A liberal is someone who believes the government should help people through social welfare programs like healthcare and housing. They also believe that the private sector should be free to operate without government interference, and that private sexual and social behaviors should not be regulated by the state.

Generally, Democrats have been more liberal than Republicans. This has been the case for a long time, although Republican ideology has become more cohesive in recent years. However, in recent years, White Democrats have moved to the left significantly more than nonwhite Democratic voters. This has raised concerns among some observers that the party is becoming too liberal and might lose support from nonwhite voters, who are traditionally some of its most loyal supporters.

In 2021, more than six in 10 White Democrats described themselves as liberal — up 37 percentage points since 1994. The increase in liberal identification has been largely driven by White millennials.

These shifts have created a new political landscape, one in which the ideological cohesion of Democrats is nearly on par with that of Republicans. The two largest groups of Democrats — Democratic Mainstays and Outsider Left – are very different from each other in their political views and their relationship to the party. In general, the former are unshakeable Democratic loyalists and have a moderate tilt on some issues; the latter, on the other hand, are very liberal in their views and deeply dissatisfied with the party and its leaders.