Factions in the Republican Party (United States)
Encyclopedia
The Republican Party
of the United States
in the 21st century is composed of various groups or factions. Although their interests at times conflict, they share enough in common to remain in the same party.
By and large the factions are informal and unorganized. They do not have their own organizations, newspapers, or paid memberships. Defining the views of any "faction" of any American political party is difficult. The 2009 off year elections brought out some of the divisions, especially as they played out in the election for Congress in the 23rd New York District
.
belong to one of the oldest branches of conservatism
, extending back to the New Humanism
of Irving Babbitt
and Paul Elmer More
, the Southern Agrarians, T. S. Eliot
, the British Distributists
, and the original New Conservatives (Russell Kirk
, Richard M. Weaver
, and Robert Nisbet
). Traditionalists
favor cultural and educational renewal, localism
, civic communitarianism, natural law and transcendent faith, and organic society while opposing abortion, feminism, and same-sex marriage.
Several public traditionalists
are academics and write for such publications as Modern Age (periodical), Humanitas (journal)
, The University Bookman, The Intercollegiate Review, and Touchstone Magazine
. Traditionalist
organizations include the Intercollegiate Studies Institute
, the National Humanities Institute
, the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal
, the Center for the American Idea
, the McConnell Center
, and the Trinity Forum
.
Prominent traditionalists
include former Michigan
Governor John Engler
, former Tennessee
Senator Fred Thompson, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
, former Illinois
Congressman Henry Hyde
, Michigan
Congressmen Thaddeus McCotter and Dave Camp as well as Intercollegiate Studies Institute
president T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr. journalist Rod Dreher
, Catholic University of America Professor Claes G. Ryn
, Kansas statesman Caleb Stegall
, and author and Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society
president Allan C. Carlson
.
, including pre-emptive military action against designated enemy nations under certain circumstances. They were the strongest supporters of the Iraq War; many of these 'neocons' were originally considered to be liberals or were affiliated with the Democratic Party in earlier days. 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.
Neoconservative publications include The Weekly Standard, Commentary
, City Journal, National Affairs
, and The New Criterion
. Neoconservative organizations include the Project for the New American Century
, the American Enterprise Institute
, the Manhattan Institute
, and the Hudson Institute
. Prominent neoconservatives include former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney
, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz
, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
Douglas J. Feith, and pundits Charles Krauthammer
, William Kristol
, and David Frum
.
are not strongly represented in the political sphere, but are most visible in publications (e.g. The American Conservative and Chronicles) and organizations such as the Rockford Institute
and the American Cause. They are traditionalist
with a strong distrust of a modern political ideologies and statecraft, which they call the managerial state
.
The paleoconservative worldview is both socially and culturally conservative
. Paleoconservatives generally favor gun rights, the war on drugs
, and states' rights
and constitutionalism
, whilst opposing abortion, affirmative action, and same-sex marriage. They are highly critical of multiculturalism
, with the national question being central to their politics. They strongly oppose illegal immigration and favor tight restrictions on legal immigration. Paleoconservatives tend to be economically nationalist
; favoring a protectionist
policy on international trade. In foreign affairs they are non-interventionist
. Prominent paleoconservatives, such as Pat Buchanan
, have criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) and neoconservativism, which many paleoconservatives believe has damaged the GOP
. Buchanan left the Republican Party after his presidential primary races in 1992 and 1996, and ran as a third-party candidate in the 2000 election. Other prominent paleoconservatives include Chronicles editor Thomas Fleming, Scott P. Richert and journalists Joe Sobran, Robert Novak
, and Bill Safire.
call for a large reduction in government spending
(particularly in entitlement
and other social programs), lower taxes, balanced budget
s, deficit reduction, paying off national debt, personalized accounts for Social Security
, free trade
, and less regulation of the economy. Many current fiscal conservatives are backers of supply-side economics
; however, there are also some deficit hawk
s within the faction as well. Before 1930 the Northeastern pro-manufacturing factions 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.
Prominent fiscal conservatives include former U.S. House Majority Leader
Dick Armey
, former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford
, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels
, Representative Mike Pence
, former U.S. Senator Jack Kemp
, U.S. Senator Tom Coburn
(Oklahoma), Publisher Steve Forbes
, and activist Grover Norquist
. The Club for Growth
is a pro-Republican organization that endorses fiscal conservatives in primaries against more moderate Republicans.
Fiscal conservatives may be seen as a challenge to moderate Republicans in the 2010 Elections.
" is often used synonymously with Christian right
because most of its members are Protestants, Evangelicals, traditionalist and conservative Catholics, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), although some members are Orthodox Jews
. Both fundamentalists
and moderates of said faiths appear in this faction, comprising a wide spectrum of beliefs that are typically united on stances as abortion or homosexual unions.
The Religious Right has become a powerful force within the GOP. This faction is socially conservative
. Its major legislative issues in recent years include efforts to criminalize abortion
, opposition (but not criminalization) to legalized same-sex marriage
, and discouraging taxpayer-funded embryonic stem cell research. They have supported a greater role of religious organizations in delivering welfare programs.
Prominent Religious Right Republicans include TV personality Pat Robertson
, former Attorney General John Ashcroft
, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback
, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum
(Pennsylvania), former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
, and activist Gary Bauer
. The National Federation of Republican Assemblies
is a Religious Right organization that operates as a faction of the Republican Party. The Christian Coalition is a Religious Right activist organization considered allied with the party.
Theoconservatives are intellectual religious conservatives such as Michael Novak
, George Weigel
, and the late Father Richard John Neuhaus
. Centered at the Institute on Religion and Public Life's First Things
magazine and the Ethics and Public Policy Center
, the theoconservatives (popularly called "theocons") meld a Judeo-Christian worldview with the "democratic capitalism" of neoconservatism
. Contributors and editorial board members of First Things
include Midge Decter
and Robert P. George
.
Social conservatives
believe in promoting traditional moral values and social mores to preserve and improve American society. They have been especially active in taking traditionalist positions on issues involving sexual standards. Social conservatives oppose abortion
and gay marriage. They are doubtful about affirmative action
, arguing it too often turns into quotas. They tend to support a strong military and are opposed to gun control
.
Most social conservatives oppose illegal immigration
, which puts them in opposition to the business community. Social conservatives support stronger law enforcement and often disagree with libertarians. On the issue of school vouchers the group is split between those who support the concept (believing that "big government
" education is a failure) and those who oppose the concept (believing that "big government" would gain the right to dictate schools' or sponsoring churches' positions on controversial social issues.)
Social conservatives included Ronald Reagan
, George W. Bush
, Trent Lott
, Rick Perry
, and Sarah Palin
, among others.
s within the GOP tend to be, to varying degrees, fiscally conservative and socially liberal, though there are others who are socially conservative and fiscally centrist. While they often share the economic views of other Republicans - e.g., balanced budget
s, lower taxes, free trade
, deregulation
, welfare reform
- moderate Republicans differ in that they may be for some gay rights, abortion rights, gun control
, environmental regulation, federal funding of education
, fewer restrictions on legal immigration
, and for some, more relaxed enforcement on illegal immigration
, abolition of the death penalty, civil rights laws
, legalization of drugs
, stem cell research, anti-war policies, or any of the above. Deficit spending
is a highly contentious issue, within this faction as well as outside of it. Some moderate Republicans criticize what they see as the Bush administration's military extravagance in foreign policy, or criticize its tax cuts. Others may support deficit spending, but feel it ought to be more directed towards social projects. Still other moderate Republicans are more centrist in their fiscal
policies, in the tradition of Nelson Rockefeller
. Concerning foreign policy, moderates may be less interventionist than neoconservatives, or place greater value on multilateral institutions. Moderate Republicans have seen their influence in the Republican party diminish significantly since the 1990s. Once commonplace throughout the country, today moderate Republicans tend to be found in elected office primarily in the Northeast
and the West
.
Examples of moderate Republican Governors include George Pataki
, William Weld
, Paul Celluci, Jodi Rell
, Jon Huntsman Jr., Jim Douglas
, and Donald Carcieri
. Current U.S. senators include Susan Collins
and Olympia Snowe
of Maine, Mark Kirk
of Illinois, Lisa Murkowski
of Alaska, John Hoeven
of North Dakota, and Scott Brown
of Massachusetts.
