‘Evaluate the view that the GOP is dominated by conservatives’ (30)
The Republican Party, or the Grand Old Party (GOP), is one of the two major political parties in
the United States. It is a right wing party, which has moved further right over the years due to
the rise of the Tea Party. There are different types of conservative within the party- fiscal
conservative, social conservative, rebel libertarian (Trumpists), and moderates. Moderates are
no longer relevant as the whole party has moved right, so the GOP is dominated by
conservatives. It is currently dominated by Trumpists after Donald Trump became president in
2016.
The GOP believes in ‘Trumpism’ as Donald Trump had a major impact on the party when he
became president. He had a strong hold on the party’s grass roots and persuaded many of
them to believe that truth doesn’t matter- shown by how ⅔ of the Rebublican members in the
House voted to object to the election results, with no evidence to show widespread voter fraud.
They took troops out of Afghanistan, and threatened to withdraw from NATO and free trade
areas, NAFTA and TPP, as this is what Trump wanted. No Republicans voted to impeach
Trump in his first trial, and only 10 Republicans supported impeaching the president the second
time. The protests in the Capitol resulted in the death of a police officer and four rioters, only
because Trump wanted to overturn the election- there were still 197 Republicans who voted not
to impeach. However uncomfortable they were with Trump’s role in the mob action, as some
expressed, they nonetheless supported him as they have for four years. Overall, the GOP is
overwhelmingly dominated by Trumpists, shown by the support in his impeachment trials.
There is also evidence to show that the GOP is socially conservative. This was the dominant
wing between 1999-2009- it was superseded by the fiscal conservatives and, temporarily, the
Tea Party and then Trump. Abortion is a major issue for them, as well as school prayer. Trump
supports the school prayer and freedom of speech in terms of religion, as well as anti-abortion
as he attented a pro-life rally. He is also against the separation of the church and the state.
There were 3 Supreme Court appointments in Trump’s 4 years of presidency who where all pro-
life, particularly Amy Coney-Barrett, as well as hundreds of federal court judges- which
fundamentally shifted the balance of the judiciary in America. In addition, Mike Pence was
deliberately chosen to be vice president to please the social conservatives. Overall, the GOP
still shows a lot of evidence of social conservatism within the party.
There is evidence that the GOP is fiscally conservative. They are concerned with maximising
the freedom of the (richer) individual, believe that the free market is good and the size of the
state should be restricted. This is shown by Trump’s tax cuts in 2017, and his deregulation
which removed 400 government regulations. Trump also opposed environmental regulations as
they offload costs onto businesses- shown by how he removed the USA from the Paris climate
change agreement and expanded the use of ‘clean coal’ and drilling for oil in the nature
reserves in Alaska. However, they just passed an act to allow all Americans to be given $400
due to coronavirus, while Trump wanted this to be $2000. This goes against the fiscal
conservative view of having a free market and less government intervention. Overall, the GOP
isn’t as strongly fiscally conservative as it is socially and Trumpist, however some fiscally
conservative policy objectives are still implemented.
In conclusion, the GOP is conservative, but it depends what is meant by ‘conservative’- fiscal
conservatives prioritise cutting spending, social conservatives prioritise traditional religious
values, and Trumpists have aspects of both but also Alt-Right ‘cultural’. There is a large amount
of overlap, like Ted Cruz who appears to be in all 3 groups. The party is dominantly Trumpist,
shown by his overwhelming support in his impeachment trials. The party isn’t as fiscally
The Republican Party, or the Grand Old Party (GOP), is one of the two major political parties in
the United States. It is a right wing party, which has moved further right over the years due to
the rise of the Tea Party. There are different types of conservative within the party- fiscal
conservative, social conservative, rebel libertarian (Trumpists), and moderates. Moderates are
no longer relevant as the whole party has moved right, so the GOP is dominated by
conservatives. It is currently dominated by Trumpists after Donald Trump became president in
2016.
The GOP believes in ‘Trumpism’ as Donald Trump had a major impact on the party when he
became president. He had a strong hold on the party’s grass roots and persuaded many of
them to believe that truth doesn’t matter- shown by how ⅔ of the Rebublican members in the
House voted to object to the election results, with no evidence to show widespread voter fraud.
They took troops out of Afghanistan, and threatened to withdraw from NATO and free trade
areas, NAFTA and TPP, as this is what Trump wanted. No Republicans voted to impeach
Trump in his first trial, and only 10 Republicans supported impeaching the president the second
time. The protests in the Capitol resulted in the death of a police officer and four rioters, only
because Trump wanted to overturn the election- there were still 197 Republicans who voted not
to impeach. However uncomfortable they were with Trump’s role in the mob action, as some
expressed, they nonetheless supported him as they have for four years. Overall, the GOP is
overwhelmingly dominated by Trumpists, shown by the support in his impeachment trials.
There is also evidence to show that the GOP is socially conservative. This was the dominant
wing between 1999-2009- it was superseded by the fiscal conservatives and, temporarily, the
Tea Party and then Trump. Abortion is a major issue for them, as well as school prayer. Trump
supports the school prayer and freedom of speech in terms of religion, as well as anti-abortion
as he attented a pro-life rally. He is also against the separation of the church and the state.
There were 3 Supreme Court appointments in Trump’s 4 years of presidency who where all pro-
life, particularly Amy Coney-Barrett, as well as hundreds of federal court judges- which
fundamentally shifted the balance of the judiciary in America. In addition, Mike Pence was
deliberately chosen to be vice president to please the social conservatives. Overall, the GOP
still shows a lot of evidence of social conservatism within the party.
There is evidence that the GOP is fiscally conservative. They are concerned with maximising
the freedom of the (richer) individual, believe that the free market is good and the size of the
state should be restricted. This is shown by Trump’s tax cuts in 2017, and his deregulation
which removed 400 government regulations. Trump also opposed environmental regulations as
they offload costs onto businesses- shown by how he removed the USA from the Paris climate
change agreement and expanded the use of ‘clean coal’ and drilling for oil in the nature
reserves in Alaska. However, they just passed an act to allow all Americans to be given $400
due to coronavirus, while Trump wanted this to be $2000. This goes against the fiscal
conservative view of having a free market and less government intervention. Overall, the GOP
isn’t as strongly fiscally conservative as it is socially and Trumpist, however some fiscally
conservative policy objectives are still implemented.
In conclusion, the GOP is conservative, but it depends what is meant by ‘conservative’- fiscal
conservatives prioritise cutting spending, social conservatives prioritise traditional religious
values, and Trumpists have aspects of both but also Alt-Right ‘cultural’. There is a large amount
of overlap, like Ted Cruz who appears to be in all 3 groups. The party is dominantly Trumpist,
shown by his overwhelming support in his impeachment trials. The party isn’t as fiscally
