Like most major political parties within two-party systems, the Republican Party of the United States includes diversity on social policy and political economic ideology, being composed of several factions.
Video Factions in the Republican Party (United States)
Conservative wing
The conservative tradition in the Republican Party features opposition to labor unions, high taxes and government regulation.
In economic policy, conservatives call for a large reduction in government spending, free trade, less regulation of the economy and personalized accounts for Social Security. Supporters of supply-side economics predominate, but there are deficit hawks within the faction as well. Before 1930, the Northeastern pro-manufacturing faction of the GOP was strongly committed to high tariffs, but since 1945 it has been more supportive of free-market principles and treaties for open trade. The conservative wing supports social conservatism (often termed family values) and pro-life positions.
Conservatives generally oppose affirmative action, arguing that it too often turns into quotas. They tend to support a strong military and are opposed to gun control. They oppose illegal immigration and support stronger law enforcement, often disagreeing with strict libertarians. On the issue of school vouchers, conservative Republicans split between supporters who believe that "big government education" is a failure and opponents who fear greater government control over private and church schools. Parts of the conservative wing have been criticized for being anti-environmentalist and promoting climate change denial in opposition to the general scientific consensus, making them unique even among other worldwide conservative parties. According to The New York Times, these environmental positions have become more extreme since 2008.
Christian right
The Republicans with religious right or Christian right ideals are strong conservatives on social policy. The National Federation of Republican Assemblies is a religious right organization that operates as a faction of the Republican Party. The Christian Coalition of America is a religious right activist organization considered allied with the party.
Traditionalists/paleoconservatives
The members of the traditionalist or paleoconservative wing generally hold views favorable to business and a strong national defense. They favor cultural traditions and old-fashioned teaching methods to inculcate values and show little love for big government or big business.
Paleoconservatives tend towards both social and cultural conservatism, favoring gun rights, states' rights and constitutionalism while opposing abortion, affirmative action and same-sex marriage. They tend towards mistrust of modern political ideologies and statecraft (which they call the managerial state) and tend to be critical of multiculturalism, generally favoring tight restrictions on legal immigration. They tend to be economically nationalist, favoring a protectionist policy on international trade.
In foreign affairs, they are usually non-interventionist. Paleoconservatives have criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and neoconservatism, which many paleoconservatives believe has damaged the party.
Neoconservatives
Neoconservatives differ from paleoconservatives in that they promote an interventionist foreign policy to promote democracy and are more moderate on fiscal issues. They were the strongest supporters of the Iraq War. Many neoconservatives were in earlier days identified as liberals or were affiliated with the Democrats. Neoconservatives have been credited with importing into the Republican Party a more active international policy. Neoconservatives are willing to act unilaterally when they believe it serves a moral position to do so, such as the spread of democracy.
Maps Factions in the Republican Party (United States)
Moderate wing
Moderates within the party, historically referred to as "Rockefeller Republicans", now often called "Main Street Republicans" or "Business Conservatives" and by their conservative Republican critics "Republican In Name Only", or "RINO", tend towards being conservative to moderate on fiscal issues and moderate to liberal on social issues.
While they sometimes share the economic views of other Republicans--e.g. balanced budgets, lower taxes, free trade, deregulation and welfare reform--moderate Republicans differ in that some are for affirmative action, same-sex marriage and gay adoption, legal access to and even funding for abortion, gun control laws, more environmental regulation and anti-climate change measures, fewer restrictions on legal immigration, a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and more relaxed enforcement of illegal immigration and support for "sanctuary cities" and for some also abolition of the death penalty, civil rights laws, embryonic stem cell research, in a few cases anti-war policies and supporting access to medical cannabis or any of the above.
Concerning foreign policy, some moderates may be less interventionist than neoconservatives and place greater value on multilateral institutions. Moderate Republicans can overlap with the neoconservative wing more often than the other wings of the party.
Libertarian wing
The libertarian wing of the Republican Party, a relatively small faction, emphasizes free markets, minimal social controls and a constitutional republic for government structure. They seek to reduce government social spending, regulation, and taxes. They favor gay rights and are split on abortion. They oppose gun control as counter-productive and favor free speech.
Libertarians are fiscal conservatives, seeking to reduce taxes, spending, regulation and the national debt. They favor privatization of government activities such as toll roads and airports. Many support a flat tax (one rate for all) or the FairTax. They also support free international trade and they tend to support reforms to make legal immigration easier. They tend to be more critical of the Federal Reserve and of military spending than any other faction.
On social issues, they typically are not opposed to same sex-marriage, but would prefer to deregulate marriage. They are usually split over abortion. They oppose gun control and increasingly are opposed to the war on drugs.