Moderate Republican organizations: The Ripon Society
, which was founded in 1962 as a group of liberal Republicans, today it provides forums for centrist Republican and their ideals. The Republican Main Street Partnership
is a network supporting moderate Republicans for office, while the Republican Leadership Council
is similar in direction. Former New Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitman founded the Republican Leadership Council
PAC
in order to promote moderate Republicans for office. The Republican Majority for Choice
is a PAC of and for pro-choice
Republicans, and is often allied with the moderate branch of the party. Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and 1996 Presidential nominee Bob Dole
has supported the "Main Street" Republicans. John McCain
has been considered a moderate Republican for much of his Congressional career; however, he moved considerably to the right on many issues during his unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign
.
faction of the Republican Party emphasizes free markets and minimal social controls. They oppose government social spending
, regulation
, and taxes
. They are generally opposed to social conservatives with regard to gay rights, and split on abortion
, which many see as an issue of personal freedom, but others view as an act of violence against a person.
Similar to the fiscal conservative faction, libertarian Republicans seek to reduce taxes
, spending
and regulation
. They look for ways to outsource or privatize activities
run by the government (such as toll roads and airports). As an alternative to the federal income tax and the IRS, many support a flat tax
(one rate for all) or the Fair Tax. They also support free international trade.
The libertarian faction is represented in the party by the Republican Liberty Caucus
, which also actively courts members of the United States Libertarian Party
to seek office as Republicans in order to increase the voice of libertarianism within the party. U.S. Representative Ron Paul
(Texas), the most visible member of the caucus, ran for U.S. President in 1988 on the ticket of the Libertarian Party and sought the Republican Party nomination for U.S. President in 2008. Senator Rand Paul
, former U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater
, former Representative Barry Goldwater, Jr.
, Representative Jeff Flake
, former U.S. Senator Robert Taft
, former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford
, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson
, and notable personalities ranging from Tucker Carlson
to Clint Eastwood
all identify with this faction.
Libertarian intellectuals in the tradition of Friedrich Hayek
and the Austrian School of Economics advocate laissez-faire
regarding economic and social issues. Hayek, and his colleague Milton Friedman
of the Chicago School of Economics, for example, led the opposition to the draft
, which was suspended by Republican President Richard Nixon
in 1973.
. Most Republicans were conservative opponents of the New Deal, but many in the Northeast denounced the corruption and inefficiency of the New Deal, but supported its basic programs. Other names for liberal Republicans are Rockefeller Republican
and the pejorative Republican In Name Only
or RINO. The notable liberal Republicans include Fiorello La Guardia, George Norris, Harold Stassen
, Wendell Willkie
, Alf Landon
, Thomas E. Dewey, Nelson Rockefeller
and Earl Warren
. Historians debate whether Richard Nixon
belongs to this group as his rhetoric was conservative, but his policies were liberal in many areas. The liberal wing of the Republican Party had ceased to play a significant role in the party by the 1980s, with most of the Rockefeller Republicans retiring, or being defeated in primaries by more conservative Republicans or in general elections by Democrats. Today, Liberal Republicans like New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg
(who eventually switched to independent) often support a moderate-to-conservative fiscal policy, but support liberal social causes, such as abortion and gay marriage. They may also be opposed to death penalty and support gun control, like Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee
. In modern times, more liberal Republicans include Jim Jeffords
, Amo Houghton
, Colin Powell
, Jim Leach
, Joseph Cao
and former California
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
.
'. This faction gradually shrank, with many joining the Democratic Party as it shifted to the left. Prominent progressive Republicans included Theodore Roosevelt
and Robert La Follette
.
refers to locally owned businesses. Wall Street
refers to national corporations. They share an interest in lower taxes, less regulation and opposition to labor unions. Spending is another matter, and depends on the particular issue. For example, defense spending is favored. Main Street has an interest in opposing the inheritance tax
(the so-called "death tax"), which affects entrepreneurs; Wall Street wants low taxes on capital gains. Both generally support free trade, since the old high tariff faction has faded along with the industries (like textiles) it once tried to protect. The farm sector is generally conservative on most issues—except it wants higher spending on farm programs.
. More recently this faction has supported continuation of OEF-Afghanistan
under the Obama Administration, but have voiced opposition to the projected cuts in military spending and reduction of missile defense programs. Politicians of this nature include former Massassusetts Governors, Mitt Romney
, former Senator John Warner
, former Representative Duncan Hunter
, Congressman Peter Hoekstra, Representative Joe Wilson
, Representative John Kline
, and Representative Duncan D. Hunter
.
, the Terri Schiavo case
, the Kelo
case regarding eminent domain, and in cases involving assisted suicide
laws and medical marijuana.
" in the Republican Party, according to independent historian Dr. George H. Nash, originally consisted of five factions: the libertarians
, the traditionalists
, the anti-communists, the neoconservatives
, and the second New Right/religious right
. After Reagan left office the Reagan coalition
shattered, with the deepest divisions seen between the libertarians, traditionalists, and paleoconservatives 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. Today, conservatism is generally divided into the categories of fiscal conservatives, social conservatives, and national security conservatives (even though there is considerable overlap among these rather vague categories).
Similarly, moderate or liberal Republicans (see below) may hold views overlapping with those of some of the conservative factions, while diverging with other factions. For example, a "moderate" Republican may hold "fiscally conservative" views on the economy and "neoconservative" on foreign policy, while at the same time holding views on social issues such as abortion that conflict with "social conservative" views.
Partly because of that overlap, it is difficult to accurately claim which faction of the party currently holds the most power, though such a question is the topic of much speculation. After the 2003 Iraq War many argued the "neoconservative" wing of the party was clearly dominant, as they had been the faction the most supportive of the war. After President George W. Bush
was re-elected in 2004, however, many attributed the high turnout of Republican voters who claimed to be motivated by "moral values" as a sign that the Religious Right and social conservative factions of the party have gained considerable influence. Although it is clear that compared to the influence of the conservative factions of the party, the numbers and influence of the moderate wing of the party had diminished in recent decades. In the past many Republicans were not ideological and were conservative in areas but moderate in others. Some say Bob Dole
was in this overlapping type of model. Also past figures like Richard Nixon
, Gerald Ford
and George H.W. Bush would be in this middle of the road category. For some of these abortion is not considered a big issue while fiscal issues would be. Nixon and Dole, for example were opposed to abortion but supported government programs and a moderate take on foreign affairs. Ford and Bush at some point were pro-choice, but in other points of their career they were also opposed to abortion. George H.W. Bush was pro-choice and moderate on fiscal issues as Ronald Reagan's vice president, but shifted to the right on many issues during his 1988 presidential campaign
after facing primary challenges from more conservative GOP figures. Bush infamously raised taxes in 1990, an act which contributed heavily to his defeat for reelection. He also nominated liberal justice David Souter
to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the 21st century is composed of various groups or factions. Although their interests at times conflict, they share enough in common to remain in the same party.
By and large the factions are informal and unorganized. They do not have their own organizations, newspapers, or paid memberships. Defining the views of any "faction" of any American political party is difficult. The 2009 off year elections brought out some of the divisions, especially as they played out in the election for Congress in the 23rd New York District
New York's 23rd congressional district special election, 2009
The 2009 special election for New York's 23rd congressional district was held on November 3, 2009, to select the successor to Republican John M. McHugh...
.
Traditionalists
TraditionalistsTraditionalist Conservatism
Traditionalist conservatism, also known as "traditional conservatism," "traditionalism," "Burkean conservatism", "classical conservatism" and , "Toryism", describes a political philosophy emphasizing the need for the principles of natural law and transcendent moral order, tradition, hierarchy and...
belong to one of the oldest branches of conservatism
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
, extending back to the New Humanism
New Humanism
New Humanism or neohumanism were terms applied to a theory of literary criticism, together with its consequences for culture and political thought, developed around 1900 by the American scholar Irving Babbitt, and the scholar and journalist Paul Elmer More...
of Irving Babbitt
Irving Babbitt
Irving Babbitt was an American academic and literary critic, noted for his founding role in a movement that became known as the New Humanism, a significant influence on literary discussion and conservative thought in the period between 1910 to 1930...
and Paul Elmer More
Paul Elmer More
Paul Elmer More was an American journalist, critic, essayist and Christian apologist.-Biography:More was educated at Washington University in St. Louis and Harvard University...
