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.[1]
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Traditionalists 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.
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 promote an interventionist foreign policy, 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 Hoover Institution, 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.
The paleoconservatives 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 neoconservatism, 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.
Fiscal conservatives call for a large reduction in government spending (particularly in entitlement and other social programs), lower taxes, balanced budgets, 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 hawks 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.[2]
The term "religious right" 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.
Moderates 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 budgets, 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.
The libertarian faction of the Republican Party emphasizes free markets and minimal social controls.[3] They oppose government social spending, regulation, and taxes. They are generally opposed to social conservatives with regard to gay rights,[4] and split on abortion,[5] 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.[6]
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.
In the 1930s the terms "liberal" and "conservative" were mainly used to refer to supporters and opponents of the New Deal. 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.
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 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.
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 justice'. 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.
Although business interests lobby and contribute to both parties, the GOP has been more favorable since the Civil War. There are two components. Main street 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;[7] 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.[8] The farm sector is generally conservative on most issues—except it wants higher spending on farm programs.
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 immigration. 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.[9]
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.[10] However, conservatives in recent years have demanded federal intervention to oppose state laws with respect to the Federal Marriage Amendment, the Terri Schiavo case, the Kelo case regarding eminent domain, and in cases involving assisted suicide laws and medical marijuana.
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 coalition" 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.