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US Constitution & Federalism - Unit 4C Government & Politics
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Unit 3A GOV3A - The Politics of the USA
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Which party is more internally divided?
The Republicans have become more conservative:
• The rise of the Tea Party and other conservative factions
o Deep mistrust of the establishment and distaste for moderation and the ‘middle way’ –
uncompromising with the other factions
o Re-emerged following Obama’s election
o Have become increasingly influential – “The ideological trajectory of the GOP in recent years
has been driven by the Tea Party” (Lara Brown, 2016) ~ 5 of the 10 Senators and 40 of the
130 House members they backed in 2012 won, and they backed some of the Presidential
candidates – “Many of the contenders for the Republican nomination owed their jobs to the
Tea Party” (Moore)
o They have worked alongside the Republican Study Committee – a conservative faction
with over 100 members – to create the American Taxpayer Bill of Rights, that sought to
reduce the deficit without tax increases or spending cuts from defence
• Newt Gingrich and the ‘Republican Revolution’ of 1994
o Gingrich and the Heritage Foundation orchestrated the Contract with America, that
aligned them with conservative values – it united the right wing of the party, and ultimately
led to them winning 54 seats in the House and 9 in the Senate
o It strengthened the conservative wing, and its influence has lived on vicariously through
GOP candidates – e.g. Romney moved further to the right the longer the election went on
(dropping Romneycare), and Ted Cruz appealed to the right to try to win the nomination
• Party purity groups disciplining the party
o Murukami (2008) outlines that ‘party purity’ groups are PGs that seek to uphold the
ideological purity of the party by placing candidates under litmus tests to ensure they align
with the conservative wing of the party – e.g. Club for Growth
o “Party purity groups are partly responsible for hastening the polarisation within the parties” –
Murukami
o Heaney (2012) argues that the presence of Club for Growth pushes prospective
candidates right in the hope of achieving the nomination e.g. Romney and Cruz – “By
posing a threat to incumbents who don’t follow party line, the Club inspires prospective
Republicans to stick to pure conservative values”
• Evaluation:
o There has been united opposition towards Obama’s reforms
§ Obamacare unanimously opposed, the 2013 autumn budget, 2011 Super
Committee, the GOP’s 2015 budget proposal
§ This united support behind the GOP has shown that the party isn’t as divided as
people think it is, and arguably, the presence of Obama has further united the
GOP around conservative values
o Can be argued the Republicans have become more liberal:
§ Liberal factions and caucuses
• Emergence of Rockefeller Republicans e.g. the Financial Establishment
Faction (anti populist conservatism e.g. the Tea Party) and the
Compassionate Conservative Faction (big government supporters)
• Main Street Partnership (a ‘big tent’ group that seeks to move the party to
the moderate centre – has 65 House and 4 Senate members, and increase in
23 House members since 2012 – within the bloc are Obama Republicans)
• The Tuesday Group (founded in 1994 to counter the Republican Revolution,
and still has 50+ members)
§ Lack of real influence with the Tea Party
• People are mistaking noise for influence, and in reality, it doesn’t
determine party platforms, rather it tries to lobby
• Only won a small percentage of their House candidates, and it lost 20% of
their seats gained in 2012 in 2014
• Thus, the Tea Party is only influential as a reactionary vote
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