The
Republican Party is one of the
twoA two-party system is a form of party system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections, at every level. As a result, all, or nearly all, elected offices end up being held by candidates endorsed by one of the two major parties...
majorA major party is a political party that holds substantial influence in a country's politics, standing in contrast to a minor party. It should not be confused with majority party.According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:...
contemporary
political parties in the United StatesThis article presents the historical development and role of political parties in United States politics and outlines more extensively the significant modern political parties.-History:...
, along with the
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the
Grand Old Party or the
GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S. political spectrum, the
party's platformA party platform, also known as a manifesto, is a list of the actions which a political party supports in order to appeal to the general public for the purpose of having said party's candidates voted into office. This often takes the form of a list of support for, or opposition to, controversial...
is generally considered
center-rightThe centre-right , also known as right of center, is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances...
.
The Republican Party has the
second most registered votersThe following table shows all the U.S. states and to what party their state governors belong. Also indicated is the majority party of the state legislatures' upper and lower houses as well as U.S. Senate representation...
as of 2004 with 55 million, encompassing roughly one-third of the electorate. Polls over the last year have found that twenty-one to twenty-six percent of Americans self-identify as Republicans.
There have been eighteen Republican
PresidentsThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
. Republicans currently fill a minority of seats in both the
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
and the
House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, hold a minority of
state governorships, and control a minority of
state legislatures.
History
Founded in
Ripon, WisconsinRipon is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,828. The city is surrounded by the Town of Ripon.-Founding:...
, in 1854 by
anti-slaveryAbolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe and the Americas. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical...
expansion activists and modernizers, the Republican Party quickly surpassed the
Whig PartyThe Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from 1833 to 1856, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party...
as the principal opposition to the Democratic Party. It first came to power in 1860 with the election of
Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery...
, a former Whig, to the presidency and presided over the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
and Reconstruction.
The party began to form in the late 1840s, though it would take opposing the
Kansas-Nebraska ActIn United States history, the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opened new lands, repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and allowed settlers in those territories to determine if they would allow slavery within their boundaries...
to unify the party. Their first official party convention was held on July 6, 1854 in
Jackson, MichiganJackson is a city located along Interstate 94 in the south central area of the U.S. state of Michigan, about west of Ann Arbor. It is the county seat of Jackson County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 36,316...
. The Republican's initial base was in the
NortheastThe Northeastern United States is a region of the United States. According to the definition used by the United States Census Bureau, the Northeast region consists of nine states: the New England states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut; and the...
and
MidwestThe Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
and the party solidified its position as the
second partyA two-party system is a form of party system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections, at every level. As a result, all, or nearly all, elected offices end up being held by candidates endorsed by one of the two major parties...
with the nomination of
John C. FremontJohn Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, the first candidate of the Republican Party for the office of President of the United States, and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform in opposition to slavery...
in the
1856 Presidential electionThe United States presidential election of 1856 was unusually heated. Republican candidate John C. Frémont condemned the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and crusaded against the Slave Power and the expansion of slavery, while Democrat James Buchanan warned that the Republicans were extremists whose victory...
. Early Republican ideology was reflected in the 1856 slogan
free labor, free land, free men. "Free labor" referred to the Republican belief in a mobile middle class that left the workforce and set up small businesses. "Free land" referred to Republican efforts to facilitate this spirit of
entrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur which is a French word meaning one who undertakes an endeavor. Entrepreneurs assemble resources including innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods. This may result in new organizations...
by giving away government owned land. The Party hoped that this rapid growth would help check, and eventually end slavery. Abraham Lincoln received the Republican nomination in 1860 and subsequently won the presidency. The party remained a part of the Union during the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
and presided over Reconstruction. In the
election of 1864In the United States Presidential election of 1864, Abraham Lincoln was re-elected as president. Lincoln ran under the National Union banner against his former top Civil War general, the Democratic candidate, George B. McClellan...
a majority of Republicans united with pro-war Democrats to nominate Lincoln to the
National Union PartyThe National Union Party was a political party in the United States from 1864 to 1868. It was an alliance between members of the Republican Party who backed incumbent President Abraham Lincoln and Northern Democrats during and after the Civil War.-Establishment:The National Union Party was...
ticket. A faction of Radical Republicans split with the party and formed the Radical Democracy Party. This group chose John C. Frémont as its presidential candidate, before reaching a political agreement and withdrawing from the election in September 1864.
The party's success created factionalism within the party in the 1870s. Those disturbed by
Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant was general-in-chief of the Union Army from 1864 to 1869 during the American Civil War and the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877....
ran
Horace GreeleyHorace Greeley was an American editor of a leading newspaper, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, and a politician...
for the presidency against him. The Stalwarts defended the
spoils systemIn the politics of the United States, a spoil system is an informal practice where a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its voters as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party—as opposed to a system of awarding...
; the
Half-BreedsThe "Half-Breeds" were a political faction of the United States Republican Party that existed in the late 19th century. The Half-Breeds were a moderate-wing group, and they were the opponents of the Stalwarts, the other main faction of the Republican Party. The main issue that separated the...
pushed for reform of the
civil serviceThe term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
. The GOP supported business generally, hard money (i.e., the
gold standardThe gold standard is a monetary system in which a region's common medium of exchange are paper notes that are normally freely convertible into pre-set, fixed quantities of gold...
), high tariffs, generous pensions for Union veterans, and the annexation of
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
. The Republicans supported the
ProtestantsProtestantism is a branch within Christianity, containing many denominations with some differing practices and doctrines, that principally originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the major divisions within Christianity, together with the Roman...
who demanded
ProhibitionProhibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is a sumptuary law which prohibits alcohol. Typically, the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages is restricted or illegal. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries...
. As the Northern post-bellum economy boomed with heavy and light industry, railroads, mines, fast-growing cities and prosperous agriculture, the Republicans took credit and promoted policies to sustain the fast growth. But by 1890, the Republicans had agreed to the
Sherman Antitrust ActThe Sherman Antitrust Act requires the United States Federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies and organizations suspected of violating the Act...
and the
Interstate Commerce CommissionThe Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland...
in response to complaints from owners of small businesses and farmers. The high
McKinley TariffThe McKinley Tariff of 1890 set the average ad valorem tariff rate for imports to the United States at 48.4%, and protected manufacturing. Its chief proponent was Congressman and future President William McKinley....
of 1890 hurt the party and the Democrats swept to a landslide in the off-year elections, even defeating McKinley himself.
After the two terms of Democrat
Grover ClevelandStephen Grover Cleveland was both the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. Cleveland is the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
, the election of
William McKinleyWilliam McKinley Jr. was the 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected to the office....
in
1896The United States presidential election of November 3, 1896, saw Republican William McKinley defeat Democrat William Jennings Bryan in a campaign considered by historians to be one of the most dramatic and complex in American history. In political science the 1896 campaign is often considered to be...
is widely seen as a resurgence of Republican dominance and is sometimes cited as a
realigning electionRealigning election or political realignment are terms from political science and political history describing a dramatic change in the political system. Scholars frequently apply the term to American elections and occasionally to other countries...
. McKinley promised that high tariffs would end the severe hardship caused by the
Panic of 1893The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. This panic is sometimes considered a part of the Long Depression which began with the Panic of 1873, and like that of earlier crashes, was caused by railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing...
, and that the GOP would guarantee a sort of pluralism in which all groups would benefit. The Republicans were cemented as the party of business, though mitigated by the succession of
Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States. He is well remembered for his energetic persona, his range of interests and achievements, his model of masculinity, and his "cowboy" image. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the short-lived Bull Moose Party...
who embraced
trust-bustingTrust-busting is any government activity designed to break up trusts or monopolies. Theodore Roosevelt is the U.S. president most associated with dissolving trusts. However, William Howard Taft signed twice as much trust-busting legislation began during his presidency.Trusts were large business...
. He later ran on a third party ticket of the
Progressive PartyIn the United States, the Progressive Party of 1912 was a political party created by a split in the Republican Party in the presidential election of 1912. It was formed by Theodore Roosevelt when he lost the Republican nomination to William Howard Taft and pulled his delegates out of the convention...
and challenged his previous successor
William Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the 10th Chief Justice of the United States....
. The party controlled the presidency throughout the 1920s, running on a platform of opposition to the
League of NationsThe League of Nations was an inter-governmental organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members...
, high tariffs, and promotion of business interests.
Warren G. HardingWarren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death from a heart attack or stroke in 1923. A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate and later as Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S...
,
Calvin CoolidgeJohn Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state. His actions during the Boston Police Strike of 1919 thrust him into the...
and
Herbert HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted government intervention under the rubric "economic...
were resoundingly elected in
1920The United States presidential election of 1920 was dominated by the aftermath of World War I and the hostile reaction to Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic president. The wartime boom had collapsed. Politicians were arguing over peace treaties and the question of America's entry into the League of...
,
1924The United States presidential election of 1924 was won by incumbent President Calvin Coolidge, the Republican candidate. Coolidge became president in 1923 following the death of then-incumbent president, Warren G. Harding. Coolidge was given credit for a booming economy at home and no visible...
, and
1928The United States presidential election of 1928 pitted Republican Herbert Hoover against Democrat Al Smith. The Republicans were identified with the booming economy of the 1920s, whereas Smith, a Roman Catholic, suffered politically from anti-Catholic prejudice, his anti-prohibitionist stance, and...
respectively. The
Teapot Dome scandalThe Teapot Dome Scandal was an unprecedented bribery scandal and investigation during the White House administration of United States President Warren G. Harding. Teapot Dome is on an oil field on public land in the U.S...
threatened to hurt the party but Harding died and Coolidge blamed everything on him, as the opposition splintered in 1924. The pro-business policies of the decade seemed to produce an unprecedented prosperity until the
Wall Street Crash of 1929The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash or the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout....
heralded the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
The
New Deal coalitionThe New Deal coalition was the alignment of interest groups and voting blocs that supported the New Deal and voted for Democratic presidential candidates from 1932 until approximately 1968, which made the Democratic Party the majority party during that period, losing only to Dwight D. Eisenhower in...
of Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt controlled American politics for most of the next three decades, excepting the two-term presidency of Republican
Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the...
