Here is a link to a lengthly Washington Post article on the GOP Platform (dive on in)
While party platforms adopted at the conventions every four years are often lengthy, somewhat idealistic
and can be co-opted by special interests, they are the official set of principles that define a political party.
The Washington Post details the conservative shift of GOP Platforms from the 1960s up to 2012.
Not surprisingly, the watershed moment is 1980 when “The Republican Party declares war on
government overregulation.” By 1992, the platform explains that lowering taxes on the rich will lead to
job creation and declaring an opposition to any increase in taxes. Issues such as abortion and other
faith based topics are virtually non-existent before the 1980s. However, the GOP began to identify with
the Bible Belt religious base of voters. In 1980, the platform called for an amendment outlawing
abortion even though the 1976 platform said abortion was a “moral and personal issue” in which
Republicans disagree. In fact, the most dramatic shift might be from 1960, when Republicans went
from supporting unions, immigrants and the positive role of government to the 1964 platform that
bashed Democrats for being federal extremists and spoke repeatedly of faith. By 2012, the
conservative shift was evident in calls to privatize Medicare and Social Security, while it also
promotes radical ideas such as auditing the Federal Reserve and returning to the Gold Standard.
All that said, platforms represent politics and not governing. The 2012 GOP called for an
amendment to balance the budget which would be fiscally impossible considering the
2018 increase in military spending coupled with huge tax cuts.
- What have been the groups that have pushed the GOP to adopt more conservative policies?
- What were the most important elections that proved to the GOP its strategy was working politically?
- What are the most progressive elements of previous GOP platforms (see article)?
Livvy van Hamel Platerink, Period 1
ReplyDelete1. The groups that have pushed the GOP to adopt more conservative policies are more conservative, less affluent suburban voters. The comic shown shows that even the policies that were developed by the Republican party are now opposed by members of the GOP because of how much the party has changed. The Washington Post Article says that the Republican Party started “adapting and appealing to a new base in the South from the 1970s forward” (Washington Post). This is about the time that the party started shifting from being more tolerant to taking a hard line on issues such as abortion, federal spending, immigration, and other issues. The Republican party realized that it could not solely get its support from elite business people, because they do not make up a large portion of the population. So in order to appeal to a broader demographic, the Republican party started to advocate more conservative stances on issues so that they would appeal to people from white suburbia, and win the majority in the US.
2. The most important elections that proved to the GOP that its strategy was working included the 1964 election, the 1980 election, and the 1992 election. These elections marked the biggest shifts in Republican policy. In 1964, the party shifted from being very supportive of immigrants, unions, and a strong government to attacking the Democratic party and becoming much more faith-based. Then, in 1980, the party started its opposition to government overregulation and abortion. Reagan won in 1980, so his platform was evidently successful in gaining support. 1992 was the year that the party began to advocate for lowering taxes and opposing same sex marriage. George H.W. Bush won the election of 1992, further proving the strong support that the GOP’s new strategy was garnering. These elections were very important in determining the future of the GOP because they showed Republicans that their new strategy of appealing to a white suburban demographic was effective.
3. Before its gradual shift towards conservative policies, the GOP had much more progressive views. The platform of the GOP in 1960 could be considered especially liberal, as it supported unions and actually demanded that the “annual number of immigrants we accept be at least doubled” (Washington Post). This is especially surprising considering the Republican party’s current strict views on immigration. Also, throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the GOP actually advocated for the ERA which would eliminate gender-based discrimination. This idea was particularly liberal for the time, as the Amendment did not even get ratified by enough states to pass. Furthermore, the Republican party showed no opposition to abortion before 1980. In fact, in the 1976 platform, the party said that abortion was “undoubtedly a moral and personal issue” that many Republicans disagreed on. While this is not necessarily advocating a pro-choice view, the Republican party did not used to completely oppose abortion. I was very surprised at how liberal the GOP used to be in comparison to the modern-day Republican party, especially considering how quickly it changed its views.
