Conservatives in the Political System

Lecture 8

May 24

The Party System

• Republican Party

• Libertarian Party

• Conservative Party

• Constitution Party

The Party System

Conservatives by Party

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1993 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004

Republican

Independent

Democrat

Other

The Interest Group Arena

Increase Lobbying

Conservative PACs

Decline in Grassroots Organizations

Pro-Life

Pro- Choice

Gun Rights

Gun Control

Liberal Donors

Conservative Donors

The Electoral Arena

• Major parties are becoming more coherent and polarized.

• More effective recruiting and mobilizing.

• Republican Party more successful in fundraising.

The Activism

Money

The Presidency

• Realignment• Republican Policy Commitments

DefenseTax Cuts

Republican Era

5 Republican Terms – 2-Democratic

Ronald Reagan

George H. W. Bush

George W. Bush

The Supreme Court

Two new conservative Justices.Roberts and Alito

Some conservative decisions United States v. LopezPlanned Parenthood v. CaseyLechmere Inc. v. NLRB

Some liberals tooLawrence v. Texas

Changes in the Court

Rehnquist Court Roberts Court

Conservatives Rehnquist, Thomas, Scalia

Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Scalia

Swing Kennedy, Stevens O’Connor, Souter

Kennedy, Stevens, Souter

Liberal Breyer, Ginsburg Breyer, Ginsburg

Congress

Congressional Majorities:

House-1994

Senate-2002

The Effects of a Realignment

The Effects of a Realignment

The Effects of a Realignment

██ Republican hold██ Republican pickup██ Democratic hold██ Democratic pickup

Two Majorities

Two Majorities

The Bureaucracy

• National Security

• Issue Network

Policy Process

• Welfare Reform

• Tax Cuts

• Volunteerism

• Foreign Policy

Welfare Reform

• Decentralization

• Personal Responsibility

• Dismantling of the Welfare State

Welfare ReformWelfare Caseload 1960-2000

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5%

6%

1960

1963

1966

1969

1972

1975

1978

1981

1984

1987

1990

1993

1996

1999

Year

% P

op

ula

tio

n

Series1

Freedom Corps

• Volunteerism

• Patriotism

Tax Cuts

Justice

Economic Growth

Why?

Tax Cuts

· Making the tax cuts permanent would generate large, backloaded revenue losses over the next 10 years. Combined with a minimal but necessary fix to the government's Alternative Minimum Tax, making the tax cuts permanent would reduce federal revenues by almost $1.8 trillion over 10 years — and that's in addition to the $1.7 trillion of revenue losses already locked into law. By 2014, the annual revenue loss would amount to $400 billion, or 2 percent of gross domestic product — almost the size of this year's federal budget deficit. (Brookings Institution)

Foreign Policies

War on TerrorIran, Syria and North KoreaSudanAIDSSubsidies and Protectionism