.
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
s began moving toward favoring the Democratic Party during Roosevelt's time. After Roosevelt took office in 1933, New Deal legislation sailed through Congress at lightning speed. In the 1934 midterm elections, 10 Republican senators went down to defeat, leaving them with only 25 against 71 Democrats. The House of Representatives was split in a similar ratio. The "Second New Deal" was heavily criticized by the Republicans in Congress, who likened it to
class warfareClass conflict refers to the underlying tensions or antagonisms which exist in society due to conflicting interests that arise from different social positions...
and
socialismSocialism refers to various theories of economic organization advocating public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production and allocation of resources, and a society characterized by equal access to resources for all individuals with a method of compensation based on...
. The volume of legislation, and the inability of the Republicans to block it, soon made the opposition to Roosevelt develop into bitterness. Conservative Democrats, mostly from the South, joined with Republicans led by Senator
Robert TaftRobert Alphonso Taft , of the Taft political family of Cincinnati, was a Republican United States Senator and a prominent conservative statesman...
to create the
conservative coalitionThe Conservative coalition, in the United States, was an unofficial Congressional coalition bringing together the conservative majority of the Republican Party and the conservative, mostly Southern, minority of the Democratic Party...
, which dominated domestic issues in Congress until 1964.
The second half of the 20th century saw election of Republican presidents
Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the...
,
Richard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States and is the only president to resign the office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States ....
,
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
,
George H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st President of the United States . He was also Ronald Reagan's Vice President , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence....
, and
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
. The Republican Party, led by House Republican Minority Whip
Newt GingrichNewton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is an American politician who served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. In 1995, Time magazine selected him as the Person of the Year for his role in leading the Republican Revolution in the House, ending 40 years of the...
campaigning on a
Contract with AmericaThe Contract with America was a document released by the United States Republican Party during the 1994 Congressional election campaign. Written by Larry Hunter who was aided by...
, were elected to majorities to both houses of Congress in the
Republican RevolutionThe Republican Revolution or Revolution of '94 is what the Republican Party of the United States dubbed their success in the 1994 U.S. midterm elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House of Representatives, and a pickup of eight seats in the Senate...
of 1994. Their majorities were generally held until the Democrats regained control in the mid-term election of 2006. In the 21st century the Republican Party is defined by
social conservatismSocial conservatism is a political or moral ideology that believes government and/or society have a role in encouraging or enforcing traditional values or behaviors based on the belief that these are what keep people civilized and decent. A second meaning of the term social conservatism developed...
, an
aggressivePreemptive war is waged in an attempt to repel or defeat a perceived inevitable offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending war before that threat materializes. Preemptive war is often confused with the term preventive war...
foreign policy to defeat terrorism and promote global democracy, a more powerful
executive branch}}In the study of political science the executive branch of government has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the democratic idea of the separation of powers .In many...
, tax cuts, and deregulation and subsidization of industry.
In the
Presidential election of 2008The 56th quadrennial United States presidential election was held on November 4, 2008. Outgoing Republican President George W. Bush's policies and actions and the American public's desire for change were key issues throughout the campaign, and during the general election campaign, both major party...
, the party's nominees were Senator
John McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, of
ArizonaThe State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...
, for President and former
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
Governor
Sarah PalinSarah Louise Palin is an American politician who served as Governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009 and was the Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States in 2008....
for Vice President. They were defeated by Senators
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
and
Joe BidenJoseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. , is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States under the administration of President Barack Obama. He was a United States Senator from Delaware from January 3, 1973 until his resignation on January 15, 2009, following his election to the Vice...
.
Name and symbols
The party's founding members chose the name "Republican Party" in the mid-1850s in part as an
homageHomage is pronounced variously as , , or . The last reflects the modern French pronunciation, although the word entered Middle English many centuries ago. In traditional usage it is analogous to praise; one properly speaks of homage or the homage, rather than a homage or an homage...
to
Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States , the principal author of the Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States...
(it was the name initially used by his party). The name echoed the 1776
republicanRepublicanism is the value system of governance that has been a major part of American civic thought since the American Revolution. It stresses liberty and rights as central values, makes the people as a whole sovereign, rejects inherited political power, expects citizens to be independent in...
values of civic virtue and opposition to aristocracy and corruption.
The term "Grand Old Party" is a traditional nickname for the Republican Party, and the initialism "G.O.P." (or "GOP") is a commonly used designation. According to the Republican Party, the term "gallant old party" was used in 1875. According to the
Oxford English DictionaryThe Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press , is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language...
, the first known reference to the Republican Party as the "grand old party" came in 1876. The first use of the abbreviation GOP is dated 1884.
The traditional mascot of the party is the
elephantElephants are large land mammals in two genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta. Three species of elephant are living today: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant and the Asian Elephant...
. A political cartoon by
Thomas NastThomas Nast was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist who is considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon."-Youth and education:...
, published in
Harper's WeeklyHarper's Magazine is a monthly, general-interest magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. It is the second-oldest, continuously-published monthly magazine in the U.S.; current circulation is more than 220,000 issues...
on November 7, 1874, is considered the first important use of the symbol. In the early 20th century, the usual symbol of the Republican Party in Midwestern states such as
IndianaIndiana is a U.S. state, the 19
th admitted to the Union. It is located in the Great Lakes region, and with approximately 6.3 million residents, is ranked 16
th in population and 17
th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38
th in land area, and is the...
and
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
was the
eagleEagles are large birds of prey which are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa...
, as opposed to the Democratic
roosterA rooster, also called a cock or chanticleer, is a male chicken with the female being called a hen. Immature male chickens of less than a year's age are called cockerels. The oldest term is "cock," from Old English coc. It is sometimes replaced by the term "cockerel" in the United Kingdom, and...
. This symbol still appears on Indiana, New York, and West Virginia ballots.
After the
2000 electionThe United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President. Bill Clinton, the incumbent President, was vacating the position...
, the color red became associated with the GOP, although it has not been officially adopted by the party. That election night, for the first time, all of the major broadcast networks used the same color scheme for the electoral map: states won by Republican nominee
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
were colored red, and states won by Democratic nominee
Al GoreAlbert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. is an American environmental activist and former politician who served as the 45th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He is an author, businessperson, former U.S. Senator and former journalist...
were colored blue. Although the assignment of colors to political parties is unofficial and informal, they have come to be widely recognized by the media and the public to represent the respective political parties
(see Political color and Red states and blue states for more details).
Structure and composition
The
Republican National CommitteeThe Republican National Committee provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is also responsible for organizing and...
(RNC) is responsible for promoting Republican campaign activities. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. Its current chairman is
Michael S. SteeleMichael Stephen Steele is an American political figure, currently serving as the chairman of the Republican National Committee. He is the first African American to chair the Republican National Committee and the second to chair either major U.S. party's National Committee after Ron Brown, who...
. The chairman of the RNC is chosen by the President when the Republicans have the White House or otherwise by the Party's state committees. The RNC, under the direction of the party's presidential candidate, supervises the
Republican National ConventionThe Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
, raises funds, and coordinates campaign strategy. On the local level there are similar state committees in every state and most large cities, counties and legislative districts, but they have far less money and influence than the national body.
The Republican House and Senate caucuses have separate
fundraisingFundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
and strategy committees. The
National Republican Congressional CommitteeThe National Republican Congressional Committee is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives....
(NRCC) assists in House races, and the
National Republican Senatorial CommitteeThe National Republican Senatorial Committee is the Republican Hill committee for the United States Senate, working to elect Republicans to that body. The NRSC was founded in 1916 as the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee...
(NRSC) in Senate races. They each raise over $100 million per election cycle, and play important roles in recruiting strong state candidates, while the
Republican Governors AssociationThe Republican Governors Association is a Washington, D.C.-based organization founded in 1963, consisting of U.S. state and territorial governors affiliated with the Republican Party...
(RGA) assists in state gubernatorial races; it is currently chaired by Governor
Rick PerryJames Richard "Rick" Perry is a Republican politician and the current Governor of Texas.Elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998, he assumed office as governor in December 2000 when Governor George W. Bush resigned before his inauguration as President of the United States...
of Texas.
Ideology and political positions
The Republican Party includes
fiscal conservativesFiscal conservatism is a political term used in North America to describe a fiscal policy that advocates a reduction in overall government spending. Fiscal conservatives often consider deficit and national debt reduction as well as balancing the federal budget of paramount importance...
,
social conservativesSocial conservatism is a political or moral ideology that believes government and/or society have a role in encouraging or enforcing traditional values or behaviors based on the belief that these are what keep people civilized and decent. A second meaning of the term social conservatism developed...
,
neoconservativesNeoconservatism is a political philosophy that emerged in the United States of America, and which supports using American economic and military power to bring liberalism, democracy, and human rights to other countries...
,
ModerateIn politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical.Aristotle favoured conciliatory politics dominated by the centre rather than the extremes of great wealth and poverty or the special interests of oligarchs and tyrants.-See also:*Centrism*Disadvantages for...
s, and
libertariansLibertarianism is a term adopted by a broad spectrum of political philosophies which advocate the maximization of individual liberty and the minimization or even abolition of the state...
.