, the Southern Agrarians, T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
, the British Distributists
Distributism
Distributism is a third-way economic philosophy formulated by such Catholic thinkers as G. K...
, and the original New Conservatives (Russell Kirk
Russell Kirk
Russell Kirk was an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, literary critic, and fiction author known for his influence on 20th century American conservatism. His 1953 book, The Conservative Mind, gave shape to the amorphous post–World War II conservative movement...
, Richard M. Weaver
Richard M. Weaver
Richard Malcolm Weaver, Jr was an American scholar who taught English at the University of Chicago. He is primarily known as a shaper of mid- 20th century conservatism and as an authority on modern rhetoric...
, and Robert Nisbet
Robert Nisbet
Robert Alexander Nisbet was an American sociologist, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Vice-Chancellor at the University of California, Riverside and as the Albert Schweitzer Professor at Columbia University.-Life:Nisbet was born in Los Angeles in 1913 and raised in the small...
). Traditionalists
Traditionalist Conservatism
Traditionalist conservatism, also known as "traditional conservatism," "traditionalism," "Burkean conservatism", "classical conservatism" and , "Toryism", describes a political philosophy emphasizing the need for the principles of natural law and transcendent moral order, tradition, hierarchy and...
favor cultural and educational renewal, localism
Localism (politics)
Localism describes a range of political philosophies which prioritize the local. Generally, localism supports local production and consumption of goods, local control of government, and promotion of local history, local culture and local identity...
, civic communitarianism, natural law and transcendent faith, and organic society while opposing abortion, feminism, and same-sex marriage.
Several public traditionalists
Traditionalist Conservatism
Traditionalist conservatism, also known as "traditional conservatism," "traditionalism," "Burkean conservatism", "classical conservatism" and , "Toryism", describes a political philosophy emphasizing the need for the principles of natural law and transcendent moral order, tradition, hierarchy and...
are academics and write for such publications as Modern Age (periodical), Humanitas (journal)
Humanitas (journal)
Humanitas is an interdisciplinary journal published by the National Humanities Institute. It is known for its affiliation with traditionalist conservatism....
, The University Bookman, The Intercollegiate Review, and Touchstone Magazine
Touchstone Magazine
Touchstone Magazine is a bimonthly publication of the Fellowship of St. James. It is subtitled A Journal of Mere Christianity, which replaced A Journal of Ecumenical Orthodoxy.-Biography:...
. Traditionalist
Traditionalist Conservatism
Traditionalist conservatism, also known as "traditional conservatism," "traditionalism," "Burkean conservatism", "classical conservatism" and , "Toryism", describes a political philosophy emphasizing the need for the principles of natural law and transcendent moral order, tradition, hierarchy and...
organizations include the Intercollegiate Studies Institute
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Inc., or ', is a non-profit educational organization founded in 1953 as the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists...
, the National Humanities Institute
National Humanities Institute
The National Humanities Institute is a nonprofit interdisciplinary educational organization founded in 1984. It is known to be affiliated with traditionalist conservatism.It publishes Humanitas and the Epistulae Occasional Papers....
, the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal
Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal
The Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal is a nonprofit educational organization based out of Mecosta, Michigan. It was founded in order to continue the legacy of Dr. Russell Kirk, an American political theorist, historian, social critic, literary critic, and fiction author...
, the Center for the American Idea
Center for the American Idea
The Center for the American Idea is the leading program of the Free Enterprise Institute, a Houston-based think tank, founded in 1976 by Rolland Storey to advance the principles of liberty and free enterprise through continuing education programs for teachers....
, the McConnell Center
McConnell Center
The McConnell Center is an endowed institution created in 1991 by U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, and the University of Louisville.The McConnell Center's mission includes four major components:* The McConnell Scholars Program*Public Lecture Series...
, and the Trinity Forum
Trinity Forum
The Trinity Forum is a Christian non-profit organization founded in 1991 that fosters the development of networks of leaders who share its commitment to cultural renewal. The organization conducts seminars and retreats for leaders to discuss issues involving faith and culture, including private...
.
Prominent traditionalists
Traditionalist Conservatism
Traditionalist conservatism, also known as "traditional conservatism," "traditionalism," "Burkean conservatism", "classical conservatism" and , "Toryism", describes a political philosophy emphasizing the need for the principles of natural law and transcendent moral order, tradition, hierarchy and...
include former Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
Governor John Engler
John Engler
John Mathias Engler is an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. He served as the 46th Governor of Michigan from 1991 to 2003....
, former Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
Senator Fred Thompson, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
Spencer Abraham
Edmund Spencer Abraham is a former United States Senator from Michigan. He served as the tenth United States Secretary of Energy, serving under President George W. Bush. Abraham is one of the founders of the Federalist Society....
, former Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
Congressman Henry Hyde
Henry Hyde
Henry John Hyde , an American politician, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2007, representing the 6th District of Illinois, an area of Chicago's northwestern suburbs which included O'Hare International Airport...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
Congressmen Thaddeus McCotter and Dave Camp as well as Intercollegiate Studies Institute
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Inc., or ', is a non-profit educational organization founded in 1953 as the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists...
president T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr. journalist Rod Dreher
Rod Dreher
Rod Dreher is an American writer and editor. He was a conservative editorial writer and a columnist for The Dallas Morning News, but departed that newspaper in late 2009 to affiliate with the John Templeton Foundation. He has also contributed in the past to The American Conservative and National...
, Catholic University of America Professor Claes G. Ryn
Claes G. Ryn
Dr. Claes Gösta Ryn is a Swedish-born, American academic and educator.-Background:Ryn was born and raised in Norrköping in Sweden. He attended the Latin Gymnasium, Norrköpings Högre Allmänna Läroverk' . He was an undergraduate and a doctoral student at Uppsala University...
, Kansas statesman Caleb Stegall
Caleb Stegall
Caleb Stegall is an attorney and writer residing in Perry, Kansas. He has served as the District attorney for Jefferson County, Kansas and is currently Chief Counsel to Kansas Governor Sam Brownback...
, and author and Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society
Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society
The Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society is an organizations that promotes research that attempts to demonstrate the alleged importance of a mother and father with a family consisting of their own biological children as the basic unit of society....
president Allan C. Carlson
Allan C. Carlson
Allan C. Carlson is a scholar and professor of history at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. He is the president of the Howard Center, a director of the Family in America Studies Center, the International Secretary of the World Congress of Families and editor of the Family in America...
.
Conservatives
John Dean identified a dozen categories of "conservatives" in his book, which underscored the problem with the label "conservative" as there is no real cohesion of the various brands of conservatism except to avoid idenfication with other groups that generally are more liberal. And that "conservatives" of all types tend to band together against the "left" leaning ideologies although many of them agree with parts of other viewpoints, while being neutral to more of the other conservative viewpoints and less opposed to the others than they favor the alternatives.Neoconservatives
Neoconservatives promote an interventionist foreign policyForeign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
, including pre-emptive military action against designated enemy nations under certain circumstances. They were the strongest supporters of the Iraq War; many of these 'neocons' were originally considered to be liberals or were affiliated with the Democratic Party in earlier days. 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.
Neoconservative publications include The Weekly Standard, Commentary
Commentary (magazine)
Commentary is a monthly American magazine on politics, Judaism, social and cultural issues. It was founded by the American Jewish Committee in 1945. By 1960 its editor was Norman Podhoretz, a liberal at the time who moved sharply to the right in the 1970s and 1980s becoming a strong voice for the...
, City Journal, National Affairs
National Affairs
National Affairs, Inc. is a U.S. organization which publishes a public-policy quarterly by the same name. It began publishing National Affairs in September 2009, describing itself as "a quarterly journal of essays about domestic policy, political economy, society, culture, and political thought...
