C. and Frank P. Belloni (1978) `Party and Faction: Modes of Political Competition', in Frank P. Belloni and Dennis C. Beller (eds) Faction Politics: Political Parties and Factionalism in Comparative Perspective . Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio.
5.
Berke, Richard L. (2001) `Clinton and Aides Lay Plans to Repair a Battered Image', New York Times, 21 December.
6.
Bibby, John F. (1998) `Party Organizations, 1946—1996', in Byron E. Shafer (ed.) Partisan Approaches to Postwar American Politics. New York: Chatham House.
7.
Brownstein, Ronald (1992) `Riot Aftermath: Getting Back to Business; Clinton Offers Views on Recovery', Los Angeles Times, 5 May.
8.
Brownstein, Ronald (2001) `Presidency One of Sweeping Promise and Missed Opportunities', Los Angeles Times, 16 January.
9.
Chait, Jonathan (1998) `The Slippery Center', The New Republic, 16 November.
10.
Clinton, Bill (1991) `A New Covenant for American Security.' Speech at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., 12 December. Available at: www.ndol.org/print.cfm?contentid=250537 (accessed 9 August 2002).
11.
Cronin, Patrick and Benjamin O. Fordham (1999) `Timeless Principles or Today's Fashion? Testing the Stability of the Linkage between Ideology and Foreign Policy in the Senate', Journal of Politics61: 967—98.
12.
Crossnoe, Melissa and Barbara Ferry (1997) `The Middle of the Road Head Dooley Leads Lawmakers in Centrist Coalition', States News Service, 6 March.
13.
Democratic Leadership Council (1990) `The New Orleans Declaration.' DLC Key Document. Available at: www.ndol.org/print.cfm?contentid=878 (accessed 24 April 2002).
14.
Democratic Leadership Council (1991) `The New American Choice Resolutions.' DLC Key Document . Available at: www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=86&subid=194&contentid=1251 (accessed 24 April 2002).
15.
Democratic Leadership Council (1996) `The Democratic Journey to the Center', DLC Update (16 July). Available at: www.ndol.org/print.cfm?contentid=2498 (accessed 25 April 2002).
16.
Drinkard, Jim (1991) `New House Intelligence Chairman Not Lacking Bravado' , Associated Press, 5 February.
17.
Dye, Thomas R. (2002) Understanding Public Policy, 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
18.
Eilperin, Juliet (2000) `House's New Democrats at the Center of Influence' , Washington Post, 29 May.
19.
Faux, Jeff (1993) `The Myth of the New Democrats', The American Prospect, 21 September. Available at: www.prospect.org/pring-friendly/print/V4/15/faux-j.html (accessed 25 January 2002).
20.
From, Al (1993) `Hey Mom — What's a New Democrat?' Washington Post, 6 June.
21.
From, Al (2001) `A Fresh Legacy for Bill Clinton?' New York Times, 23 December.
22.
From, Al and Bruce Reed (2003) `The Real Soul of the Democratic Party.' DLC Memo, Democratic Leadership Council, 15 May. Available at: http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=251690&kaid=127&subid=90(0056).
23.
Galston, William and Elaine Ciulla Kamarck (1989) `The Politics of Evasion: Democrats and the Presidency'. Washington, D.C.: Progressive Policy Institute.
24.
Galston, William and Elaine Ciulla Kamarck (1991) `The Politics of Evasion Revisited: Which Road for Democrats in 1992?' Washington, D.C.: Progressive Policy Institute.
25.
Galston, William A. and Elaine C. Kamarck (1998) `5 Realities That Will Shape 21st Century Politics', Blueprint, 1 (Fall): 6—27.
26.
Gephardt, Richard A. (2002) `Citizen Government: Old Values, New Ideas.' Remarks of House Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt to the 2002 DLC National Conversation, 30 July. New York. Available at: www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=106&subid=122&contentid=25(0753) (accessed 27 September 2002).
27.
Greenberg, Stanley B. (1995) Middle Class Dreams: The Politics and Power of the New American Majority. New York: Times Books.
28.
Gugliotta, Guy (1996) `“Blue Dog” Democrats May Have Their Day in a Kinder, Gentler Congress', Washington Post, 24 November.
29.
Hale, Jon F. (1995) `The Making of the New Democrats', Political Science Quarterly110: 207—32.
30.
Hammond, Susan Webb (1998) Congressional Caucuses in National Policy Making . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
31.
Harris, John F. (2001) `Indispensable or Irrelevant? Evidence on President's Legacy Cuts Both Ways', Washington Post, 18 January.
House New Democrat Coalition (2005) `House New Democrat Coalition Announces New Leaders, Membership for 109th', Press Release, 9 February. Available at: www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=103&subid=110&contentid=25 (3190) (accessed 25 March 2005).
34.
Klinkner, Philip (2001) `Democratic Party Ideology in the 1990s: New Democrats or Modern Republicans?' in John Kenneth White and John C. Green (eds) The Politics of Ideas: Intellectual Challenges Facing the American Political Parties. Albany: State University of New York Press.
35.
Marshall, Will (1994) `Friend or Faux?' The American Prospect 1 December. Available at: www.prosect.org/print-friendly/print/V5/16/faux-j.html (accessed 25 January 2002).
36.
Marshall, Will (2002) `Third Way Will Rise Again', Blueprint , 29 July. Available at: www.ppionline.org/ndol/print.cfm?contentid=25 (0672) (accessed 9 August 2002).
37.
Mendelberg, Tali (2001) The Race Card: Campaign Strategy, Implicit Messages, and the Norm of Equality. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
38.
Panebianco, Angelo (1988) Political Parties: Organization & Power. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
39.
Penn, Mark (1998) `The Active Center Holds', Blueprint , 1 (Fall): 30—52.
40.
Poole, Keith T. and Howard Rosenthal (1997) Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting. New York: Oxford University Press.
41.
Rae, Nicol C. (1994) Southern Democrats. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
42.
Rae, Nicol C. (1998) `Party Factionalism: 1946—1996', in Byron E. Shafer (ed.) Partisan Approaches to Postwar American Politics. New York: Chatham House.
43.
Roback, Thomas H. and Judson L. James (1978) `Party Factions in the United States', in Frank P. Belloni and Dennis C. Beller (eds) Faction Politics: Political Parties and Factionalism in Comparative Perspective. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio.
44.
Rose, Richard (1964) `Parties, Factions, and Tendencies in Britain', Political Studies12: 33—46.
45.
Sartori, Giovanni (1976) Parties and Party Systems: A Framework for Analysis . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
46.
Toner, Robin (2000) `The Clinton Legacy — The New Democrats' , New York Times, 27 December.
47.
Welch, William M. (1994) `Proposal Would Link Welfare to Citizenship', USA Today, 24 March.
48.
Woodward, Bob (1994) The Agenda: Inside the ClintonWhite House. New York: Simon & Schuster.
49.
Zariski, Raphael (1960) `Party Factions and Comparative Politics: Some Preliminary Observations', Midwest Journal of Political Science4: 27—51.