Economic policies
Republicans emphasize the role of
free marketA free market describes a market without economic intervention and regulation by government except to regulate against force or fraud. The terminology is used by economists and in popular culture. A free market requires protection of property rights, but no regulation, no subsidization, no single...
decision making in fostering economic prosperity. They favor
laissez-faireThe general meaning of Laissez-faire is to allow events to take their own course, or to let people do what they choose. The term is a French phrase literally meaning "let it be" or "leave it alone"....
free marketA free market describes a market without economic intervention and regulation by government except to regulate against force or fraud. The terminology is used by economists and in popular culture. A free market requires protection of property rights, but no regulation, no subsidization, no single...
s,
economic libertyEconomic liberalism is the economic component of classical liberalism. It is the political and economic philosophy that supports and promotes the economic system of capitalism, in the laissez-faire sense...
,
fiscal conservatismFiscal conservatism is a political term used in North America to describe a fiscal policy that advocates a reduction in overall government spending. Fiscal conservatives often consider deficit and national debt reduction as well as balancing the federal budget of paramount importance...
,
personal responsibilityResponsibility assumption is a doctrine in the personal growth field holding that each individual has substantial or total responsibility for the events and circumstances that befall them in their life...
, and policies supporting business.
A leading economic theory advocated by modern Republicans is
supply-side economicsSupply-side economics is a school of macroeconomic thought that argues that economic growth can be most effectively created using incentives for people to produce goods and services, such as adjusting your income tax and capital gains tax rates, and by allowing greater flexibility by reducing...
. Some fiscal policies influenced by this theory were popularly known as "
ReaganomicsReaganomics refers to the economic policies promoted by United States President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s...
," a term popularized during the Presidential administrations of
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
. This theory holds that reduced income tax rates increase GDP growth and thereby generate the same or more revenue for the government from the smaller tax on the extra growth. This belief is reflected, in part, by the party's long-term advocacy of tax cuts. Many Republicans consider the income tax system to be inherently inefficient and oppose graduated tax rates, which they believe are unfairly targeted at those who create jobs and wealth. They believe private spending is usually more efficient than government spending.
Most Republicans agree there should be a "safety net" to assist the less fortunate; however, they tend to believe the private sector is more effective in helping the poor than government is; as a result, Republicans support giving government grants to faith-based and other private charitable organizations to supplant welfare spending. Members of the GOP also believe that limits on eligibility and benefits must be in place to ensure the safety net is not abused. Republicans introduced and strongly supported the
welfare reform of 1996The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 is a United States federal law considered to be a fundamental shift in both the method and goal of federal cash assistance to the poor. The bill was a cornerstone of the Republican Contract With America and was introduced...
, which was signed into law by Democratic President Clinton, and which limited eligibility for welfare, successfully leading to many former welfare recipients finding jobs.
The party opposes a
single-payer health careSingle-payer health care is a public service financing the delivery of near-universal or universal health care to a given population as defined by age, citizenship, residency, or any other demographic....
system, believing such a system constitutes
socialized medicineSocialized medicine is a term used primarily in the United States to refer to certain kinds of publicly-funded health care. The term is used most frequently, and often pejoratively, in the U.S. political debate concerning health care...
and is in favor of a personal or employer-based system of insurance, supplemented by
MedicareMedicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over, or who meet other special criteria. The medicare program also funds residency training programs for the vast majority of physicians in the...
for the elderly and
Medicaid Medicaid is the United States health program for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the states and federal government, and is managed by the states. Among the groups of people served by Medicaid are certain...
, which covers approximately 40% of the poor. The GOP has a mixed record of supporting the historically popular
Social SecuritySocial Security in the United States currently refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program....
,
MedicareMedicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over, or who meet other special criteria. The medicare program also funds residency training programs for the vast majority of physicians in the...
and
Medicaid Medicaid is the United States health program for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the states and federal government, and is managed by the states. Among the groups of people served by Medicaid are certain...
programs, all of which Republicans initially opposed. On the one hand, congressional Republicans and the Bush administration supported a reduction in Medicaid's growth rate. On the other hand, congressional Republicans expanded Medicare, supporting a new drug plan for seniors starting in 2006.
Republicans are generally opposed by
labor unionA trade union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas, such as working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labor contracts with employers...
management and members, and have supported various legislation on the state and federal levels, including
right to workThe right to work is the concept that people have a human right to work, and may not be prevented from doing so. The right to work is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognised in international human rights law through its inclusion in the International Covenant on...
legislation and the
Taft-Hartley ActThe Labor–Management Relations Act, 80 Pub.L. 101; 61 Stat. 136, informally the Taft–Hartley Act, is a United States federal law that monitors the activities and power of labor unions. The act, still effective, was sponsored by Senator Robert Taft and Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr. and...
, which gives workers the right not to participate in unions, as opposed to a
closed shopA closed shop is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to only hire union members, and employees must remain a member of the union at all times in order to remain employed....
, which prohibits workers from choosing not to join unions in workplaces. Republicans generally oppose increases in the
minimum wageA minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly wage that employers may legally pay to employees or workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labor. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion...
, believing that minimum wage increases hurt many businesses by forcing them to cut jobs and services as well as raise the prices of goods to compensate for the decrease in profit.
Separation of powers and balance of powers
Many current Republicans voice support of "
strict constructionismStrict constructionism refers to a particular legal philosophy of judicial interpretation that limits or restricts judicial interpretation. In the United States the phrase is also commonly used more loosely as a generic term for conservatism among the judiciary.- Strict sense of the term :Strict...
," the judicial philosophy that the Constitution should be interpreted narrowly and as close to the original intent as is practicable rather than a more flexible "living Constitution" model. Most Republicans point to
Roe v. WadeRoe v. Wade, , a landmark case decided by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion, is one of the most controversial and politically significant cases in U.S. Supreme Court history.In Roe v...
as a case of
judicial activismJudicial activism is a critical term used to describe judicial rulings that impose a personal biased interpretation by a given court of what a law means as opposed to what a neutral, unbiased observer would naturally interpret a law to mean....
, where the court overturned most laws restricting abortion on the basis of a
right to privacyPrivacy law is the area of law concerned with the protection and preservation of the privacy rights of individuals. Increasingly, governments and other public as well as private organizations collect vast amounts of personal information about individuals for a variety of purposes...
inferred from the
Bill of RightsIn the United States, the Bill of Rights is the name by which the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are known. They were introduced by James Madison to the First United States Congress in 1789 as a series of articles, and came into effect on December 15, 1791, when they had...
and the
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, along with the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, was adopted after the Civil War as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. It was adopted on July 9, 1868....
. Some Republicans have actively sought to block judges whom they see as being
activist judgesJudicial activism is a critical term used to describe judicial rulings that impose a personal biased interpretation by a given court of what a law means as opposed to what a neutral, unbiased observer would naturally interpret a law to mean....
and have sought the appointment of judges who claim to practice
judicial restraintJudicial restraint is a theory of judicial interpretation that encourages judges to limit the exercise of their own power. It asserts that judges should hesitate to strike down laws unless they are obviously unconstitutional...
. Other Republicans, though, argue that it is the right of judges to extend the interpretation of the Constitution and judge actions by the legislative or executive branches as legal or
unconstitutionalConstitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or guidelines set forth in the applicable constitution. When one of these directly violates the constitution it is unconstitutional...
on previously unarticulated grounds. The issue of
judicial deferenceJudicial deference is a doctrine by which judges seek to avoid frustrating the will of the legislature when deciding cases . It is most commonly found in countries such as the United Kingdom, which lack an entrenched constitution, as the essential purpose of such documents is to limit the power of...
to the legislature is a matter of some debate — like the Democrats, most Republicans criticize court decisions which overturn their own (conservative) legislation as overstepping bounds and support decisions which overturn opposing legislation. Some commentators have advocated that the Republicans take a more aggressive approach and support legislative supremacy more firmly.
The Republican party has supported various bills within the last decade to strip some or all federal courts of the ability to hear certain types of cases, in an attempt to limit judicial review. These
jurisdiction strippingJurisdiction stripping refers to the practice of defining the jurisdiction of the United States federal judiciary as to eliminate its ability to hear certain classes of claims, thereby making certain legislative or executive actions unreviewable by the judiciary.-Basis:Congress may define the...
laws have included removing federal review of the recognition of same-sex marriage with the Marriage Protection Act, the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance with the
Pledge Protection ActThe U.S. Pledge Protection Act would deprive not only the Supreme Court but also all other federal courts jurisdiction to hear constitutional challenges to the "under God" part of the Pledge of Allegiance.- External links :...
, and the rights of detainees in Guantanamo Bay in the Detainee Treatment Act. The last of these limitations was overruled by the Supreme Court in
Hamdan v. RumsfeldHamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 , is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that military commissions set up by the Bush administration to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay lack "the power to proceed because its structures and procedures violate both the Uniform Code of Military...
.
Compared with Democrats, many Republicans believe in a more robust version of
federalismFederalism is political philosophy in which a group of members are bound together with a governing representative head. The term federalism is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent...
with greater limitations placed upon
federalThe federal government of the United States is the central government entity established by the United States Constitution, which shares sovereignty over the United States with the governments of the individual U.S. states. The federal government has three branches: the legislative, executive, and...
power and a larger role reserved for the
StatesA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
. Following this view on
federalismFederalism is political philosophy in which a group of members are bound together with a governing representative head. The term federalism is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent...
, Republicans often take a less expansive reading of congressional power under the
Commerce ClauseThe Commerce Clause is an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution . The clause states that the United States Congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with the Native American tribes...
, such as in the opinion of
William RehnquistWilliam Hubbs Rehnquist was an American lawyer, jurist, and a political figure who served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States and later as the Chief Justice of the United States. Considered a conservative, Rehnquist favored a federalism under which the states...
in
United States v. LopezUnited States v. Lopez, was the first United States Supreme Court case since the Great Depression to set limits to Congress's power under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.-Background:...
