Clintonism refers to the
centrist or
neoliberal wing of the United States
Democratic Party, being most prominently associated with the
Clinton administation from 1993 to 2001. The ideology can be said in broad outline to favor certain policies: •
Free trade: an essential component of
the Clinton administration's economic policy, which worked to pass
NAFTA and create the
World Trade Organization. •
Fiscal conservatism: restraining the growth of federal spending in order to create a
balanced budget. • Lower interest rates and deregulation. • Compromise on social issues such as abortion and
LGBT rights: Clinton signed the 1996
Defense of Marriage Act, although it was struck down by the Supreme Court and repealed by the 2022
Respect for Marriage Act. • Reform or reduction of some government programs, exemplified by the ending of
Aid to Families with Dependent Children as part of
welfare reform. •
Internationalism, particularly the expansion of
NATO. Some notable political figures associated with Clintonism include
Leon Panetta,
Rahm Emanuel,
Larry Summers,
Madeleine Albright,
James Carville,
Terry McAuliffe,
Robert Rubin,
Al From,
Bruce Reed, and
John Podesta.
Barack Obama once referred to himself a "
New Democrat", and his
cabinet from 2009 to 2017 included several officials who had served in or were associated with the Clinton-era administration. Similarly, during his time in the Senate in the 1990s,
Joe Biden supported a range of centrist Democratic policy initiatives during the Clinton administration era, athough his policy positions later evolved during his
presidency beginning in 2021. The ideology is sometimes thought of as part of the
Third Way, a brand of politics that is said to include (at the time or since)
Prime Minister Tony Blair's
New Labour in the United Kingdom, the
Liberal Party in Canada under
Jean Chrétien and
Paul Martin, and the
Social Democratic Party in Germany under
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. According to
Vanity Fair, Clintonism is foundationally "based on the
baby boomer credo that you truly can have it all". == See also ==