, and The New Criterion
The New Criterion
The New Criterion is a New York-based monthly literary magazine and journal of artistic and cultural criticism, edited by Hilton Kramer and Roger Kimball. It has sections for criticism of poetry, theater, art, music, the media, and books...
. Neoconservative organizations include the Project for the New American Century
Project for the New American Century
The Project for the New American Century was an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. that lasted from 1997 to 2006. It was co-founded as a non-profit educational organization by neoconservatives William Kristol and Robert Kagan...
, the American Enterprise Institute
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...
, the Manhattan Institute
Manhattan Institute
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research is a conservative, market-oriented think tank established in New York City in 1978 by Antony Fisher and William J...
, and the Hudson Institute
Hudson Institute
The Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
. Prominent neoconservatives include former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank, and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University...
, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Defense. The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy is the principal staff assistant and adviser to both the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense for all matters...
Douglas J. Feith, and pundits Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer, MD is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. His weekly column appears in The Washington Post and is syndicated to more than 275 newspapers and media outlets. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New...
, William Kristol
William Kristol
William Kristol is an American neoconservative political analyst and commentator. He is the founder and editor of the political magazine The Weekly Standard and a regular commentator on the Fox News Channel....
, and David Frum
David Frum
David J. Frum is a Canadian American journalist active in both the United States and Canadian political arenas. A former economic speechwriter for President George W. Bush, he is also the author of the first "insider" book about the Bush presidency...
.
Paleoconservatives
The paleoconservativesPaleoconservatism
Paleoconservatism is a term for a conservative political philosophy found primarily in the United States stressing tradition, limited government, civil society, anti-colonialism, anti-corporatism and anti-federalism, along with religious, regional, national and Western identity. Chilton...
are not strongly represented in the political sphere, but are most visible in publications (e.g. The American Conservative and Chronicles) and organizations such as the Rockford Institute
Rockford Institute
Rockford Institute is a conservative think-tank associated with paleoconservatism, based in Rockford, Illinois. It is known for the John Randolph Club, and publishes Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture....
and the American Cause. They are traditionalist
Traditionalist Conservatism
Traditionalist conservatism, also known as "traditional conservatism," "traditionalism," "Burkean conservatism", "classical conservatism" and , "Toryism", describes a political philosophy emphasizing the need for the principles of natural law and transcendent moral order, tradition, hierarchy and...
with a strong distrust of a modern political ideologies and statecraft, which they call the managerial state
Managerial state
Managerial state is a paleoconservative concept used in critiquing modern social democracy in Western countries. The term takes a pejorative context as a manifestation of Western decline. Theorists Samuel T. Francis and Paul Gottfried say this is an ongoing regime that remains in power,...
.
The paleoconservative worldview is both socially and culturally conservative
Cultural conservatism
Cultural conservatism is described as the preservation of the heritage of one nation, or of a shared culture that is not defined by national boundaries. Other variants of cultural conservatism are concerned with culture attached to a given language such as Arabic.The shared culture may be as...
. Paleoconservatives generally favor gun rights, the war on drugs
War on Drugs
The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
, and states' rights
States' rights
States' rights in U.S. politics refers to political powers reserved for the U.S. state governments rather than the federal government. It is often considered a loaded term because of its use in opposition to federally mandated racial desegregation...
and constitutionalism
Constitutionalism
Constitutionalism has a variety of meanings. Most generally, it is "a complex of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law"....
, whilst opposing abortion, affirmative action, and same-sex marriage. They are highly critical of multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
, with the national question being central to their politics. They strongly oppose illegal immigration and favor tight restrictions on legal immigration. Paleoconservatives tend to be economically nationalist
Economic nationalism
Economic nationalism is a term used to describe policies which emphasize domestic control of the economy, labor and capital formation, even if this requires the imposition of tariffs and other restrictions on the movement of labor, goods and capital. It opposes globalization in many cases, or at...
; favoring a protectionist
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
policy on international trade. In foreign affairs they are non-interventionist
United States non-interventionism
Non-interventionism, the diplomatic policy whereby a nation seeks to avoid alliances with other nations in order to avoid being drawn into wars not related to direct territorial self-defense, has had a long history in the United States...
. Prominent paleoconservatives, such as Pat Buchanan
Pat Buchanan
Patrick Joseph "Pat" Buchanan is an American paleoconservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior adviser to American Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN's Crossfire. He sought...
, have criticized the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
(NAFTA) and neoconservativism, which many paleoconservatives believe has damaged the GOP
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. Buchanan left the Republican Party after his presidential primary races in 1992 and 1996, and ran as a third-party candidate in the 2000 election. Other prominent paleoconservatives include Chronicles editor Thomas Fleming, Scott P. Richert and journalists Joe Sobran, Robert Novak
Robert Novak
Robert David Sanders "Bob" Novak was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving for the U.S. Army in the Korean War, he became a reporter for the Associated Press and then for...
, and Bill Safire.
Fiscal
Fiscal conservativesFiscal conservatism
Fiscal conservatism is a political term used to describe a fiscal policy that advocates avoiding deficit spending. Fiscal conservatives often consider reduction of overall government spending and national debt as well as ensuring balanced budget of paramount importance...
call for a large reduction in government spending
Government spending
Government spending includes all government consumption, investment but excludes transfer payments made by a state. Government acquisition of goods and services for current use to directly satisfy individual or collective needs of the members of the community is classed as government final...
(particularly in entitlement
Entitlement
An entitlement is a guarantee of access to benefits based on established rights or by legislation. A "right" is itself an entitlement associated with a moral or social principle, such that an "entitlement" is a provision made in accordance with legal framework of a society...
and other social programs), lower taxes, balanced budget
Balanced budget
A balanced budget is when there is neither a budget deficit or a budget surplus – when revenues equal expenditure – particularly by a government. More generally, it refers to when there is no deficit, but possibly a surplus...
s, deficit reduction, paying off national debt, personalized accounts for Social Security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
, free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
, and less regulation of the economy. Many current fiscal conservatives are backers of supply-side economics
Supply-side economics
Supply-side economics is a school of macroeconomic thought that argues that economic growth can be most effectively created by lowering barriers for people to produce goods and services, such as lowering income tax and capital gains tax rates, and by allowing greater flexibility by reducing...
; however, there are also some deficit hawk
Deficit hawk
Deficit hawk is an American political slang term for people who place great emphasis on keeping the federal budget under control. Deficit hawks believe the best way to reduce the deficit, pay off national debt, and balance the budget is by a combination of increasing taxes and cutting government...
s within the faction as well. Before 1930 the Northeastern pro-manufacturing factions 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.
Prominent fiscal conservatives include former U.S. House Majority Leader
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door caucus by secret ballot and are also known as floor leaders. The U.S. House of Representatives does not officially use the term "Minority Leader", although the media frequently does...
Dick Armey
Dick Armey
Richard Keith "Dick" Armey is a former U.S. Representative from Texas's and House Majority Leader . He was one of the engineers of the "Republican Revolution" of the 1990s, in which Republicans were elected to majorities of both houses of Congress for the first time in four decades. Armey was...
, former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford
Mark Sanford
Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford Jr. is an American politician from South Carolina, who was the 115th Governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011....
, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W...
, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels
Mitch Daniels
Mitchell Elias "Mitch" Daniels, Jr. is the 49th and current Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana. A Republican, he began his first four-year term as governor on January 10, 2005, and was elected to his second term by an 18-point margin on November 4, 2008. Previously, he was the Director of the...
, Representative Mike Pence
Mike Pence
Michael Richard "Mike" Pence is the U.S. Representative for Indiana's , and previously the , serving since 2001. The 6th district covers much of Eastern Indiana. He is a member of the Republican Party....
, former U.S. Senator Jack Kemp
Jack Kemp
Jack French Kemp was an American politician and a collegiate and professional football player. A Republican, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993, having previously served nine terms as a congressman for Western New York's 31st...
, U.S. Senator Tom Coburn
Tom Coburn
Thomas Allen "Tom" Coburn, M.D. , is an American politician, medical doctor, and Southern Baptist deacon. A member of the Republican Party, he currently serves as the junior U.S. Senator from Oklahoma. In the Senate, he is known as "Dr. No" for his tendency to place holds on and vote against bills...