Inés Escobedo, p1
ReplyDelete1. In order to get more support for their political party, the GOP has shifted into a more conservative stance, even if this meant that they contradicted their earlier statements. In order to appeal to more people than just the higher class, the GOP had to change their political views to fit the "Bible Belt religious base of voters." In order to appeal to a larger base, the Republican Party changed their stance on issues such as abortion, immigration, and Medicare. They mainly began to focus more on faith-based issues that had not been a topic of debate or interest to the party before the 1980s.
2. The three elections that completely reflected the changes in the GOP were the 1964 election, which changed the Republicans to be more faith-driven and spoke negatively about the democrats and labeled them as extremists instead of focusing on previous issues like immigration and unions; the 1980 election, which focused on abortion and making it illegal, while also declaring war on government overregulation; and the 1992 election, which saw that taxes were lowered for the upper class under the promise that it would create more jobs and overall help the economy.
3. the GOP had much more liberal policies before their shift to a more religious standing. The three main issues in which they shifted was abortion, unions, and immigration. Republicans went from supporting unions (the employed), to advocating for tax cuts for the rich (supporting the employer) under the pretense of creating more jobs. The party also called for the doubling of the amount of immigrants coming into the country, and stated that abortion should be a woman's personal choice. All of these policies are very alien to the present-day GOP, as they had to change their standing on many of these issues in order to continue to gain support and grow as a political party.
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Delete1. The GOP has shifted policy farther to the right close to the turn of the century because they realized that the upper class vote was not enough to secure influence in gov't. By taking hard stances on abortion, healthcare, immigration, etc, they extend the party's appeal to rural conservatives and "traditional" Americans.
ReplyDelete2. The loss in 1964 to LBJ triggered Republicans' shift to faith-based policy and aggressive anti-Democrat tactics, as years have passed this party rivalry has only increased. Reagan's win in 1980 represented the R party taking single-minded positions on abortion and declaring the evil of big government (gov=problem, not solution). The H.W. Bush win in 1992 signaled again that anti-gay marriage ideals and tax cuts were effectively garnering support from America's "bible belt" and less affluent working class.
3. During the 1960s, the Republican Party believed in the government's responsibility as an employer and the necessity for adequate salaries. In the 70s, Republicans were known for helping minorities and using wage/price control to slow inflation. These were not even key issues that changed Republicans' ideals. Abortion was once considered a woman's choice, increase in immigration was supported, and the Republicans were firm supporters of unions. Now, abortion is illegal in many places, people are calling for a border wall, and Rs cater to wealthy employers.
Steven Yarmolinsky
ReplyDeletePeriod 1
1. In order to garner more voters, the GOP has taken a more conservative that at times has contradicted their original statement. By taking new stances on abortion, taxes, and other faith based issues. By taking conservative standpoints on these issues, the GOP is able to appeal to a much greater audience.
2. The three elections that confirmed the legitimacy of the policies that the GOP implemented were the 1964, 1980, and 1992 elections. In 1964, the GOP became . a more faith-based political party and started aggressively opposing the ideals of the Democrats. In 1980, Reagan was elected and the Republican party took a stiff stance on abortion while claiming that government was the "problem" and not the "solution" In 1992, the party began with advocating for a series of tax cuts for the rich while also opposing gay marriage.
3. Before the switch to a more faith-based political organization, the GOP had some liberal policies. For example, throughout the 60's and 70's the GOP was attempting to create and equal rights amendment that protected women. In addition, the party was a major advocate for the expansion of voting rights. Before the 1980's, the word "faith" is never mentioned or associated anywhere with the GOP.
Moya Liu, 1
ReplyDelete1. Many conservative groups and less affluent voters have caused this shift in conservatism as the GOP tries to appeal to a larger proportion of swing voters. In order to identify with these people, the GOP has changed their policies and stances on issues such as abortion, gay marriage, Medicare and immigration.
2. The most important elections that proved to the GOP that its strategy was working politically were the 1964 election of Lyndon B. Johnson, the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan, and 1992 election of Bill Clinton. The Republicans became more faith-based in the 1964 election, when they shifted from supporting unions, immigrants and the positive role of government to talking negatively about the democratic party. In the 1980 election of Regan, the party began to take more conservative stances on issues like support of the second amendment, and advocated the idea that the government was the problem, not the solution. With Clinton, taxes were lowered for the upper class as he promised that it would increase employment and help the economy.
