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.
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)?
1. Many religious groups and other white working class people have caused this shift in conservatism. These people have similar ideologies, and the GOP is trying to reach a larger base that is more conservative, like a majority of white people from the South since the 1970s. They have changed a lot of their opinions to identify with these people, including religious ideas like abortion, gay marriage, and immigration, and take hard, unwavering stances on these issues.
ReplyDelete2. The most important elections were the 1964 election of Lyndon B. Johnson, the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan, and 1992 election of Bill Clinton. In 1964, the Republicans realized they needed to reach a larger portion of the American public if they wanted to win national elections, so they began to talk negatively about Democrats, and were drawn to religious ideas. When Reagan won, the party began to take clear stances on issues like support of the second amendment, and that the government “was the problem, not the solution.” With Clinton, taxes were lowered as he promised to boost the economy after the recession earlier that year, which appealed to people who were affected by the recession..
3. The most progressive elements of the previous GOP platforms was that they thought the government should “be truly progressive as an employer”, and are not even referred to as conservative until the 1990s. They helped people by making efforts to curb inflation. They thought the federal government should fund public transit until 1980, when it shifted to supporting the automobile and ability to have the freedom to move. The GOP prior to the late 1980s and early 1990s was much more moderate, and were more supportive of the federal government helping the people.
1. The shift in the GOP becoming increasingly conservative is most likely caused by large corporate sponsors. The GOP recently started calling for reduced taxes for the wealthy which would likely attract elites who would fund the party to make this a reality. The GOP is also trying, at the same,to appeal to the spiritual part of the nation by adapting many of the same philosophies as the church. They are now anti abortion and gay marriage which would garner the support for a majority of religious people. By appealing to the masses with ideology, and the elite with more economic liberty, the GOP is able to gain massive support despite changing its original philosophies.
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Delete3. During George H.W. Bush’s presidency, Republicans claimed that they would spend billions of federal dollars to find a solution for global warming but then said that there was too much “scientific uncertainty.” They also heavily funded public transportation until the 1980’s where they started supporting freedom and personal mobility. Throughout the 60’s and 70’s, Republicans strongly supported women’s and people’s voting rights, however, they eventually stopped aggressively advocating for them. In 1968, they expanded Social Security by lowering the age for universal coverage to 65.
ReplyDelete3. While today’s Republicans cannot be viewed as progressive previous GOP platforms were certainly progressive and the GOP classified parts of their platform as progressive. The 2 biggest progressive parts of the GOP platform was socially, environmentally and fiscally (all 3!). Specifically, Republicans were not particularly against banning abortion. They believed it should be the individuals choice and legislation was not needed. However, a shift in the GOP’s stance happened to try and align themselves with the newly formed southern Bible belt (realignment, dealignment?). Environmentally, the GOP was progressive and open to environmental legislation, unlike today where they are not. Also, Republicans were not as quite distrustful of the government to regulate business, place taxes and overall conservative nature of the parties economics today.
ReplyDelete1. The groups that have pushed the Republican party to be more conservative are religious groups and corporations. The Republican party has large support from Evangelical Christians, who are more likely to oppose gay marriage and abortions. The Republican party also has support from large businesses, since their economic policy of less governmental regulation is appealing to these groups.
ReplyDeleteAs we heard in the “Gun Show” podcast, one group that pushed the GOP to conservative policy was the NRA. Before the NRA switched leadership the GOP was comparatively much more liberal on gun policy then it is today. Another group which has caused the GOP to lean further right is evangelical Christians. Issues like abortion and gay rights are important to these voters and once the Republican party tapped into that voter base they have been more conservative on both these issues.
ReplyDeleteThe GOP has grown more and more conservative over the years, ever since the 80's. This is when not politically affiliated groups, such as religious groups and the wealthy began to influence the policies of the Republican Party. The Republican Party needed the votes and therefore changed their policy and voiced different beliefs to target a larger group that they knew they could win over. They even moved their headquarters to the South, so that "white suburbia" would feel more connected to their political party.
ReplyDelete1. The Republican Party used to be more concerned with fiscal federalism, but due to Evangelical Christians who make up a large portion of Republican voters, the GOP has gotten more conservative. Through the influence of Evangelical Christians, the GOP is more concerned about cultural war issues like abortion, LQBTQ+ rights, and public religion. There are also additional groups like the NRA who use their contributions to control politicians to support or not support stances on gun control. The Republican Party continues to get more conservative due to a need to appease these groups to get their continued support.
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ReplyDeleteThe 1968 and 1980 presidential elections were two of the most essential elections for the GOP to determine the success of their political strategy. During the 1968 election, Richard Nixon reinforced the idea of "states' rights" to Southern voters in what became known as Southern Strategy. The white voters believed Nixon was referring to the federal government stopping the requirement of forced busing for school children. This was enticing to many white southerners and reassured Nixon and fellow conservatives that their plan was working. Following Ronald Reagan's victory in 1980, the party adoped more conservative stances around abortion and gun rights.
ReplyDelete3. Prior to the early 1990's, the GOP platform included many progressive elements that, in the current political sphere would be perceived to be more aligned with the Democratic Party. The GoP's switch to conservatism began in the 80's due to the parties desire to appeal to religious groups. However, in the 60's and 70's, Republicans focused on traditionally liberal topics such as supporting women's rights, including the ERA, and taking a neutral stance on abortion. Additionally, The GOP addressed environmental conservation,public housing projects, preventing discrimination against minorities, and a proposal to expand Social Security by lowering the age for universal coverage from 72 to 65.