. Many Republicans on the more libertarian wing wish for a more dramatic narrowing of
Commerce ClauseThe Commerce Clause is an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution . The clause states that the United States Congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with the Native American tribes...
power by revisiting, among other cases,
Wickard v. FilburnWickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111 , is a Supreme Court of the United States decision interpreting the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, which permits the United States Congress to "regulate Commerce...among the several States."...
, a case that held that growing wheat on a farm for consumption on the same farm fell under congressional power to
"regulate commerce ... among the several States"The Commerce Clause is an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution . The clause states that the United States Congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with the Native American tribes...
.
President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
was a proponent of the
unitary executive theoryThe unitary executive theory is a theory of American constitutional law holding that the President controls the entire executive branch. The doctrine is based upon Article Two of the United States Constitution, which vests "the executive power" of the United States in the President.Although that...
and cited it within his signing statements about legislation passed by Congress. The administration's interpretation of the unitary executive theory was called seriously into question by
Hamdan v. RumsfeldHamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 , is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that military commissions set up by the Bush administration to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay lack "the power to proceed because its structures and procedures violate both the Uniform Code of Military...
, where the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that the President does not have sweeping powers to override or ignore laws through his power as commander in chief, stating "the Executive is bound to comply with the Rule of Law that prevails." Following the ruling, the Bush administration has sought Congressional authorization for programs started only on executive mandate, as was the case with the
Military Commissions ActThe United States Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. Drafted in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on Hamdan v...
, or abandoned illegal programs it had previously asserted executive authority to enact, in the case of the
National Security AgencyThe National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States government, administered as part of the United States Department of Defense. Created on November 4, 1952 by President Harry S...
domestic wiretapping programThe NSA warrantless surveillance controversy concerns surveillance of persons within the United States incident to the collection of foreign intelligence by the U.S. National Security Agency as part of the war on terror...
.
The Republican party supports the status quo of the current political status of Puerto Rico, which is that the island is free to hold referendums to decide their status within the United States.
Environmental policies
Most Republicans are skeptical of anthropogenic
global warmingGlobal warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C during the last century...
and question scientific studies on the impact of human activity on climate change, instead asserting that global warming is part of "natural" cyclical phenomenon, or caused by a number of other alternative theories. This is slowly changing due to more scientific research and increasing pressure from the international community, and in July 2008 the Bush administration acknowledged, at least in principle, the need to act on the issue of climate change.
John McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, the Republican nominee for president in 2008, was a strong advocate of legislation to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Historically, the Republican Party has made several contributions to the protection of the environment. Republican President
Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States. He is well remembered for his energetic persona, his range of interests and achievements, his model of masculinity, and his "cowboy" image. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the short-lived Bull Moose Party...
was a prominent conservationist whose policies eventually led to the creation of the modern U.S.
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
. Also, President
Richard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States and is the only president to resign the office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States ....
was responsible for establishing the
Environmental Protection AgencyThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged to regulate chemicals and protect human health by safeguarding the natural environment: air, water, and land...
in 1970. More recently,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
Republican Governor
Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian American bodybuilder, actor, businessman, and politician, currently serving as the 38th Governor of the state of California....
, with the support of 16 other states,
suedIn law, filing is the act of submitting a document to the clerk of a court for the court's immediate consideration, for storage in the court's files, or both. Courts will not consider motions unless an appropriate memorandum or brief is filed before the appropriate deadline...
the
Federal GovernmentThe federal government of the United States is the central government entity established by the United States Constitution, which shares sovereignty over the United States with the governments of the individual U.S. states. The federal government has three branches: the legislative, executive, and...
and the
United States Environmental Protection AgencyThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged to regulate chemicals and protect human health by safeguarding the natural environment: air, water, and land...
for the right to set vehicle emission standards higher than the
Federal StandardIn the United States, emissions standards are managed on a national level by the Environmental Protection Agency . State and local governments play a subsidiary role.- Motor vehicles :...
, a right to which California is entitled under the
Clean Air ActA Clean Air Act is one of a number of pieces of legislation relating to the reduction of smog and air pollution in general. The use by governments to enforce clean air standards has contributed to an improvement in human health and longer life spans...
.
This association has weakened over time, though, as the Democratic Party came to also support environmentalism. President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
has publicly opposed ratification of the
Kyoto ProtocolThe Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at combating global warming...
s on the grounds that they unfairly targeted Western industrialized nations such as the United States while giving developing Global South polluters such as
ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
and
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
a pass. Bill Clinton also never sent the Kyoto treaty to the U.S. Senate for ratification as he also thought it unfair to the United States.
In 2000, the Republican Party adopted as part of its platform support for the development of market-based solutions to environmental problems. According to the platform, "economic prosperity and environmental protection must advance together, environmental regulations should be based on science, the government’s role should be to provide market-based incentives to develop the technologies to meet environmental standards, we should ensure that environmental policy meets the needs of localities, and environmental policy should focus on achieving results processes." Although this platform was created for the
Republican National ConventionThe Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
, emphasis on these issues within the Republican Party has diminished in the past few years.
The Bush administration, along with several of the candidates that sought the Republican Presidential nomination in 2008, supported increased Federal investment into the development of clean alternative fuels, and environmentally unsound fuels such as
ethanolEthanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug, best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages and in modern thermometers. Ethanol is one of the oldest recreational drugs...
, as a way of helping the U.S. achieve
energy independenceNorth American energy independence is a stated goal of those who believe that the North American nations - the USA, Canada and Mexico - must reduce their reliance on oil purchased from outside the continent....
, as opposed to supporting less use of carbon dioxide-producing methods of generating energy. McCain supports the
cap-and-tradeEmissions trading is an administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants. It is sometimes called cap-and-trade or cap-and-tax....
policy, a policy that is quite popular among Democrats but much less so among other Republicans. Most Republicans support increased
oil drillingAn oil well is a general term for any boring through the earth's surface that is designed to find and produce petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well.-History:The earliest known oil...
in currently protected areas such as the
Arctic National Wildlife RefugeThe Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge...
, a position that has drawn sharp criticism from many environmental activists.
Social policies
The 2004 Republican platform expressed support for the
Federal Marriage AmendmentThe Federal Marriage Amendment 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...
to the
United States ConstitutionThe Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America and the federal government of the United States...
to define marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman. A majority of the GOP's national and state candidates are
pro-lifeThe pro-life movement is a political and social movement focused chiefly around opposition to abortion, and especially support for the criminalization of abortion. Those involved in the movement generally maintain that human fetuses and embryos are persons, and that therefore they have a right to...
and oppose
abortionAn abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo. An abortion can occur spontaneously due to complications during pregnancy or can be induced, in humans and other species...
on religious or moral grounds, and favor
faith-based initiativesThe White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, formerly the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives is an office within the White House Office that is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States.-Under George W. Bush:OFBCI was...
. There are some exceptions, though, especially in the
NortheastThe Northeastern United States is a region of the United States. According to the definition used by the United States Census Bureau, the Northeast region consists of nine states: the New England states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut; and the...
and Pacific Coast states. They are generally against
affirmative actionThe term affirmative action refers to policies that take race, ethnicity, or gender into consideration in an attempt to promote equal opportunity or increase ethnic or other forms of diversity. The focus of such policies ranges from employment and education to public contracting and health programs...
for women and minorities often describing it as a quota system, believing that it is not meritocratic and that is counter-productive socially by only further promoting
discriminationDiscrimination is a sociological term refering to treatment taken toward or against a person of a certain group that is taken in consideration based on class or category. The United Nations explains: "Discriminatory behaviours take many forms, but they all involve some form of exclusion or...
. Most of the GOP's membership favors
capital punishmentCapital punishment or the death penalty, is the execution of a person by judicial process as a punishment for an offense. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences....
and stricter punishments as a means to prevent crime. Republicans in rural areas generally support
gun ownership rightsGun politics in the United States, incorporating the political aspects of gun politics, and firearms rights, has long been among the most controversial and intractable issues in American politics...
and oppose laws regulating guns, although Republicans in urban areas sometimes favor limited restrictions on the grounds that they are necessary to protect safety in large cities.
Most Republicans support
school choiceSchool choice is a term used to describe a wide array of programs aimed at giving families the opportunity to choose the school their children will attend. As a matter of form, school choice does not give preference to one form of schooling or another, rather manifests itself whenever a student...
through
charter schoolCharter schools are elementary or secondary schools in the United States that receive public money but have been freed from some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth...
s and school vouchers for private schools; many have denounced the performance of the public school system and the teachers' unions. The party has insisted on a system of greater accountability for public schools, most prominently in recent years with the
No Child Left Behind ActThe No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 , often abbreviated in print as NCLB and sometimes shortened in pronunciation to "nicklebee", is a United States Act of Congress that was originally proposed by President George W. Bush immediately after taking office...
of 2001. Many Republicans, however, opposed the creation of the
United States Department of EducationThe United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
when it was initially created in 1979.
The religious wing of the party tends to support
organized prayer in public schoolsSchool prayer in its common usage refers to state-approved prayer by students in state schools. Depending on the country and the type of school, organized prayer may be required, permitted, or proscribed...
and the inclusion of teaching
creationismCreationism refers to the religious belief that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe were created in some form by a supernatural being or beings, commonly a single deity...
or
intelligent designIntelligent design is the assertion that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a modern form of the traditional teleological argument for the existence of God, but one which...
in science classes alongside
evolutionIn biology, evolution is change in the genetic material of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. Though changes produced in any one generation are normally small, differences accumulate with each generation and can, over time, cause substantial changes in the population, a...
. Although the GOP has voted for increases in government funding of scientific research, some members actively oppose the federal funding of
embryonic stem cellEmbryonic stem cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, an early-stage embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50–150 cells....
research because it involves the harvesting and destruction of human
embryoAn embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...
s (which many consider ethically equivalent to
abortionAn abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo. An abortion can occur spontaneously due to complications during pregnancy or can be induced, in humans and other species...