(Oklahoma), Publisher Steve Forbes
Steve Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson "Steve" Forbes, Jr. is an American editor, publisher, and businessman. He is the editor-in-chief of business magazine Forbes as well as president and chief executive officer of its publisher, Forbes Inc. He was a Republican candidate in the U.S. Presidential primaries in 1996...
, and activist Grover Norquist
Grover Norquist
Grover Glenn Norquist is an American lobbyist, conservative activist, and founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform...
. The Club for Growth
Club for Growth
The Club for Growth is a politically conservative 527 organization active in the United States of America, with an agenda focussed on taxation and other economic issues, and with an affiliated political action committee . The Club advocates lower taxes, limited government, less government spending,...
is a pro-Republican organization that endorses fiscal conservatives in primaries against more moderate Republicans.
Fiscal conservatives may be seen as a challenge to moderate Republicans in the 2010 Elections.
Social
The term "religious rightChristian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
" is often used synonymously with Christian right
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
because most of its members are Protestants, Evangelicals, traditionalist and conservative Catholics, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), although some members are Orthodox Jews
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
. Both fundamentalists
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is strict adherence to specific theological doctrines usually understood as a reaction against Modernist theology. The term "fundamentalism" was originally coined by its supporters to describe a specific package of theological beliefs that developed into a movement within the...
and moderates of said faiths appear in this faction, comprising a wide spectrum of beliefs that are typically united on stances as abortion or homosexual unions.
The Religious Right has become a powerful force within the GOP. This faction is socially conservative
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
. Its major legislative issues in recent years include efforts to criminalize abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, opposition (but not criminalization) to legalized same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
, and discouraging taxpayer-funded embryonic stem cell research. They have supported a greater role of religious organizations in delivering welfare programs.
Prominent Religious Right Republicans include TV personality Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
, former Attorney General John Ashcroft
John Ashcroft
John David Ashcroft is a United States politician who served as the 79th United States Attorney General, from 2001 until 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. Ashcroft previously served as the 50th Governor of Missouri and a U.S...
, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback
Sam Brownback
Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...
, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum
Rick Santorum
Richard John "Rick" Santorum is a lawyer and a former United States Senator from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference -making him the third-ranking Senate Republican from 2001 until his leave in 2007. Santorum is considered both a social...
(Pennsylvania), former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
, and activist Gary Bauer
Gary Bauer
Gary Lee Bauer is an American politician notable for his ties to several evangelical Christian groups and campaigns.-Biography:...
. The National Federation of Republican Assemblies
National Federation of Republican Assemblies
The National Federation of Republican Assemblies is a grassroots political organization which promotes conservative principles and candidates within the Republican Party...
is a Religious Right organization that operates as a faction of the Republican Party. The Christian Coalition is a Religious Right activist organization considered allied with the party.
Theoconservatives are intellectual religious conservatives such as Michael Novak
Michael Novak
Michael Novak is an American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. The author of more than twenty-five books on the philosophy and theology of culture, Novak is most widely known for his book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism...
, George Weigel
George Weigel
George Weigel is an American author, and political and social activist. He currently serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Weigel was the Founding President of the James Madison Foundation...
, and the late Father Richard John Neuhaus
Richard John Neuhaus
Richard John Neuhaus was a prominent Christian cleric and writer. Born in Canada, Neuhaus moved to the United States where he became a naturalized United States citizen...
. Centered at the Institute on Religion and Public Life's First Things
First Things
First Things is an ecumenical journal focused on creating a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The journal is inter-denominational and inter-religious, representing a broad intellectual tradition of Christian and Jewish critique of contemporary society...
magazine and the Ethics and Public Policy Center
Ethics and Public Policy Center
The Ethics and Public Policy Center is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative advocacy group. Formed in 1976 by Ernest W. Lefever, who was its president until 1989, the group describes itself as "dedicated to applying the Judeo-Christian moral tradition to critical issues of public policy."Since...
, the theoconservatives (popularly called "theocons") meld a Judeo-Christian worldview with the "democratic capitalism" of neoconservatism
Neoconservatism
Neoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
. Contributors and editorial board members of First Things
First Things
First Things is an ecumenical journal focused on creating a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The journal is inter-denominational and inter-religious, representing a broad intellectual tradition of Christian and Jewish critique of contemporary society...
include Midge Decter
Midge Decter
-Biography:Midge Rosenthal Decter was born on July 25, 1927 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She attended the University of Minnesota, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and New York University....
and Robert P. George
Robert P. George
Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, where he lectures on constitutional interpretation, civil liberties and philosophy of law. He also serves as the director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions...
.
Social conservatives
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
believe in promoting traditional moral values and social mores to preserve and improve American society. They have been especially active in taking traditionalist positions on issues involving sexual standards. Social conservatives oppose abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and gay marriage. They are doubtful about affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
, arguing it too often turns into quotas. They tend to support a strong military and are opposed to gun control
Gun politics in the United States
Gun politics in the United States refers to an ongoing political and social debate regarding both the restriction and availability of firearms within the United States. It has long been among the most controversial and intractable issues in American politics...
.
Most social conservatives oppose illegal immigration
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
, which puts them in opposition to the business community. Social conservatives support stronger law enforcement and often disagree with libertarians. On the issue of school vouchers the group is split between those who support the concept (believing that "big government
Big government
Big government is a term generally used by political conservatives, laissez-faire advocates, or libertarians to describe a government or public sector which they consider to be excessively large, corrupt and inefficient, or inappropriately involved in certain areas of public policy or the private...
" education is a failure) and those who oppose the concept (believing that "big government" would gain the right to dictate schools' or sponsoring churches' positions on controversial social issues.)
Social conservatives included Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, Trent Lott
Trent Lott
Chester Trent Lott, Sr. , is a former United States Senator from Mississippi and has served in numerous leadership positions in the House of Representatives and the Senate....
, Rick Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
, and Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
, among others.
Moderates
ModerateModerate
In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical. In recent years, political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword....
s within the GOP tend to be, to varying degrees, fiscally conservative and socially liberal, though there are others who are socially conservative and fiscally centrist. While they often share the economic views of other Republicans - e.g., balanced budget
Balanced budget
A balanced budget is when there is neither a budget deficit or a budget surplus – when revenues equal expenditure – particularly by a government. More generally, it refers to when there is no deficit, but possibly a surplus...
s, lower taxes, free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
, deregulation
Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...
, welfare reform
Welfare reform
Welfare reform refers to the process of reforming the framework of social security and welfare provisions, but what is considered reform is a matter of opinion. The term was used in the United States to support the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act...
- moderate Republicans differ in that they may be for some gay rights, abortion rights, gun control
Gun politics in the United States
Gun politics in the United States refers to an ongoing political and social debate regarding both the restriction and availability of firearms within the United States. It has long been among the most controversial and intractable issues in American politics...
, environmental regulation, federal funding of education
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
, fewer restrictions on legal immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, and for some, more relaxed enforcement on illegal immigration
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
, abolition of the death penalty, civil rights laws
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
, legalization of drugs
DRUGS
Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows are an American post-hardcore band formed in 2010. They released their debut self-titled album on February 22, 2011.- Formation :...
, stem cell research, anti-war policies, or any of the above. Deficit spending
Deficit spending
Deficit spending is the amount by which a government, private company, or individual's spending exceeds income over a particular period of time, also called simply "deficit," or "budget deficit," the opposite of budget surplus....
is a highly contentious issue, within this faction as well as outside of it. Some moderate Republicans criticize what they see as the Bush administration's military extravagance in foreign policy, or criticize its tax cuts. Others may support deficit spending, but feel it ought to be more directed towards social projects. Still other moderate Republicans are more centrist in their fiscal
Fiscal
Fiscal usually refers to government finance. In this context, it may refer to:* Fiscal deficit, the budget deficit of a government* Fiscal policy, use of government expenditure to influence economic development...
policies, in the tradition of Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
. Concerning foreign policy, moderates may be less interventionist than neoconservatives, or place greater value on multilateral institutions. Moderate Republicans have seen their influence in the Republican party diminish significantly since the 1990s. Once commonplace throughout the country, today moderate Republicans tend to be found in elected office primarily in the Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
and the West
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
.
