Jacksonian democracy
|
Jacksonian democracy is the term used in American politics to describe the period when the "common man" participated in the government, occurring after Jeffersonian democracy.
Andrew Jackson, who was elected in 1828, was the first president even partially elected by the common citizenry, as the 1824 United States Presidential election was the first in which free white men without property could vote (notwithstanding this, one quarter of the participating states had their electors chosen by their State Legislatures). In addition, some political parties began holding public nominating convention-meetings to select a party's presidential and vice presidential candidates, allowing more voter input.
Jackson, a war hero who had fought alongside trappers and traders in the War of 1812, was someone with whom the common man could identify. He commonly discussed politics in his parlor with other men while smoking cigars, in contrast to the more formal meetings common to Jeffersonian Democracy. As a result of this informal attitude to politics, he was sometimes advised by a group of old friends, known as his "kitchen cabinet".
The faction of the United States Democratic-Republican Party that solidly followed Andrew Jackson were sometimes referred to as Jacksonian or Jacksonian Democrats.