), while arguing for applying research money into
adult stem cellAdult stem cells are undifferentiated cells, found throughout the body after embryonic development, that multiply by cell division to replenish dying cells and regenerate damaged tissues...
or amniotic stem cell research. The stem cell issue has garnered two once-rare vetoes on research funding bills from President Bush, who said the research "crossed a moral boundary."
National defense and military spending
The Republican Party has always advocated a strong national defense; however, up until recently they tended to disapprove of interventionist foreign policy actions. Republicans opposed
Woodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States. A leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
's intervention in
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
and his subsequent attempt to create the
League of NationsThe League of Nations was an inter-governmental organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members...
. They were also staunchly opposed to intervention in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
prior to the Japanese attack on
Pearl HarborPearl Harbor is a harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
. Even in the 1990s, although
George H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st President of the United States . He was also Ronald Reagan's Vice President , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence....
supported fighting in the
Gulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , known also as the Gulf War, the First Gulf War,or often as the Second Gulf War and by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as The Mother of all Battles, or commonly as Desert Storm, for the military response...
, Republicans opposed the intervention of the United States in
SomaliaSomalia , officially the Republic of Somalia and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is a country located in the Horn of Africa...
and the
BalkansThe Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. However, in 2000,
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
ran on a platform that opposed these types of involvement in foreign conflicts.
Today, the Republican Party supports
unilateralismUnilateralism is any doctrine or agenda that supports one-sided action. Such action may be in disregard for other parties, or as an expression of a commitment toward a direction which other parties may find agreeable...
in issues of national security, believing in the ability and right of the United States to act without external or international support in its own self-interest. In general, Republican defense and international thinking is heavily influenced by the theories of neorealism and realism, characterizing the conflicts between nations as great struggles between faceless forces of international structure, as opposed to the result of individual leaders, their ideas, and their actions. The realist school's influence shows in Reagan's
Evil EmpireThe phrase evil empire was applied especially to the Soviet Union by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and American and Canadian conservatives, who took an aggressive, hard-line stance that favored matching and exceeding the Soviet Union's strategic and global military capabilities.-British House of...
stance on the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
and George W. Bush's
Axis of evil"Axis of evil" is a term coined by United States President George W. Bush in his State of the Union Address on January 29, 2002 in order to describe governments that he accused of helping terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction. President Bush named Iran, Iraq and North Korea...
.
Republicans secured gains in the 2002 and
2004 electionsThe Congress of the United States is the United States's federal legislature and consists of two houses, the United States House of Representatives with 435 Representatives apportioned by population and United States Senate with two Senators from each state. Election articles are at:* United States...
with the
War on TerrorismThe War on Terrorism is the common term for the military, political, legal and ideological conflict against what the effort's leaders describe as Islamic terrorism and Islamic militants, and was specifically used in reference to operations by the...
being one of the top issues favoring them. Since the
September 11, 2001 attacksThe September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners...
, the party supports
neoconservativeNeoconservatism is a political philosophy that emerged in the United States of America, and which supports using American economic and military power to bring liberalism, democracy, and human rights to other countries...
policies with regard to the War on Terror, including the
2001 war in AfghanistanThe War in Afghanistan is an ongoing coalition conflict which began on October 7, 2001, as the British military participated in the US military's Operation Enduring Freedom that was launched in response to the September 11 attacks...
and the
2003 invasion of IraqThe 2003 invasion of Iraq, was led by the United States, backed by British forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Denmark, Poland and Spain. Four countries participated with troops during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from March 20 to May 1...
.
The doctrine of
preemptive warPreemptive war is waged in an attempt to repel or defeat a perceived inevitable offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending war before that threat materializes. Preemptive war is often confused with the term preventive war...
, wars to disarm and destroy potential military foes not in defense, but based on speculation of future attacks, has been advocated by prominent members of the Bush administration, but the war within Iraq has undercut the influence of this doctrine within the Republican Party.
Rudy Giuliani| align="right"|Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani is an American lawyer, businessman and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
, the former mayor of New York during the time of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and a once prominent Republican presidential candidate for the
2008 presidential electionThe 56th quadrennial United States presidential election was held on November 4, 2008. Outgoing Republican President George W. Bush's policies and actions and the American public's desire for change were key issues throughout the campaign, and during the general election campaign, both major party...
, has stated that America must keep itself "on the offensive" against terrorists, stating his support of that policy.
The Bush administration supported the position that the
Geneva ConventionsThe Geneva Conventions consist of four treaties and three additional protocols that set the standards in international law for humanitarian treatment of the victims of war. The singular term Geneva Convention refers to the agreements of 1949, negotiated in the aftermath of World War II, updating...
do not apply to
unlawful combatantAn unlawful combatant or unprivileged combatant/belligerent is a civilian who directly engages in armed conflict in violation of International Humanitarian Law and may be detained or prosecuted under the domestic law of the detaining state for such action.-Introduction:The Geneva Conventions apply...
s, using the premise that they apply to soldiers serving in the armies of nation states and not terrorist organizations such as
Al-QaedaAl-Qaeda , alternatively spelled al-Qaida and sometimes al-Qa'ida, is an Islamist group founded sometime between August 1988 and late 1989 and early 1990...
. The Supreme Court overruled this position in
Hamdan v. RumsfeldHamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 , is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that military commissions set up by the Bush administration to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay lack "the power to proceed because its structures and procedures violate both the Uniform Code of Military...
, which held that the Geneva Conventions were legally binding and must be followed in regards to all enemy combatants.
Other international policies
Republicans support attempts for the democratization of Middle Eastern countries currently under the rule of dictatorships. The Republican party takes a pro-Israel stance stemming from its Neoconservative constituency, generally supportive of Israeli interests.
The party, through former U.N. Ambassador
John BoltonJohn Robert Bolton , is an American conservative political figure who has been employed in several Republican presidential administrations...
, has advocated reforms in the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
to halt corruption such as that which afflicted the
Oil-for-Food ProgrammeThe Oil-for-Food Programme, established by the United Nations in 1995 and terminated in late 2003, was established with the stated intent to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary Iraqi citizens without allowing Iraq to...
. As previously stated, some Republicans including Bush oppose the
Kyoto ProtocolThe Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , aimed at combating global warming...
(although there is a section that supports it within the party). The party strongly promotes
free tradeFree trade is a type of trade policy that allows traders to act and transact without interference from government. According to the law of comparative advantage the policy permits trading partners mutual gains from trade of goods and services....
agreements, most notably
NAFTA
, CAFTA and now an effort to go further south to
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
,
PeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico...
and
ColombiaColombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean...
.
Republicans are divided on how to confront
illegal immigrationIllegal immigration is immigration across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. Illegal immigrants are also known as illegal aliens to differentiate them from legal aliens...
between a moderate platform that allows for migrant workers and easing citizenship guidelines, and enforcement-first nationalist approach. The Bush administration has made appeals to immigrants a high priority long-term political goal, but that goal is not a high priority in most local GOP entities. In general, pro-growth advocates within the Republican Party support more immigration, and traditional or populist conservatives oppose it. In 2006, the White House supported and Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform that would eventually allow millions of illegal immigrants to become citizens, but the House, taking an enforcement-first approach, refused to go along.
Political status of Puerto Rico
The Republican Party has expressed its support for the
U.S. citizensArticle I, section 8, clause 4 of the United States Constitution expressly gives the United States Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization. The Immigration and Naturalization Act sets forth the legal requirements for the acquisition of, and divestiture from, citizenship of...
of
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands...
to exercise their right to determine a future permanent non-territorial political status with government by consent, full enfranchisement and to be admitted to the union as a fully sovereign
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
. Puerto Rico has been under U.S. sovereignty for over a century and Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917; but the island’s ultimate status still has not been determined and its 3.9 million residents still do not have voting representation in their national government. The following is the appropriate section from the 2008 party platform (unchanged from the 2004 and 2000 platforms).
Voter base
Business community. The GOP is usually seen as the traditionally pro-business party and it garners major support from a wide variety of industries from the
financialFinance is the science of funds management. The general areas of finance are business finance, personal finance, and public finance. Finance includes saving money and often includes lending money. The field of finance deals with the concepts of time, money and risk and how they are interrelated...
sector to small businesses. This may relate to the fact that Republicans are about 50 percent more likely to be self-employed, and are more likely to work in the area of management.
Gender. Since 1980 a "gender gap" has seen slightly stronger support for the GOP among men than among women. In the 2006 House races, 43% of women voted for GOP, while 47% of men did so.
Race. Since 1964, the GOP has been weakly represented among
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
s, winning under 15% of the black vote in recent national elections (1980 to 2004). The party has recently nominated African American candidates for senator or governor in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, though none were successful. The Republican Party supported the
abolitionAbolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe and the Americas. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical...
of slavery under
Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery...
, and from the
Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
until the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
of the 1930s, blacks voted for Republican candidates by an overwhelming margin; in the Southern states, they were often not allowed to vote, but received Federal patronage appointments from the Republicans. The majority of black Americans switched to the Democratic Party in the 1930s when the
New DealThe New Deal was the name that United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to his complex package of economic programs 1933-36 with the goals of what historians call the 3 Rs, of giving Relief to the unemployed and badly hurt farmers, Reform of business and financial practices, and promoting...
offered them governmental support for civil rights. In the South, blacks were able to vote in large numbers after 1965, when a bipartisan coalition passed the
Voting Rights ActThe National Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the United States. Echoing the language of the 15th Amendment, the Act prohibited states from imposing any "voting qualification...
, and ever since have formed a significant portion (ranging from 20% to 50% depending on the state) of the Democratic vote in that region.