ReplyDelete-Olivia Bollinger
Delete1. The GOP has become more conservative over the past several decades due to increased support from the south and religious groups. As the demographic of the US changes, the GOP has adopted different, more conservative stances on issues to appeal to more people such as the white working class and the "white suburbia" in the south. Since religious groups such as evangelical Christians are against LGBTQ+ rights and abortion, the GOP changed their stances to gain support from these groups.
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ReplyDelete1. The GOP has adopted more conservative policies because of influence from religious groups and the less affluent, socially conservative people. The goal is to win national elections, so the GOP has had to change their ideologies to gain more popularity and represent more people. These sudden changes can be seen in the 1970s and 80s. For example, religion, which was hardly ever mentioned before the 80s, was now the core of many policies and ideologies such as same-sex marriage and abortion. They also appeal to more conservative/traditional voters by turning their back on an equal-rights amendment for women and on immigrants.
ReplyDelete1. Groups that have pushed the GOP to adopt more conservative policies include religious groups and social groups with more conservative ideas like white southerners. Religious groups have heavily influenced the Republican party's ideas as they have pushed against abortion and same-sex marriage. Abortion and gay marriage are against the beliefs of many religious individuals, and the party has adapted to take on strong stances against these ideas to win the voters' support. By 1992, the platform called for appointing "judges who oppose abortion". They have also pushed the party to become more conservative through the support of prayer in public schools, and posting the Ten Commandments. Since the 1970s, Republicans had adapted in order to appeal to those in the South as well, gaining many votes in supporting their ideals. Their stance on immigrants has become less progressive, supporting the limitation of benefits for illegal immigrants and pushing for strong defense and borders.
ReplyDelete3. The GOP platform was very progressive during the 1960s, before their shift towards more conservative and faith based policies in later decades. One of the most progressive elements of previous GOP platforms was the support of unions and increased immigration. Today, the GOP’s opposition to immigration is one of the main pillars of the party. Another progressive element of the GOP’s platform in 1960 is the call for school desegregation. This was during a time when racial discrimination was an extremely controversial topic. The vast majority of white southerns did not support integration, and that population makes up some of the GOP’s most loyal followers today. The 1968 platform sought to address air/water pollution and discrimination against minorities. Today, these issues fall under the Democratic party’s agenda. By analyzing the platform in the 1960s in comparison with today’s platform, it is evident that the party has become much more conservative.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly, past GOP platforms were quite liberal on topics such as equal rights and laissez-faire (or lack thereof) economic policies. The 1960 platform supported desegregation of schools and the 1972 GOP platform “celebrates” a three-fold increase of aid to minorities, showing a desire for racial equality that the modern Republican party does not express. Interestingly, the GOP platform supported an equal rights amendment for gender equality throughout the 1960s and ’70s. Also, past Republican platforms did not contain the current emphasis on avoiding government interference in the economy. This was shown in the 1972 platform that embraced “use of wage and price controls to curb inflation” and the 1968 platform that proposed expanding Social Security to people of a younger age. The 1960 platform even strongly supported unions.
ReplyDelete1. The GOP has become more conservative because of increasingly conservative groups, but also because of the presence of more progressive-thinking, liberal groups. Having such an extreme conservative in office has allowed right-winged voices to be heard. On the other side, liberals have become very vocal in politics as well. The imbalance of power between the two groups has caused them to take more radical stances respectively. An example of this is the LGBTQ+ community. As liberals become more and more accepting and welcoming of these people, conservatives in office passed the Trans Military Ban or an act that permit the discrimination based on one's sexual preference. The GOP has become more conservative as a reaction to liberals becoming more leftist.
ReplyDelete- Sophie Aziza
Delete1. Usually religious and social groups that vote more conservative, similar to the Republican party, tend to push the GOP into voting for more of those conservative policies. The conservative parties that specifically vote for more traditional values such as illegal abortions, same-sex marriages, or more gun rights, because they want to gain supporters. Throughout the 1970s as voters begin to travel more to the Southern states to gain awareness of these issues, it's created a ripple effect that conservative voters now effect unauthorized citizens and immigrants that came to this country that would have potential to help the economy. Because these conservative voters have steadily grew popularity, it's begun to effect the GOP as they push to vote for conservative policies.
ReplyDelete1. Religious conservatives and white people living in suburban areas have caused the Republican Party to adopt more conservative views over time. Religious conservatives have pushed for policies banning gay marriage, banning abortion, and establishing time for school-wide prayers in public schools. White people living in suburban areas have pushed for less involved economic policies due to fears of government corruption and the wasting of federal money. For example, in 1964 the Republican Party expressed disapproval of the Democrats' push for an increasingly central government.
ReplyDelete1. Religious conservatives and whites that belong to the working class or live in suburban American have pushed the GOP to adopt more conservative policies. The 1960s marked a tumultuous era in which minorities began defending their rights and advocating legal and social justice, upsetting many whites, but the true watershed moment came in 1980, with the election of Ronald Reagan. Reagan endorsed ideas of Judeo-Christian morality, which many religious conservatives took as a protection of their sacred values and a blow to the "moral decay" they thought was happening in American society. Suburban whites also supported how Reagan opposed "big government" because they feared government corruption. Since these two voter blocs became the base of the Republican Party's support, the party began to incorporate these groups' views into its GOP platform, so these groups would continue to vote for them. For instance, religious conservatives have endorsed policies such as ones banning gay marriage and abortion and taking hard stances on immigration, and the party has accordingly adopted these views.
ReplyDelete- Danielle J.
DeleteThe group that has been pushing the GOP to adopt more conservative policies were primarily religious groups and corporations. The republicans have been trying to win the favor of religious groups through actions such as supporting abortion and speaking repeatedly of faith. The GOP has also been winning the favor of corporations due to their idea to reduce taxes for the wealthy. The republican party can successfully identify with white working or wealthy class individuals who reside in the south due to these conservative ideology
ReplyDelete