On foreign policy, libertarians tend to favor non-interventionism, avoiding conflicts and wars unless directly related to self-defense. Rand Paul and Justin Amash, two of the most libertarian-leaning members of Congress, are outspoken supporters of non-interventionism.
Historical factions
Radical Republicans
The Radical Republicans were a major factor of the party from its inception in 1854 until the end of the Reconstruction Era in 1877. The Radicals strongly opposed slavery and later advocated equal rights for the freedmen and women. They were often at odds with the moderate and conservative factions of the party. During the American Civil War, Radical Republicans pressed for abolition as a major war aim and they opposed the moderate Reconstruction plans of Abraham Lincoln as too lenient on the Confederates. After the war's end and Lincoln's assassination, the Radicals clashed with Andrew Johnson over Reconstruction policy. After winning major victories in the 1866 congressional elections, the Radicals took over Reconstruction, pushing through new legislation protecting the civil rights of African Americans. They supported Ulysses S. Grant for President in 1868 and 1872. However, their influence waned as Democrats retook control in the South and enthusiasm for continued Reconstruction declined.
Stalwarts
The Stalwarts were a traditionalist faction that existed from the 1860s through the 1880s. They represented "traditional" Republicans who favored machine politics and opposed the civil service reforms of Rutherford B. Hayes and the more progressive Half-Breeds. They declined following the elections of Hayes and James A. Garfield. After Garfield's assassination, his Stalwart Vice President Chester A. Arthur assumed the presidency and rather than pursuing Stalwart goals he took up the reformist cause, which curbed the faction's influence.
Half-Breeds
The Half-Breeds were a reformist faction of the 1870s and 1880s. The name, which originated with rivals claiming they were only "half" Republicans, came to encompass a wide array of figures who did not all get along with each other. Generally speaking, politicians labeled Half-Breeds were moderates or progressives who opposed the machine politics of the Stalwarts and advanced civil services reforms.
Progressive wing
Historically, the Republican Party included a progressive wing that advocated using government to improve the problems of modern society. Before 1932, leading progressive Republicans included Theodore Roosevelt, Robert M. La Follette Sr., Charles Evans Hughes, Hiram Johnson, William Borah, George W. Norris, and Fiorello La Guardia. Prominent liberal Republicans from 1936 to the 1970s included Alf Landon, Wendell Willkie, Earl Warren, Thomas Dewey, Prescott Bush, Nelson Rockefeller, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., George W. Romney, William Scranton, Charles Mathias, Lowell Weicker and Jacob Javits. Since 1976, liberalism has virtually faded out of the Republican Party, apart from a few Northeastern holdouts.
Reagan coalition
According to historian George H. Nash, the Reagan coalition in the Republican Party originally consisted of five factions: the libertarians, the traditionalists, the anti-communists, neoconservatives and the religious right. After Reagan left office, the coalition shattered, with the deepest divisions seen between the libertarians and traditionalists on one side and the neoconservatives and the religious right on the other. This was most evident as the neoconservatives and the religious right became the dominant force in the Republican Party.
See also
- Factions in the Democratic Party
- Factions in the Libertarian Party
References
Further reading
- Barone, Michael and Richard E. Cohen. The Almanac of American Politics, 2010 (2009). 1,900 pages of minute, nonpartisan detail on every state and district and member of Congress.
- Dyche, John David. Republican Leader: A Political Biography of Senator Mitch McConnell (2009).
- Edsall, Thomas Byrne. Building Red America: The New Conservative Coalition and the Drive For Permanent Power (2006). Sophisticated analysis by liberal.
- Crane, Michael. The Political Junkie Handbook: The Definitive Reference Book on Politics (2004). Nonpartisan.
- Frank, Thomas. What's the Matter with Kansas (2005). Attack by a liberal.
- Frohnen, Bruce, Beer, Jeremy and Nelson, Jeffery O., eds. American Conservatism: An Encyclopedia (2006). 980 pages of articles by 200 conservative scholars.
- Hamburger, Tom and Peter Wallsten. One Party Country: The Republican Plan for Dominance in the 21st Century (2006). Hostile.
- Hewitt, Hugh. GOP 5.0: Republican Renewal Under President Obama (2009).
- Ross, Brian. "The Republican Un-Civil War - The Neocons and the Tea Party Fight for Control of the GOP" (August 9, 2012). Truth-2-Power.
- Wooldridge, Adrian and John Micklethwait. The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America (2004). Sophisticated nonpartisan analysis.
External links
- "A Guide to the Republican Herd" (October 5, 2006). The New York Times.
- "Belief Spectrum Brings Party Splits" (October 4, 1998). The Washington Post.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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