In recent decades, the party has been more successful in gaining support from
HispanicHispanic is a term that historically denoted a relationship to the ancient Hispania . During the modern era, it took on a more limited meaning, relating to the contemporary nation of Spain....
and
Asian American{Infobox Ethnic group|group = Asian American|image =Graduation Rate! align="CENTER" | Bachelor's Degree
or More|-| align="LEFT" | Asian Indians| align="RIGHT" | 90.2%| align="RIGHT" | 67.9%|-| align="LEFT" | Filipinos| align="RIGHT" | 90.8%...
voters than from African Americans. George W. Bush, who campaigned significantly for Hispanic votes, received 35% of their vote in 2000 and 44% in 2004. The party's strong
anti-communistAnti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism, especially Marxism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the growing popularity of the communist movement, and took on many forms during the 20th century....
stance has made it popular among some minority groups from current and former Communist states, in particular
Cuban American
s and
Vietnamese AmericanA Vietnamese American is an American of Vietnamese descent. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American group....
s. In the 2006 House races, the GOP won 51% of white votes, 37% of Asian votes, and 30% of Hispanic votes, while winning only 10% of
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
votes.
For decades, a greater percentage of white (caucasian) voters self-identified as Democrats, rather than Republicans. However, since the mid-1990s whites have been more likely to self-identify as Republicans than Democrats.
Family status. In recent elections, Republicans have found their greatest support among whites from married couples with children living at home. Unmarried and divorced women were far more likely to vote for Kerry in 2004.
Income. Low income voters tend to favor the Democratic Party while high income voters tend to support the Republican Party. President George W. Bush won 41% of the poorest 20% of voters in 2004, 55% of the richest twenty percent, and 53% of those in between. In the 2006 House races, the voters with incomes over $50,000 were 49% Republican, while those under were 38%.
Military. Republicans hold a large majority in the armed services, with 57% of active military personnel and 66% of officers identified as Republican in 2003.
Education. Self-identified Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats to have 4-year college degrees. The trends for the years 1955 through 2004 are shown by gender in the graphs below, reproduced with permission from
Democrats and Republicans — Rhetoric and Reality, a book published in 2008 by Joseph Fried. These graphs depict results obtained by Fried from the National Election Studies (NES) data base.
Regarding graduate-level degrees (masters or doctorate), there is a rough parity between Democrats and Republicans. According to the Gallup Organization: "[B]oth Democrats and Republicans have equal numbers of Americans at the upper end of the educational spectrum — that is, with post graduate degrees..." Fried provides a slightly more detailed analysis, noting that Republican men are more likely than Democratic men to have advanced degrees, but Democratic women are now more likely than Republican women to have advanced degrees.
Republicans remain a small minority of college professors, with 11% of full-time faculty identifying as Republican.
Age. The Democrats do better among younger Americans and Republicans among older Americans. In 2006, the GOP won only 38% of the voters aged 18–29.
Sexual Orientation. Exit polls conducted in 2000, 2004 and 2006 indicate that 23–25% of gay and lesbian Americans voted for the GOP. In recent years, the party has opposed
same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage is a term used to describe a legally or socially recognized marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Other terms used to describe this type of recognition include gay marriage or gender-neutral marriage.Same-sex marriage is a civil rights,...
, adoption by same-sex couples, inclusion of sexual orientation in hate crimes laws, the
Employment Non-Discrimination ActThe Employment Non-Discrimination Act , is a proposed bill in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination against employees on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability for civilian nonreligious employers with over 15 employees.ENDA has been introduced in...
, while supporting the use of the
don't ask, don't tellDon't ask, don't tell is the common term for the policy regarding gays and lesbians serving openly in the U.S. military mandated by federal law...
policy within the military. The opposition to gay rights found in the Republican Party largely comes from the very religious and socially conservative portion of the party.
Religion. Religion has always played a major role for both parties but, in the course of a century, the parties' religious compositions have changed. Religion was a major dividing line between the parties before
1960The United States presidential election of 1960 marked the end of Dwight D. Eisenhower's two terms as President. Eisenhower's Vice President, Richard Nixon, who had transformed his office into a national political base, was the Republican candidate....
, with Catholics, Jews, and Southern Protestants heavily Democratic, and Northeastern Protestants heavily Republican. Most of the old differences faded away after the realignment of the late 1960s that undercut the
New Deal coalitionThe New Deal coalition was the alignment of interest groups and voting blocs that supported the New Deal and voted for Democratic presidential candidates from 1932 until approximately 1968, which made the Democratic Party the majority party during that period, losing only to Dwight D. Eisenhower in...
. Voters who attend church weekly gave 61% of their votes to Bush in
2004The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
; those who attend occasionally gave him only 47%, while those who never attend gave him 36%. 59% of Protestants voted for Bush, along with 52% of Catholics (even though
KerryJohn Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, and is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee....
was Catholic). Since 1980, large majorities of
evangelicalsEvangelism is the practice of attempting to convert people to a religion. The term is used most often in reference to Christianity's religions, since they mandate that their followers make efforts to recruit as many people as possible into their faith...
have voted Republican; 70–80% voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004, and 70% for GOP House candidates in
2006The 2006 United States midterm elections were held on Tuesday, November 7, 2006. All United States House of Representatives seats and one third of the United States Senate seats were contested in this election, as well as 36 state governorships, many state legislatures, four territorial...
. Jews continue to vote 70–80% Democratic. Democrats have close links with the African American churches, especially the
National BaptistsThe National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. is one of the largest religious organizations among African Americans. The convention has over 41,000 churches and an estimated 5,000,000 members...
, while their historic dominance among Catholic voters has eroded to 50-50. The main line traditional Protestants (Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians) have dropped to about 55% Republican (in contrast to 75% before 1968). Their church memberships have declined in that time as well, and the conservative evangelical rivals have grown. Members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a restorationist Christian church, and is the largest denomination originating from the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. circa 1830...
, commonly known as Mormons, are overwhelmingly Republican and vote in line with the Christian Right. George W. Bush received 89% of the Mormon vote.
Location. Since 1980, geographically the Republican "base" ("red states") is strongest in the
SouthThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States...
and
Mountain WestThe Mountain States form one of the nine geographic divisions of the United States that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
, and weakest in the
NortheastThe Northeastern United States is a region of the United States. According to the definition used by the United States Census Bureau, the Northeast region consists of nine states: the New England states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut; and the...
and the
Pacific CoastThe "West Coast", "Western Seaboard", or "Pacific Coastline" are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. It most often comprises California, Oregon and Washington...
. The
MidwestThe Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
has been roughly balanced since 1854, with
IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
becoming more Democratic and liberal because of the city of Chicago and
MinnesotaMinnesota is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.2 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the...
and
WisconsinWisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. states. Located in the north-central United States, Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the...
more Republican since 1990. Since the 1930s the Democrats have dominated most central cities, while the Republicans now dominate rural areas and the majority of suburbs.
The South has become solidly Republican in national elections since 1980, and has been trending Republican at the state level since then at a slower pace. In 2004 Bush led Kerry by 70%-30% among Southern whites, who made up 71% of the Southern electorate. Kerry had a 70-30 lead among the 29% of the voters who were black or Hispanic. One-third of these Southern voters said they were white evangelicals; they voted for Bush by 80-20; but were only 72% Republican in 2006.
The Republican Party's strongest focus of political influence lies in the
Great PlainsThe Great Plains are the broad expanse of prairie and steppe which lie west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
states, particularly
OklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,617,316 residents in 2007 and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
,
KansasKansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was...
,
NebraskaNebraska is a state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha....
,
South DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. South Dakota was carved out of the southern half of the Dakota Territory and admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889...
, and
North DakotaNorth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America; on the Canadian border halfway between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. North Dakota is the 19th largest state by area in the U.S.; it is the 3
rd least populous, with just over 641,481 residents as...
, and in the
Mountain statesThe Mountain States form one of the nine geographic divisions of the United States that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
of
IdahoIdaho is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans." Idaho was admitted to the Union on 3 July 1890 as the 43rd state....
,
WyomingWyoming is a state in the Western United States. The majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountain West, while the easternmost section of the state includes part of a high elevation prairie region known as the High Plains. While the tenth largest...
, and
UtahUtah is a western state of the United States. It was the 45th state admitted to the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80 percent of Utah's 2,736,424 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering around Salt Lake City. In contrast, vast expanses of the state are nearly uninhabited, making...
(Utah gave George W. Bush more than 70% of the popular vote in 2004). These states are sparsely populated, have very few urban centers, and have overwhelmingly White populations, making it extremely difficult for Democrats to create a sustainable voter base there. Unlike the South, these areas have been strongly Republican since before the party realignments of the 1960s. The Great Plains states were one of the few areas of the country where Republicans had any significant support during the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. However, these areas also have very few electoral votes or House seats, making them of limited political utility relative to more populous states.
Conservatives and Moderates. The Republican coalition is quite diverse, and numerous
factionsThe Republican Party of the United States is composed of various different groups or factions. Although their interests at times conflict, they share enough in common to remain in the same party....
compete to frame platforms and select candidates. The "conservatives" are strongest in the South, where they draw support from religious conservatives. The "
moderateIn politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical.Aristotle favoured conciliatory politics dominated by the centre rather than the extremes of great wealth and poverty or the special interests of oligarchs and tyrants.-See also:*Centrism*Disadvantages for...
s" tend to dominate the party in New England, and used to be well represented in all states. From the 1940s to the 1970s under such leaders as Thomas E. Dewey,
Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the...
,
Nelson RockefellerNelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States, the 49th governor of New York, a philanthropist, and a businessman....
, and
Richard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States and is the only president to resign the office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States ....
, they usually dominated the presidential wing of the party. Since the 1970s they have been less powerful, though they are always represented in the cabinets of Republican presidents.
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of...
's two Republican congressmen lost to their Democratic opponents. In
VermontThe State of Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd by land area, , and 45th by total area. It has a population of 621,270, making it the second least-populated state...