Examples of moderate Republican Governors include George Pataki
George Pataki
George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Pataki served three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006.- Early life :...
, William Weld
William Weld
William Floyd Weld is a former governor of the US state of Massachusetts. He served as that state's 68th governor from 1991 to 1997. From 1981 to 1988, he was a federal prosecutor in the United States Justice Department...
, Paul Celluci, Jodi Rell
Jodi Rell
Mary Jodi Rell is a Republican politician and was the 87th Governor of the U.S. state of Connecticut from 2004 until 2011. She was the Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut under Governor John G. Rowland, who resigned during a corruption investigation. Rell is Connecticut's second female Governor,...
, Jon Huntsman Jr., Jim Douglas
Jim Douglas
James H. Douglas is an American politician from the U.S. state of Vermont. A Republican, he was elected the 80th Governor of Vermont in 2002 and was reelected three times with a majority of the vote...
, and Donald Carcieri
Donald Carcieri
Donald L. "Don" Carcieri was the 73rd Governor of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Carcieri has had a varied vocational background, having worked as a manufacturing company executive, aid relief worker, bank executive and teacher.-Personal background:...
. Current U.S. senators include Susan Collins
Susan Collins
Susan Margaret Collins is the junior United States Senator from Maine and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the Senate in 1996, she is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs...
and Olympia Snowe
Olympia Snowe
Olympia Jean Snowe , née Bouchles, is the senior United States Senator from Maine and a member of the Republican Party. Snowe has become widely known for her ability to influence the outcome of close votes, including whether to end filibusters. She and her fellow Senator from Maine, Susan Collins,...
of Maine, Mark Kirk
Mark Kirk
Mark Steven Kirk is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, Kirk was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 10th congressional district....
of Illinois, Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska and a member of the Republican Party. She was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski. After losing a Republican primary in 2010, she became the second person ever to win a U.S...
of Alaska, John Hoeven
John Hoeven
John Henry Hoeven III is the junior United States Senator from North Dakota. He is a member of the North Dakota Republican Party. He is expected to become the state's senior senator when Kent Conrad retires from the Senate in January 2013.Hoeven served as the 31st Governor of North Dakota,...
of North Dakota, and Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown is a United States senator.Scott Brown may also refer to:-Sportsmen:*Scott Brown , American college football coach of Kentucky State...
of Massachusetts.
Moderate Republican organizations: The Ripon Society
Ripon Society
The Ripon Society is an American centrist Republican think tank based in Washington, D.C. They produce The Ripon Forum, the Nation's longest running Republican thought and opinion journal....
, which was founded in 1962 as a group of liberal Republicans, today it provides forums for centrist Republican and their ideals. The Republican Main Street Partnership
Republican Main Street Partnership
The Republican Main Street Partnership is a group of moderate members of the United States Republican Party. They tend away from the dominant social conservatism of many Republicans and towards a moderate fiscal conservatism and limited government to a degree. The group is the rough equivalent of...
is a network supporting moderate Republicans for office, while the Republican Leadership Council
Republican Leadership Council
The Republican Leadership Council , founded in 1993 as the Committee for Responsible Government, is a United States political advocacy group and political action committee that promotes Republican candidates who espouse a platform that the organization characterizes as "fiscally conservative,...
is similar in direction. Former New Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitman founded the Republican Leadership Council
Republican Leadership Council
The Republican Leadership Council , founded in 1993 as the Committee for Responsible Government, is a United States political advocacy group and political action committee that promotes Republican candidates who espouse a platform that the organization characterizes as "fiscally conservative,...
PAC
Political action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
in order to promote moderate Republicans for office. The Republican Majority for Choice
Republican Majority for Choice
The Republican Majority for Choice is a Republican organization in the United States dedicated to preserving legal access to abortion. The group also supports federal funding for all kinds of stem cell research, including Embryonic stem cell research.....
is a PAC of and for pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
Republicans, and is often allied with the moderate branch of the party. Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and 1996 Presidential nominee Bob Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
has supported the "Main Street" Republicans. John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
has been considered a moderate Republican for much of his Congressional career; however, he moved considerably to the right on many issues during his unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
.
Libertarians
The libertarianLibertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
faction of the Republican Party emphasizes free markets and minimal social controls. They oppose government social spending
Welfare trap
The welfare trap theory asserts that taxation and welfare systems can jointly contribute to keep people on social insurance because the withdrawal of means tested benefits that comes with entering low-paid work causes there to be no significant increase in total income...
, regulation
Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...
, and taxes
Tax cut
A tax cut is a reduction in taxes. The immediate effects of a tax cut are a decrease in the real income of the government and an increase in the real income of those whose tax rate has been lowered. Due to the perceived benefit in growing real incomes among tax payers politicians have sought to...
. They are generally opposed to social conservatives with regard to gay rights, and split on abortion
Libertarian perspectives on abortion
Libertarians promote individual liberty and seek to minimize the role of the state. The majority of libertarians consider a right to abortion as part of their general support for individual rights, especially in regard to what they consider to be a woman's right to control her body...
, which many see as an issue of personal freedom, but others view as an act of violence against a person.
Similar to the fiscal conservative faction, libertarian Republicans seek to reduce taxes
Tax cut
A tax cut is a reduction in taxes. The immediate effects of a tax cut are a decrease in the real income of the government and an increase in the real income of those whose tax rate has been lowered. Due to the perceived benefit in growing real incomes among tax payers politicians have sought to...
, spending
Government spending
Government spending includes all government consumption, investment but excludes transfer payments made by a state. Government acquisition of goods and services for current use to directly satisfy individual or collective needs of the members of the community is classed as government final...
and regulation
Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...
. They look for ways to outsource or privatize activities
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
run by the government (such as toll roads and airports). As an alternative to the federal income tax and the IRS, many support a flat tax
Flat tax
A flat tax is a tax system with a constant marginal tax rate. Typically the term flat tax is applied in the context of an individual or corporate income that will be taxed at one marginal rate...
(one rate for all) or the Fair Tax. They also support free international trade.
The libertarian faction is represented in the party by the Republican Liberty Caucus
Republican Liberty Caucus
The Republican Liberty Caucus is a political action organization dedicated to promoting the ideals of individual liberty, limited government and free market economics within the Republican Party in the United States. It is part of the libertarian wing of the Republican Party...
, which also actively courts members of the United States Libertarian Party
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
to seek office as Republicans in order to increase the voice of libertarianism within the party. U.S. Representative Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
(Texas), the most visible member of the caucus, ran for U.S. President in 1988 on the ticket of the Libertarian Party and sought the Republican Party nomination for U.S. President in 2008. Senator Rand Paul
Rand Paul
Randal Howard "Rand" Paul is the junior United States Senator for Kentucky. He is a member of the Republican Party. A member of the Tea Party movement, he describes himself as a "constitutional conservative" and a libertarian...
, former U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
, former Representative Barry Goldwater, Jr.
Barry Goldwater, Jr.
Barry Morris Goldwater, Jr. , is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from California, 1969–1983. He is the son of the late Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee who ran against Lyndon B. Johnson for President of the United States during...
, Representative Jeff Flake
Jeff Flake
Jeffrey Lane "Jeff" Flake is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was featured in the documentary series How Democracy Works Now: Twelve Stories....
, former U.S. Senator Robert Taft
Robert Taft
Robert Alphonso Taft , of the Taft political family of Cincinnati, was a Republican United States Senator and a prominent conservative statesman...
, former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford
Mark Sanford
Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford Jr. is an American politician from South Carolina, who was the 115th Governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011....
, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson
Gary Johnson
Gary Johnson may refer to:*Gary Johnson , former Governor of New Mexico and candidate for President in 2012*Gary Johnson , American politician, Wisconsin State Assembly...
, and notable personalities ranging from Tucker Carlson
Tucker Carlson
Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson is an American political news correspondent and conservative commentator for the Fox News Channel...
to Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
all identify with this faction.
