some US political scientists/historians like to posit Dems, founded in 1828, as oldest party in existence, citing 1832 reorganization of Tories as Conservative Party...some suggest continuity of Jefferson's Dem-Reps and Jackson's Dems (and I think contemporary Dem lore includes both individuals) which would place origins at 1796 while others maintain that Jacksonian era built upon Jeffersonian one in introducing idea of mass-based party organization, thereby, distinguishing between two... Michael Hoover