,
Jim JeffordsJames 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.-Background:...
, a Republican Senator became an
independentIn politics, an independent is a politician who is not affiliated with any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do not feel that any major party addresses...
in 2001 due to growing disagreement with President Bush and the party leadership. In addition, Moderate Republicans hold the governorships in three of the six New England States;
M. Jodi RellMary Jodi Rell is a Republican politician and has been the 72nd Governor of the U.S. state of Connecticut since July 1, 2004. She was the Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut under Governor John G. Rowland, who resigned during a corruption investigation. Rell is Connecticut's second female...
in
ConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and New York to the west and south ....
,
Donald CarcieriDonald L. "Don" Carcieri is the 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...
in
Rhode IslandRhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, and
Jim DouglasJames H. Douglas is an American politician from the U.S. state of Vermont. A Republican, he was first elected Governor of Vermont in 2002 and has been reelected three times since then with a majority of the vote. He is also the current Chairman of the National Governors Association.Douglas is...
in
VermontThe State of Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd by land area, , and 45th by total area. It has a population of 621,270, making it the second least-populated state...
. Former
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
governor
Mitt RomneyWillard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and former Governor of Massachusetts. Romney was CEO of Bain & Company, a management consulting firm, and co-founder of Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm...
also was a popular Republican governor while in office.
Since the 1980s,
talk radioTalk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
audiences and hosts have tended to be conservative, and typically favor the Republicans. Some well known radio hosts include
Rush LimbaughRush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio host and conservative political commentator. Limbaugh rose to prominence during the 1990s as host of a nationally-syndicated talk-radio show, The Rush Limbaugh Show...
,
Glenn BeckGlenn Lee Beck is an American talk radio and television host, conservative political commentator, author, and entrepreneur. He hosts the nationally syndicated Glenn Beck Program on Premiere Radio Networks, while also hosting the Glenn Beck Show every weekday on the Fox News Channel...
,
Sean HannitySean Patrick Hannity is an American radio and television host, author, and conservative political commentator. His nationally syndicated radio program, The Sean Hannity Show, airs throughout the United States on Citadel Media...
,
Neal BoortzNeal A. Boortz, Jr. is an American radio host, author, and political commentator. His nationally-syndicated talk show, The Neal Boortz Show, airs throughout the United States on Jones Radio Networks. It is ranked seventh in overall listeners, with 4.25+ million per week...
,
Laura IngrahamLaura Anne Ingraham is an American radio host, author, and political commentator. Her nationally-syndicated talk show, The Laura Ingraham Show, airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network...
,
Michael ReaganMichael Edward Reagan is an American radio host and Republican strategist. His nationally-syndicated radio show, The Michael Reagan Talk Show, airs on stations throughout the United States on American Family Radio, after a long stint on Radio America...
,
Howie CarrHoward Louis "Howie" Carr, Jr. is an American journalist, author, and conservative radio talk-show host based in Boston with a listening audience rooted in New England.-Radio:...
, and
Michael SavageMichael Alan Weiner , better known by his pseudonym Michael Savage, is a U.S. radio host, author, and political commentator. He is the host of The Savage Nation, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network...
.
Future trends
Republican
Karl RoveKarl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until his resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
and other commentators had speculated about a permanent political realignment in favor of the GOP along the lines of the
presidential election of 1896The United States presidential election of November 3, 1896, saw Republican William McKinley defeat Democrat William Jennings Bryan in a campaign considered by historians to be one of the most dramatic and complex in American history. In political science the 1896 campaign is often considered to be...
, in which
William McKinleyWilliam McKinley Jr. was the 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected to the office....
constructed a Republican majority that lasted for the next 36 years. While the American political sphere is relatively evenly divided in terms of ideology, the Republican Party trails the Democrats by 17 million registered voters.
Democratic commentators
Ruy TeixeiraRuy Teixeira is an American political scientist and commentator who has written several books on various topics in political science and political strategy...
and
John JudisJohn B. Judis is an American author and journalist. He received B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a senior editor at The New Republic and a contributing editor to The American Prospect....
, on the other hand, say non-geographic social indicators show a trend toward Democrats. They point to the rapid increase in college graduates (who are trending Democratic), and the possible decrease in white and rural Republican bases. They also point to an increasing Democratic presence in formerly Republican strongholds such as Colorado, which as of the 2008 elections has two Democratic senators, a Democratic governor, and Democratic control of the legislature.
Skeptics ask whether the Republican Party can simultaneously contain both
libertariansLibertarianism is a term adopted by a broad spectrum of political philosophies which advocate the maximization of individual liberty and the minimization or even abolition of the state...
and
social conservativesSocial conservatism is a political or moral ideology that believes government and/or society have a role in encouraging or enforcing traditional values or behaviors based on the belief that these are what keep people civilized and decent. A second meaning of the term social conservatism developed...
, or whether it can contain a business community that may use
illegal immigrantsIllegal immigration is immigration across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. Illegal immigrants are also known as illegal aliens to differentiate them from legal aliens...
as employees, and
HispanicHispanic is a term that historically denoted a relationship to the ancient Hispania . During the modern era, it took on a more limited meaning, relating to the contemporary nation of Spain....
voters. Republican optimists also point to the success of Roosevelt's Democratic coalition, which held together even more disparate elements. For the most part until 2007, the Republican Party has remained fairly cohesive, as both strong
economic libertariansEconomic liberalism is the economic component of classical liberalism. It is the political and economic philosophy that supports and promotes the economic system of capitalism, in the laissez-faire sense...
and strong
social conservativesSocial conservatism is a political or moral ideology that believes government and/or society have a role in encouraging or enforcing traditional values or behaviors based on the belief that these are what keep people civilized and decent. A second meaning of the term social conservatism developed...
are opposed to the Democrats, whom they see as both the party of bigger and more secular, liberal government. Yet, libertarians are increasingly dissatisfied with the party's social policy and support for
corporate welfareCorporate welfare is a pejorative term describing a government's bestowal of money grants, tax breaks, or other special favorable treatment on corporations or selected corporations. The term compares corporate subsidies and welfare payments to the poor, and implies that corporations are much less...
and national debt, which some believe has grown increasingly restrictive of personal liberties, and with the Bush Administration greatly increasing the federal debt. Some social conservatives are also growing increasingly dissatisfied with the party's support for economic policies that they see as contradictory to their moral values.
State and territorial parties
- Alabama Republican Party
The Alabama Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Alabama. State Rep. Mike Hubbard serves as chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. He also serves as House Minority Leader.It is the dominant or majority party in Alabama...
http://www.algop.org
- Republican Party of Alaska
The Republican Party of Alaska is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Alaska. Randy Ruedrich of Anchorage is the party chairman.It is the dominant or majority party in Alaska. Following the elections of 2008, Republicans hold the following statewide executive offices:*Governor*Lt...
http://alaskarepublicans.com/
- Arizona Republican Party
The Arizona Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Arizona. Randy Pullen currently serves as the party chairman alongside three Vice-Chairs: Augustus Shaw, Billy Birdwell, and Parralee Schneider....
http://www.azgop.org/
- Republican Party of Arkansas
The Republican Party of Arkansas is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Arkansas.
The party is led by Chairman Doyle Webb. Webb replaced Dennis Milligan in 2008, who did not seek re-election. Webb's term is two years. A lawyer, he once was chief of staff for the late Lt...
http://www.arkansasgop.org/
- California Republican Party
The California Republican Party is the California affiliate of the national Republican Party. Its chairman is Ron Nehring and is based in Burbank, California, a suburb of Los Angeles....
http://www.cagop.org/
- Colorado Republican Party
The Colorado Republican Party is the state affiliate of the United States Republican Party in the U.S. state of Colorado. The state party chair is Dick Wadhams, and the executive director is Michael Britt. The Legislative Director is Ryan Call, and the Finance Director is Elizabeth Adams.The...
http://www.cologop.org/
- Connecticut Republican Party
The Connecticut Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Connecticut. Christopher C. Healy is the State Chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party. He was unanimously elected by the 72-member State Central Committee on January 30, 2007 to fill an unexpired term through June...
http://www.ctgop.org/
- Republican State Committee of Delaware
The Republican State Committee of Delaware is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Delaware.In the United States Congress, Delaware's only representative is Republican Michael N. Castle.-External links:*...
http://www.delawaregop.com/
- Republican Party of Florida
The Republican Party of Florida is the official organization for Republicans in the state of Florida.-History:Florida politics was largely dominated by the Democrats until Richard Nixon's Southern Strategy, which took advantage of white objections to the advances of the American Civil Rights...
http://www.rpof.org/
- Georgia Republican Party
The Georgia Republican Party is one of the two major political parties in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is affiliated with the United States Republican Party.-Leadership:...
http://www.gagop.org/
- Hawaii Republican Party
The Hawaii Republican Party was first the Missionary Party and was formed by descendants of Protestant missionaries that came to Hawaii from New England. The party was renamed the Reform Party of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The Party merged with native Hawaiian members of the Home Rule Party led by...
http://www.gophawaii.com/
- Idaho Republican Party
The Idaho Republican Party, the Idaho state affiliate of the United States Republican Party, is the dominant political party in the state of Idaho. Republicans control the all constitutional offices, with C.L. "Butch" Otter as Governor. They also control by large margins the state Senate and House...
http://www.idgop.org/
- Illinois Republican Party
The Illinois Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Illinois. As of 2009, it has been chaired by Pat Brady. The party is one of only three legally established, statewide political parties in Illinois, the others being the Democratic and Green parties.-Past Chairmen :The...
http://www.ilgop.org/
- Indiana Republican Party
The Indiana Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Indiana. The party is headed by the Indiana Republican State Committee, J. Murray Clark, Chairman.-2007 Elections:...