3. The GOP prior to the early 90s was more supportive of the positive role of the federal government in helping the people. For instance, during the 1960s, they thought the government should “be truly progressive as an employer”. Prior to the late 80s, the GOP not only attempted to create equal rights amendment that protected women, but also tripled federal spending to help minorities.
Anthony Leon Chumpitazi, Period: 1
ReplyDelete1) For the Republican party to gain more supporter, they shifted to a more conservative white base suburbia. Due to them realizing that only having support with big industries weren't enough, they expended their demographic to increase their chances of winning elections. Thus, their expansion included: Religion, Abortion, Immigration, federal spending... etc to the point of them becoming more conservative.
2) 3 elections proved the GOP strategy was working politicly, 1964, 1980, and 1992 election. 1964 was a year where the Republicans started attacking the Democrats and were more faith base. Unlike, their previous year when they were more moderate/liberal like supporting unions, and immigration, which they previously said to double it. Then in 1980, the views of the republican were more in government regulation and first time speaking out in abortion (pro-life). Finally, 1992 is the year where George W Bush won the election, demonstrating the success of the GOP strategy due to the republican view being slightly more controversial. There view being banning same-sex marriage and lowering tax for the rich, because it can create jobs for the people in the long run.
3) Before the Republicans were known to be conservative, they were fairly liberals. They used to call them self moderates and never used the word conservative. Before all the conservative stuff happened they were advocating for: the union, women's right on gender base discrimination, immigration in where they are quoted to "double" the flow of them for the previous year, abortion for being a person's "private matter" in which they didn't contradict up until 1980, and strong government.
1. The groups pushing the GOP in a conservative direction tend to be white voters, usually in the Bible Belt. These voters tend to be highly religious, which resulted in a push for the GOP to adopt a partially faith-based platform and develop strong stances on issues like abortion, which is the subject of religious debates. The GOP began to contradict the stances of Democrats directly in the 1964 election, as it began to appeal more and more to traditional values and warn against a strong government influence in American society. Additionally, as conservative interest groups such as the NRA began supporting GOP candidates including Reagan in 1980 and Bush in 2000, the GOP platform began to reflect their interests and grow more conservative.
ReplyDelete2. The three recent pivotal elections for the GOP were the elections of 1964, 1980, and 1992. In 1964, the GOP completely turned their platform around from just four years before. Whereas in 1960, the GOP had progressive values including an increase in immigration, a stronger and positive presence for the national government, and a support of unions, in 1964 the GOP went back on all of these issues and criticized Democrats for supporting the same ideas they had supported four years earlier. In 1980, the GOP began to develop a more faith-based platform, as they called for an outlaw on abortion. This is especially significant, because in 1976 the GOP issued a statement that abortion is a moral and personal issue. Also, the GOP began to support gun rights and the 2nd amendment, most likely due to NRA support for Reagan as well as a strong voter basis in southern states. Lastly, in 1992, the GOP under Clinton advocated that “Government is the problem” and began lowering taxes on the rich, arguing that it would increase job production and support the economy. This represents a lot of the Republic Party’s current viewpoints, and represented a shift to the modern values of the GOP (small government, low taxes on the wealthy, etc.).
3. The GOP was much more progressive in the 60's and 70's than it is now. It lacked any basis of faith in their platform, and was much more progressive on issues such as abortion. For example, in 1976, the GOP stated that abortion was a moral and personal issue, but in 1980 they called to outlaw it. It was also very open to immigration, as the platform called for increases in immigration to help support our economy. This was and still is a very progressive and liberal point of view. Lastly, the GOP called for the Equal Rights Amendment, which was extremely progressive at the time. Over time, however, we have seen a shift towards conservative values and these progressive attitudes have slowly slipped off the GOP platform.
1) The groups that have pushed the GOP to adopt more conservative policies includes less affluent conservatives as well as religious conservatives. Although the conservative position is relatively new to the republican party, this connection began with southern white suburbs in the 1970’s. The GOP as a result had to appeal as well as adapt to this new demographic and somehow intertwine their more traditional business foundation with their less affluent and conservative base in the south, therefore creating more conservative policies as shown by their stances on issues like abortion.
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