Libertarian intellectuals in the tradition of Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich August Hayek CH , born in Austria-Hungary as Friedrich August von Hayek, was an economist and philosopher best known for his defense of classical liberalism and free-market capitalism against socialist and collectivist thought...
and the Austrian School of Economics advocate laissez-faire
Laissez-faire
In economics, laissez-faire describes an environment in which transactions between private parties are free from state intervention, including restrictive regulations, taxes, tariffs and enforced monopolies....
regarding economic and social issues. Hayek, and his colleague Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman was an American economist, statistician, academic, and author who taught at the University of Chicago for more than three decades...
of the Chicago School of Economics, for example, led the opposition to the draft
Conscription in the United States
Conscription in the United States has been employed several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War...
, which was suspended by Republican President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
in 1973.
Liberal
In the 1930s the terms "liberal" and "conservative" were mainly used to refer to supporters and opponents of the New DealNew Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
. Most Republicans were conservative opponents of the New Deal, but many in the Northeast denounced the corruption and inefficiency of the New Deal, but supported its basic programs. Other names for liberal Republicans are Rockefeller Republican
Rockefeller Republican
Rockefeller Republican refers to a faction of the United States Republican Party who held moderate to liberal views similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller...
and the pejorative Republican In Name Only
Republican In Name Only
Republican In Name Only is a pejorative term that refers to a member of the Republican Party of the United States whose political views or actions are considered insufficiently conservative or otherwise not conforming to party positions...
or RINO. The notable liberal Republicans include Fiorello La Guardia, George Norris, Harold Stassen
Harold Stassen
Harold Edward Stassen was the 25th Governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943. After service in World War II, from 1948 to 1953 he was president of the University of Pennsylvania...
, Wendell Willkie
Wendell Willkie
Wendell Lewis Willkie was a corporate lawyer in the United States and a dark horse who became the Republican Party nominee for the president in 1940. A member of the liberal wing of the GOP, he crusaded against those domestic policies of the New Deal that he thought were inefficient and...
, Alf Landon
Alf Landon
Alfred Mossman "Alf" Landon was an American Republican politician, who served as the 26th Governor of Kansas from 1933–1937. He was best known for being the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States, defeated in a landslide by Franklin D...
, Thomas E. Dewey, Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
and Earl Warren
Earl Warren
Earl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...
. Historians debate whether Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
belongs to this group as his rhetoric was conservative, but his policies were liberal in many areas. The liberal wing of the Republican Party had ceased to play a significant role in the party by the 1980s, with most of the Rockefeller Republicans retiring, or being defeated in primaries by more conservative Republicans or in general elections by Democrats. Today, Liberal Republicans like New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
(who eventually switched to independent) often support a moderate-to-conservative fiscal policy, but support liberal social causes, such as abortion and gay marriage. They may also be opposed to death penalty and support gun control, like Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee
Lincoln Chafee
Lincoln Davenport Chafee is an American politician who has been the 74th Governor of Rhode Island since January 2011. Prior to his election as governor, Chafee served in the United States Senate as a Republican from 1999 until losing his Senate re-election bid in 2006 to Democrat Sheldon...
. In modern times, more liberal Republicans include Jim Jeffords
Jim Jeffords
James Merrill "Jim" Jeffords is a former U.S. Senator from Vermont. He served as a Republican until 2001, when he left the party to become an independent. He retired from the Senate in 2006.-Background:...
, Amo Houghton
Amo Houghton
Amory "Amo" Houghton Jr. is a politician from the state of New York, a retired member of the House of Representatives, and member of one of upstate New York's most prominent families in business, the Houghton family.-Early life:...
, Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
, Jim Leach
Jim Leach
James Albert Smith "Jim" Leach is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa. In August 2009, he became Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities ....
, Joseph Cao
Joseph Cao
Anh "Joseph" Quang Cao is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2009 until 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. In April 2011, he announced he will be a candidate for Attorney General of Louisiana in 2011, however in September 2011 he pulled out of the race.He was the first...
and former California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
.
Radical Republicans/Stalwarts
From around 1850 until the end of Reconstruction, Radical Republicans led the Republican Party. They supported the abolition of slavery and equal rights for freed blacks, and also pushed for the Reconstruction acts and reduced rights for ex-Confederates. They opposed both Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction strategy, and almost led to Johnson's removal from the Presidency. After Reconstruction, many Radicals joined the Stalwarts, which supported machine politics and opposed civil service reform. The Stalwarts disassociated during the 1880s.Half-Breeds
Half-Breeds were the opposing faction in the Republican Party after Reconstruction, opposing the Stalwarts. Although the Stalwarts and Half-Breeds agreed on many issues, the Half-Breeds supported civil service reform and a merit system. Like the Stalwarts, the Half-Breeds mostly dissolved during the 1880s.Progressive Republicans
During the 1910s and 1920s, progressives formed a faction in the Republican Party. They typically held center-left views on most issues, supporting broad government involvement in business, particularly breaking 'trusts' and limiting the size of corporations, reforms in government, income taxes, universal heath care, and other forms of 'social justiceSocial justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
'. This faction gradually shrank, with many joining the Democratic Party as it shifted to the left. Prominent progressive Republicans included Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
and Robert La Follette
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Sr. , was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the Governor of Wisconsin, and was also a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin...
.
Business
Although business interests lobby and contribute to both parties, the GOP has been more favorable since the Civil War. There are two components. Main streetMain Street
Main Street is the metonym for a generic street name of the primary retail street of a village, town, or small city in many parts of the world...
refers to locally owned businesses. Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
refers to national corporations. They share an interest in lower taxes, less regulation and opposition to labor unions. Spending is another matter, and depends on the particular issue. For example, defense spending is favored. Main Street has an interest in opposing the inheritance tax
Inheritance tax
An inheritance tax or estate tax is a levy paid by a person who inherits money or property or a tax on the estate of a person who has died...
(the so-called "death tax"), which affects entrepreneurs; Wall Street wants low taxes on capital gains. Both generally support free trade, since the old high tariff faction has faded along with the industries (like textiles) it once tried to protect. The farm sector is generally conservative on most issues—except it wants higher spending on farm programs.
National Security
Republicans who emphasize the priority of a strong national defense (with appropriate high spending) and an aggressive foreign policy in the Middle East fall under this category. Although this opinion is held by others outside the Republican Party, within the GOP it has retained many vocal proponents. This faction had been satisfied with President Bush's policies, but has also criticized him regarding his inactivity on the issue of illegal immigrationIllegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
. More recently this faction has supported continuation of OEF-Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
under the Obama Administration, but have voiced opposition to the projected cuts in military spending and reduction of missile defense programs. Politicians of this nature include former Massassusetts Governors, Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, former Senator John Warner
John Warner
John William Warner, KBE is an American Republican politician who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term United States Senator from Virginia from January 2, 1979, to January 3, 2009...
, former Representative Duncan Hunter
Duncan Hunter
Duncan Lee Hunter is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the House of Representatives from California's 52nd, 45th and 42nd districts from 1981 to 2009....
, Congressman Peter Hoekstra, Representative Joe Wilson
Joe Wilson (U.S. politician)
Addison Graves Wilson, Sr., most commonly known as Joe Wilson , is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party...
, Representative John Kline
John Kline (politician)
John Paul Kline is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. The district includes most of the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities, including Apple Valley, Inver Grove Heights, Burnsville and Eagan. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education and career:Kline was born...
, and Representative Duncan D. Hunter
Duncan D. Hunter
Duncan Duane Hunter is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is the son of his predecessor Duncan Hunter...
.
States' rights
Ideologically, the GOP typically supports smaller federal government. Historically, this translated into keeping power in the hands of powerful state governments, as in the cases of civil rights, abortion laws, regulations on marriage, and mapping of voting districts. However, conservatives in recent years have demanded federal intervention to oppose state laws with respect to the Federal Marriage AmendmentFederal Marriage Amendment
The Federal Marriage Amendment H.J. Res. 56 was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which would have limited marriage in the United States to unions of one man and one woman...
, the Terri Schiavo case
Terri Schiavo case
The Terri Schiavo case was a legal battle in the United States between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005...
, the Kelo
Kelo v. City of New London
Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States involving the use of eminent domain to transfer land from one private owner to another to further economic development...
case regarding eminent domain, and in cases involving assisted suicide
Assisted suicide
Assisted suicide is the common term for actions by which an individual helps another person voluntarily bring about his or her own death. "Assistance" may mean providing one with the means to end one's own life, but may extend to other actions. It differs to euthanasia where another person ends...
laws and medical marijuana.