http://www.indgop.org/
- Republican Party of Iowa
The Republican Party of Iowa is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Iowa. The Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa is Matt Strawn.Historically the party has held the Governor's office – 30 of Iowa's 41 governors have been Republicans....
http://www.iowagop.org/
- Kansas Republican Party
The Kansas Republican Party is the state affiliate political party of the national Republican Party in Kansas. The current Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party is Amanda Adkins. The current Executive Director is CiCi Rojas. The current Assistant Director for External Relations is Megan Morris...
http://www.ksgop.org/
- Republican Party of Kentucky
The Republican Party of Kentucky is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Kentucky. Gail Russell is the Acting State Chairman as well as a member of the Republican National Committee.-Kentucky Republican Statewide Officeholders:*Senator: Mitch McConnell...
http://www.rpk.org/
- Republican Party of Louisiana
The Republican Party of Louisiana is the Louisiana organization of the national Republican Party. The current Chairman of the Republican Party of Louisiana is Roger F. Villere, Jr....
http://www.lagop.com/
- Maine Republican Party
The Maine Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Maine. It was founded in Strong, Maine on August 7, 1854. The state Chairman is Charles M. Webster.The Maine GOP is noted for its historically strong state College Republican federation...
http://www.mainegop.com/
- Maryland Republican Party
The Maryland Republican Party is the branch of the Republican Party located in the state of Maryland. It is historically the underdog party in state politics.The Republican Party is currently the minority party in both houses of the Maryland General Assembly...
http://www.mdgop.org/
- Massachusetts Republican Party
The Massachusetts Republican Party, as its name implies, is the Massachusetts branch of the United States Republican Party. Elected by the party’s state central committee, its current chairwoman is Jennifer Nassour...
http://www.massgop.com/
- Michigan Republican Party
The Michigan Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Michigan. It is sometimes referred to as MIGOP, which simply means Michigan Grand Old Party.-Current elected Republicans in Michigan:...
http://www.migop.org/
- Republican Party of Minnesota
The Republican Party of Minnesota is the Minnesota branch of the United States Republican Party. Elected by the party’s state central committee in June 2009, its current chairman is Tony Sutton, and its deputy-chairman is Michael Brodkorb.-Early history:...
http://www.mngop.com/
- Mississippi Republican Party
The Mississippi Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party.-History:In 1956, Wirt A. Yerger, Jr. founded the modern Mississippi Republican Party and served as the first State Chairman from 1956 until 1966. He was Chairman of the Mississippi Delegation to the Republican...
http://www.msgop.org/
- Missouri Republican Party
The Missouri Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party of Missouri. The party Chairman is David Cole, an attorney from Cassville, Missouri who was elected in January 2009.-U.S. Elected Officials:* Senator Christopher "Kit" Bond...
http://www.mogop.org/
- Montana Republican Party
The Montana Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Montana. The party is led by Chairman William Deschamps and Vice Chair Liane Johnson...
http://www.mtgop.org/
- Nebraska Republican Party
The Nebraska Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Nebraska. The party is currently headed by Chairman Mark Fahleson.The Nebraska Republican Party, also known as the "NEGOP", is headquartered in Lincoln, NE.-External links:*...
http://www.negop.org/
- Nevada Republican Party
The Nevada Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Nevada. The party is currently led by Chairwoman Sue Lowden....
http://www.nevadagop.org/
- New Hampshire Republican State Committee
The New Hampshire Republican State Committee is the affiliate of the Republican Party in New Hampshire. The Republican Executive Committee is headed up by Chairman and former New Hampshire Governor John H. Sununu.-Former Chairpersons:...
http://www.nhgop.org/
- New Jersey Republican State Committee
The New Jersey Republican State Committee is the affiliate of the Republican Party in New Jersey. The party is led by Chairman Tom Wilson of Montgomery Township, New Jersey.-Current leadership:* Jay Webber, State Chairman...
http://www.njgop.org/
- Republican Party of New Mexico
The Republican Party of New Mexico is the affiliate of the Republican Party in New Mexico. The party is led by Chairman Harvey Yates.-Chairmen:* John Dendahl -2003* Ramsey Gorham - 2003-2004* Allen Weh 2004 - 2009* Harvey Yates 2009 --External links:*...
http://www.gopnm.org/
- New York Republican State Committee
The New York Republican State Committee is the affiliate of the Republican Party in New York. Joseph N. Mondello is the party Chairman.The NYRSC is headquartered at 315 State Street, Albany, NY 12210.-External links:*****...
http://www.nygop.org/
- North Carolina Republican Party
The North Carolina Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in North Carolina. Tom Fetzer was elected Chairman of the party on June 13, 2009....
http://www.ncgop.org/
- North Dakota Republican Party
The North Dakota Republican Party, abbreviated ND GOP, is the North Dakota affiliate of the United States Republican Party. The current party chairman is Gary Emineth...
http://www.ndgop.com
- Ohio Republican Party
The Ohio Republican Party is the Ohio state affiliate of the United States Republican Party. As of 2009, the Republicans control only the Senate of the Ohio General Assembly due to advances made by Democrats in the other chamber of the General Assembly in 2008 election cycle...
http://www.ohiogop.org/
- Oklahoma Republican Party
The Oklahoma Republican Party is an Oklahoma political party affiliated with the United States Republican Party. The Republican Party in Oklahoma currently controls the Oklahoma House of Representatives, the Oklahoma Senate, both U.S. Senate seats, and 4 of the 5 U.S. Congressional seats...
http://www.okgop.com/
- Oregon Republican Party
The Oregon Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Oregon. The first state party convention was held in Salem on April 21, 1859, and its first nominee for Congress, Portland attorney David Logan, came within sixteen votes of being elected...
http://www.orgop.org/
- Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania
The Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania is based in Harrisburg in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is affiliated with the Republican Party of the United States.- Leadership :* Robert A. Gleason Jr., Chairman* Joyce Hass, Vice Chairwoman...
http://www.pagop.org/
- Rhode Island Republican Party
The Rhode Island Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Rhode Island. Giovanni Cicione is the current Rhode Island Republican Party Chairman, Adam West is Executive Director.-External links:*...
http://www.rigop.org/
- South Carolina Republican Party
The South Carolina Republican Party is the South Carolina affiliate of the national Republican Party. The Party is led by an elected group of state party officers, the South Carolina Republican Party State Executive Committee and paid staff...
http://www.scgop.com/
- South Dakota Republican Party
The South Dakota Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in South Dakota. Karl Adam is the State Chairman, Sue Peterson is the State Vice Chair.-External links:*...
http://www.southdakotagop.com/
- Tennessee Republican Party
The Tennessee Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Tennessee. It is often called the Tennessee Grand Old Party or the TN GOP....
http://www.tngop.org/
- Republican Party of Texas
The Republican Party of Texas is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Texas. Tina J. Benkiser has been chairman of the party since 2003. Dr. Robin Armstrong was elected Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas in June 2006...
http://www.texasgop.org/
- Utah Republican Party
The Utah State Republican Party works to elect Republicans to office in the state of Utah.-State Party Organization:In off election years the Utah Republican Party holds organizing conventions where state delegate elect a chair, vice-chair, secretary and treasurer. The state party officers are...
http://www.utgop.org/
- Vermont Republican Party
The Vermont Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Vermont. On January 27, 2007, Rob Roper was elected Chairman of the Vermont Republican State Committee.-External links:*...
http://www.vtgop.org/
- Republican Party of Virginia
The Republican Party of Virginia is based in Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is affiliated with the National Republican Party of the United States.- Organization and candidate selection :The State Party Plan...
http://www.vagop.com/
- Washington State Republican Party
The Washington State Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Washington. The current Chairman of the Washington State Republican Party is Luke Esser. The current Vice Chair is Olga Miller. The current Treasurer is Ed Mitchell....
http://www.wsrp.org/
- West Virginia Republican Party
The West Virginia Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in West Virginia. As of 2007, it is headed by Dr. Doug McKinney, State Chairman.-Prominent West Virginia Republican officeholders:*U.S...
http://www.wvgop.org/
- Republican Party of Wisconsin
The Republican Party of Wisconsin is the Wisconsin affiliate of the national Republican Party. The current state party chair is Reince Priebus...
http://www.wisgop.org/
- Wyoming Republican Party
The Wyoming Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Wyoming. In May 2007, Fred Parady was elected Chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party, Diana Vaughn is Vice Chair, and Judy Catchpole is Secretary. -External links:*...
http://www.wygop.org/
- Republican Party of American Samoa
Republican Party of American Samoa is the affiliate of the U.S. Republican Party in American Samoa. The party was founded by Peter Tali Coleman. The current party chair Su'a Carl Schuster, holding the position since February 23, 2008, Te'o J. Fuavai and Amata C. Radewagen are Republican National...
- District of Columbia Republican Committee
The District of Columbia Republican Committee is Chaired by Robert J. Kabel and located at 1275 K Street, NW Suite 102 in Washington, D.C.. The DC Republican National Committee man is Anthony W. Parker and the DC Republican National Committee woman is Betsy W. Werronen. The Executive Director is...
http://www.dcgop.com/
- Guam Republican Party
The Republican Party is a political party in Guam affiliated with the United States Republican Party.At the election of November 2006, the party won 8 out of 15 seats in the legislature and its gubernatorial candidate Felix Perez Camacho was re-elected governor.However, after the death of a...
- Northern Mariana Islands Republican Party
The Republican Party is a political party in the Northern Mariana Islands.In the 2001 gubernatorial electionJuan Babauta of the Republican Party won with 42.8% of the vote...
- Republican Party of Puerto Rico http://www.goppr.org/index.php.en
- Republican Party of the Virgin Islands
The Republican Party is a political party in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was founded in 1948 by a committee led by Roy Gordon as a successor to the Republican Club of the Virgin Islands founded in 1924 by Adolph Achille Gereau....
http://www.virepublicanwomen.com/id2.html
See also
External links