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USA Political Parties Notes
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An in-depth understanding and analysis of factions, purposes and views of the two major political parties including the various contradictions within each party.
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The Republican PartyFor most of the 19th and 20th century, there was little ideological cohesion between the
Republican Party and the Democratic Party as there was little to separate the two parties
ideologically. This is highlighted through Professor Denis Brogan’s quote “like two bottles
with different levels, both empty.
Key Republican principles are a mixture of neo-conservative and neo-liberal ideas, which will
acknowledging the need for state intervention in both society and economy, broadly
envisages a smaller role for the state than the Democrats. The Republican Party is
significantly more traditional in its attitude to social and moral issues than the more liberal
Democratic Party.
A conservative attitude on social and moral values
Organic Society – a view of society associated especially with conservatives in both the USA
and UK. This approach views society as a living organism that emerges and evolves gradually
over time. The emphasis is on gradual change and conserving “what work” in society.
Religious Right – a term applied to mainly white, Protestant evangelical Christians. They
tend to be the strongest supporters of traditional social values in the USA. They have
strongly allied themselves with the Republican Party in recent decades.
Attitudes to social and moral issues are heavily influenced by neo-conservatism, a
modern version of traditional conservatism
The Republican Party wished to preserve the USA’s organic society from social
fragmentation and were uneasy with the social and sexual revolution that began in
the 1960s which ushered in an age of moral relativism which they feel has
fragmented society
Most Republicans are heavily informed by Christianity and argue that there are right
and wrongs
Republicans are generally against what they have dubbed “permissiveness” and tend
to oppose abortion, gay marriage and recreational drug taking.
Republicans argue for upholding traditional values in part through a tough stance on
law and order, and institutions such as the traditional nuclear family.
The modern Republican Party strongly opposes abortion on both moral and religious
grounds.
Trump became the first sitting president to attend an anti-abortion rally in January
2020 in which he argued that “Every life brings love into this world”.
In 1984, introduced the Mexico City Policy, which required non-governmental
organisations receiving US global health assistance to agree not to provide abortion
services. While Democrat presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama reversed this
ruling, Bush and Trump have reinstated it
Republican’s neo-conservative ideology makes them supporters of both the Second
Amendment and rigorous law and order policies
The support for rigorous law and order policies has been portrayed through a string
dating back to Nixon
, The 2016 Republican platform included the statement that the party “supported
mandatory prison sentences for gang crimes, violence, or sexual offences against
children, repeat drug dealers, rape, robbery and murder”.
More controversially, when condemning the violence surrounding some of the
protests following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, Trump tweeted “When
the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
During the 2020 protests, a Missouri Couple, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, gained
notoriety by standing outside their house, brandishing their legally held guns and
shouting at the protestors to go away, for many Republicans this epitomised the
right of law-abiding Americans to protect their home and family.
Republicans at federal and state level have favoured strong punishment for the use
of and distribution of illegal drugs and for violent gang activity
Republicans prefer a version of society that is focused on “family value” associated
with the more conservative strands on Christianity and the traditional nuclear family
The religious right is an important part of Republican ideology
This is seen through President Trump’s executive order banning transgender
individuals from serving in the forces.
In the Republican 2016 platform, this commitment to traditional values was made
clear: “Our laws and government regulations should recognise marriage as the union
between one man and one woman and actively promote family life as the basis of a
stable and prosperous society.”
More restricted governmental intervention while protecting US trade and
jobs
Positive Freedom – the idea that freedom is the ability to actively do something. Hence anti-
discrimination laws, public healthcare and good state schools enable individuals to flourish
and achieve. A view of freedom usually associated with liberal and progressive side of the
political spectrum, Republicans oppose this and support negative freedom. It envisages a
necessarily larger and more interventionist role of the state.
Government Intervention
Republican attitudes towards government intervention in the economy are a
somewhat contradictory mixture of neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism
Unlike the Democrats who favour positive freedom, Republicans prefer the neo-
liberal negative freedom of limited government where the state interferes minimally
in the lives of individuals
An argument Republican supporters use to defend the Second Amendment is that
private ownership of guns offers the ultimate guarantee of personal freedom, not
just against other people, but even towards the government.
Rugged individualism is another key tenet of neo-liberalism also find strong echoes
in elements of Republican thinking and policies such as opposition to publicly
provided healthcare which is often accused of being “socialist” and therefore “un-
American” by its critics.
Economic Policy
The neo-liberal principles that underpin Republican thought mean that Republicans
instinctively favour laissez-faire economics and limited government intervention
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