The political sphere in the United States over the last year has been tumultuous, to say the least.

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From climate change to nuclear deals, sex scandals and immigration, the Democratic Party has clashed with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on almost every issue. Over the last year, it has reinforced its representation and is closing in with the number of party members in Senate.

“Politically, Democrats have gained strength in the past year,” professor Eric Schickler, chair of Berkeley University’s Political Science Department, told teleSUR.

“President Trump's low approval ratings and the Republicans' factional fights have given Democrats more strength.”

“They have won several special elections in Republican areas. There are divisions within the party over strategy and approach, but on the whole, the party is in better shape than a year ago,” he added.

Some of the most difficult issues encountered in 2017 included the United States’ departure from the Paris Climate Agreement, immigration policies such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA, and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran. According to party critics, Democrats have done very little to stall these destructive decisions from being passed.

“I don’t think the elected officials are doing enough right now to counteract his threat for nuclear warfare,” countered New Mexico attorney and ward chair of the Democratic Party in Albuquerque, Pai Gallegos, who also spoke to teleSUR.

“They certainly have the capacity to remove him from office," she said. “What needs to be done is he needs to be impeached … we’re on the brink of the earth’s devastation and now the Democratic Party isn’t doing what it needs to do, which is remove him from office.”

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Gallegos, who works on both regional and national levels of the Democratic Party, said some of the primary factors behind the disappointing lack of action in government is “big money interests.”

The extent of their influence is limited and many believe they are biding their time until their strength has grown. With midterm elections closing in, Democrats may have a chance to win a few more seats in Washington.

A consistent trend in U.S. history dating back as far as the Civil War, the ruling presidential party usually loses an average of 32 seats in the House and two in Senate.

According to Schickler, some of the divisions have been on how confrontational the party should be with Trump, whether to concentrate on the Russian scandal or specific economic issues. They are not that deep, but they are real, he affirmed.

“The Democrats oppose Trump on these issues, but their leverage is limited. The Republicans control Congress and the White House,” Schickler said.

“The Party is trying to force a DACA bill as a condition of keeping the government funded. Many expected this to succeed, but Trump has sided even more with the hard-liners so it is not clear if they will succeed.”

For this reason, Democrats have begun attacking issues from the state level.

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“Democratic officials generally are trying to send the message to DACA recipients that they want them to be able to stay and to be treated fairly and support citizenship ... but their leverage at the national level is limited as long as Republicans control Congress,” the professor wrote over email.

“The main thing Democrats can do is try to pursue (these issues) in states controlled by Democrats and that is what they have done, as California, New York and others have taken on a more prominent role trying to lead on climate.”

This is exactly the party’s strategy, Gallegos said, adding that it’s now up to “ground-level” activists to make a change, through offering support to progressives who will promote influential legislation and take leadership.

“We’re changing the rule of the Democratic Party to make it easier for activists groups to get involved and thereby get broached on state central committees of the Democratic Party,” Gallegos said, adding that the party is also moving to create a more transparent process at the national level.

“So we’re changing the rules so that activists groups can become an official caucus of the party and thereby have two ropes on the state central committee.”