Overlap
There is often plenty of overlap between the various categories. For example, a Republican may side with the "neoconservatives" on foreign policy issues, yet also support a "religious right" social agenda and a "fiscally conservative" economic vision. The "Reagan coalitionReagan coalition
The Reagan coalition was the combination of voters that Republican Ronald Reagan assembled to produce a major political realignment with his landslide in the 1980 United States Presidential Election. In 1980 the Reagan coalition was possible because of Democrat Jimmy Carter's losses in most...
" in the Republican Party, according to independent historian Dr. George H. Nash, originally consisted of five factions: the libertarians
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
, the traditionalists
Traditionalist Conservatism
Traditionalist conservatism, also known as "traditional conservatism," "traditionalism," "Burkean conservatism", "classical conservatism" and , "Toryism", describes a political philosophy emphasizing the need for the principles of natural law and transcendent moral order, tradition, hierarchy and...
, the anti-communists, the neoconservatives
Neoconservatism
Neoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....
, and the second New Right/religious right
Religious right
The term religious right may refer to religiously motivated right wing movements such as:*Christian right*Hindu nationalism *Islamism*Jewish right*Theravada...
. After Reagan left office the Reagan coalition
Reagan coalition
The Reagan coalition was the combination of voters that Republican Ronald Reagan assembled to produce a major political realignment with his landslide in the 1980 United States Presidential Election. In 1980 the Reagan coalition was possible because of Democrat Jimmy Carter's losses in most...
shattered, with the deepest divisions seen between the libertarians, traditionalists, and paleoconservatives 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. Today, conservatism is generally divided into the categories of fiscal conservatives, social conservatives, and national security conservatives (even though there is considerable overlap among these rather vague categories).
Similarly, moderate or liberal Republicans (see below) may hold views overlapping with those of some of the conservative factions, while diverging with other factions. For example, a "moderate" Republican may hold "fiscally conservative" views on the economy and "neoconservative" on foreign policy, while at the same time holding views on social issues such as abortion that conflict with "social conservative" views.
Partly because of that overlap, it is difficult to accurately claim which faction of the party currently holds the most power, though such a question is the topic of much speculation. After the 2003 Iraq War many argued the "neoconservative" wing of the party was clearly dominant, as they had been the faction the most supportive of the war. After President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
was re-elected in 2004, however, many attributed the high turnout of Republican voters who claimed to be motivated by "moral values" as a sign that the Religious Right and social conservative factions of the party have gained considerable influence. Although it is clear that compared to the influence of the conservative factions of the party, the numbers and influence of the moderate wing of the party had diminished in recent decades. In the past many Republicans were not ideological and were conservative in areas but moderate in others. Some say Bob Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
was in this overlapping type of model. Also past figures like Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
and George H.W. Bush would be in this middle of the road category. For some of these abortion is not considered a big issue while fiscal issues would be. Nixon and Dole, for example were opposed to abortion but supported government programs and a moderate take on foreign affairs. Ford and Bush at some point were pro-choice, but in other points of their career they were also opposed to abortion. George H.W. Bush was pro-choice and moderate on fiscal issues as Ronald Reagan's vice president, but shifted to the right on many issues during his 1988 presidential campaign
United States presidential election, 1988
The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
after facing primary challenges from more conservative GOP figures. Bush infamously raised taxes in 1990, an act which contributed heavily to his defeat for reelection. He also nominated liberal justice David Souter
David Souter
David Hackett Souter is a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He served from 1990 until his retirement on June 29, 2009. Appointed by President George H. W. Bush to fill the seat vacated by William J...
to the U.S. Supreme Court.
See also
- Neoconservatism and paleoconservatismNeoconservatism and paleoconservatismStarting in the 1980s, two factions in the American conservative movement began quarreling with one another: neoconservatives and paleoconservatives. Each argues that the other does not represent true conservatism...
- College RepublicansCollege RepublicansThe College Republican National Committee is a national organization for college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States...
- Factions in the Democratic Party (United States)Factions in the Democratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party of the United States is composed of various factions, with some overlap and enough agreement between them to coexist with each other within the party.-Progressive Democrats:...
- Log Cabin RepublicansLog Cabin RepublicansThe Log Cabin Republicans is an organization that works within the Republican Party to advocate equal rights for all Americans, including gays and lesbians in the United States with state chapters and a national office in Washington, D.C...
- Republican National Coalition for LifeRepublican National Coalition for LifeRepublican National Coalition for Life is an organization formed to maintain the commitment of the Republican Party of the United States to pro-life principles...
- Republicans AbroadRepublicans AbroadRepublicans Abroad is an organisation for members of the Republican Party who are living outside of the United States. Unlike Democrats Abroad, Republicans Abroad is not considered a "state committee" by the Republican National Committee...
- Republicans For ChoiceRepublicans for ChoiceRepublicans for Choice, an organization based in the Washington, D.C. area is a political action committee composed of members of the United States Republican Party who support legalized abortion.-History of Republicans for Choice:Republicans for Choice was founded in 1989 by Ann Stone...
- Ripon SocietyRipon SocietyThe Ripon Society is an American centrist Republican think tank based in Washington, D.C. They produce The Ripon Forum, the Nation's longest running Republican thought and opinion journal....
- Teenage RepublicansTeenage RepublicansTeen Age Republicans or "TARs" is a political youth organization that is an official auxiliary to the United States Republican Party. There are various TAR clubs throughout the United States, at county and state levels. TAR has a presence in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, and...
- Young RepublicansYoung RepublicansThe Young Republicans is an organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization and chapters in individual states....
- Republican Leadership CouncilRepublican Leadership CouncilThe Republican Leadership Council , founded in 1993 as the Committee for Responsible Government, is a United States political advocacy group and political action committee that promotes Republican candidates who espouse a platform that the organization characterizes as "fiscally conservative,...
- Republican Majority for ChoiceRepublican Majority for ChoiceThe Republican Majority for Choice is a Republican organization in the United States dedicated to preserving legal access to abortion. The group also supports federal funding for all kinds of stem cell research, including Embryonic stem cell research.....
- Republican Main Street PartnershipRepublican Main Street PartnershipThe Republican Main Street Partnership is a group of moderate members of the United States Republican Party. They tend away from the dominant social conservatism of many Republicans and towards a moderate fiscal conservatism and limited government to a degree. The group is the rough equivalent of...
- The Wish ListThe Wish List (political organization)The Wish List is a political action committee devoted to electing pro-choice Republican women to the House of Representatives and Senate. The Wish List was founded in 1992. The acronym "WISH" stands for Women In the Senate and House. It can be considered a counterpart to another organization:...
- Republicans for Environmental Protection
- Republican Liberty CaucusRepublican Liberty CaucusThe Republican Liberty Caucus is a political action organization dedicated to promoting the ideals of individual liberty, limited government and free market economics within the Republican Party in the United States. It is part of the libertarian wing of the Republican Party...
- Republican Study CommitteeRepublican Study CommitteeThe Republican Study Committee [RSC] is a caucus of over 170 conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives...
- South Park RepublicanSouth Park Republican"South Park Republican" was a term that first circulated in blogs and articles on the Internet between the years circa 2001 and 2002, used to describe what some modern commentators describe as a "new wave" or generation of young adults and teenagers who hold center-right political beliefs that are,...
- Gypsy moth Republicans
- Republican in Name OnlyRepublican In Name OnlyRepublican In Name Only is a pejorative term that refers to a member of the Republican Party of the United States whose political views or actions are considered insufficiently conservative or otherwise not conforming to party positions...
Further reading
- Barone, Michael, and Richard E. Cohen. The Almanac of American Politics, 2010 (2009) 1900 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, Jeremy Beer, and Jeffery O. Nelson, 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)
- Wooldridge, Adrian, and John Micklethwait. The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America (2004), sophisticated nonpartisan analysis
External links
- "A Guide to the Republican Herd" New York Times Oct 5, 2006 interactive graphic
- Belief Spectrum Brings Party Splits Washington Post October 4, 1998