Evaluate the view that the Republican Party is a united party. (30marks)
Within the republican party, it can be seen that there is several factions that make up the
party.These factions can be split into 3 groups; moderate,social and fiscal conservatives, each
of which having a differing main area of policy focus.These groups highlight the parties divisions
and therefore it can be seen that the Republican party is largely not united as a result.
The most important group that highlight these devisionsdivisions can be seen to be the social
conservatives.Consisting of Republicans focused on moral issues, such as Ted Cruz, who often
come from southern areas with a large religious base, as well as holding traditional religious
social and moral values, such as heavy disliking of abortion (campaigned against roe v
wade) .As a result of this they are less focused on fiscal policy, typically showing unification with
the general party direction, supporting the fiscal policy of the incumbent president.Social
republicans can be seen as having much stronger social values than other wings of the
party,which were tapped into by Trump in order to win the 2016 election,with this being used by
leaders such as Trump in order to tap into their voter base to gain party support, being strongly
against illegalillegal immigration (supported Trump'sTrump's dreams) as well as the key issue of
abortion, with legislation such as the 2003 block on partial birth abortions supported.This can
show a lack of unity when compared to groups such as the moderate republicans, these groups
often clash due to moderates having a less right wing social view, for example Trump caused a
void between these groups by allowing a gay republican to speak at his party conference, this
can be seen as highlughting the lack of unity due to social republicans being much more unified
on issues such as abortion compared to moderates who may even support it depending on the
seat in which they are placed (more liberal seats tend to support pro-choice).Overall, it can be
seen that the republicans are not united, this is due to the fact despite social republicans
generally supporting the fiscal side of the party, they often split the party over moral issues due
to their deep rooted religious values as well as a need to please a more right-wing voter base in
order to remain re-elected.
unity when compared to groups such as the more moderate conservative wing of the party, this
division can be seen through examples such as Trumps allowing of a gay more moderate
Republican to speak at the party conference, which angered the social wing, highlighting
divisions.As well as this, they tend to clash over civil rights and abortion legislation, with
moderates being much more accepting of abortion due to often coming from more liberal states
rather than the heavily religiously influenced south.Overall, this shows that while social
Republicans show some general unity with the party in terms of fiscal policy, it can be seen that
the deep rooted social divisions within the Republicans show a distinct lack of party unity and
therefore the party is not united.
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