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Glite Dictionary
States' Rights Democratic Party

States' Rights Democratic Party

9.9
A former US party formed in 1948 by Southern politicians who opposed civil rights and supported states' rights
  • noun
  • /steɪts raɪts ˌdɛmɒkrəˈtɪk ˈpɑrti/
translation icon : Partido Demócrata de los Derechos de los Estados
  • The States' Rights Democratic Party nominated Strom Thurmond for president in the 1948 election.

Examples

  • The platform of the States' Rights Democratic Party was centered around opposition to federal civil rights legislation.

  • The States' Rights Democratic Party was founded in 1948.

  • Historians debate the long-term impact of the States' Rights Democratic Party on American politics.

  • Many members of the States' Rights Democratic Party left the party over time.

  • The States' Rights Democratic Party was known for its strong opposition to federal intervention in state affairs.

  • In 1948, the States' Rights Democratic Party emerged as a major force in Southern politics during the presidential election.

  • The States' Rights Democratic Party advocated for segregationist policies that reflected the sentiments of many Southern voters at the time.

Synonyms

Dixiecrats
vsStates' Rights Democratic Party
9.9

A group of Southern politicians who left the Democratic Party in 1948 because they opposed civil rights for Black people

emphasizes defending states' rights and segregation rather than national civil rights reform

Surface Forms

States' Rights Democratic Party singular
States' Rights Democratic Parties plural

Morphology

States' + right + Democratic + party

The phrase is compositionally built: 'States' Rights' (support for state authority) + 'Democratic' (associated with the Democratic Party) + 'party' (a political organization), so a learner who knows those words can infer it names a political group that advocates states' rights within a Democratic context. Specific historical or segregationist connotations are not predictable from the words alone, but the core referential meaning is transparently derived from the constituents.

Etymology

States' Rights Democratic Party comes from Southern Democrats who left the 1948 national convention to form a group defending States' Rights, the idea that each state should make its own laws. They did this mainly to resist federal civil rights laws and keep racial segregation, so the name now refers to a short-lived party that split from the Democrats to 'oppose federal civil rights laws'.