Interest Aggregation in the Current U.S. Republican Party

Interest Aggregation in the Current U.S. Republican

PartyBy: Jeanne Almeida, Richard Lynch, Craig Castiglia, and Courtney Hogan

Review of Concepts

• Interest Aggregationo The process by which political demands are

combined into policy programs• Political Parties

o groups or organizations that seek to place candidates in office that represent the community's interests

• Party Systemo The number of parties and the relationships

between each party

Division of Political Parties within the United States

The Tea Party: From Articulation to Aggregation

Divisions within the Republican PartySocial Conservatives    • Pro-life•  Opposed to same-sex

marriage

Strong gun rights

Capital Punishment• Generally support

stricter punishment and enforcement

Economic Conservatives• Favor free market

o  Laissez-faire system

•  Personal responsibility over the welfare system

• Reduction in taxes as much as possible

Social and Economic Issues of Debate

Social SecurityDue to Americans' concerns with the sustainability of Social Security, most Republicans are endorsing the issue of social security reform and a plan to partially "privatize" it.

Balancing the Budget -The candidates are overall divided on the best way to balance the budget- Tax Cuts- Cut wasteful spending- "Business Oriented"-Bachmann suggested a "balanced budget" amendment to the constitution• This has been ruled out as unrealistic

because it could not pass the Senate or survive a Presidential veto

-Republicans in the House and the Budget 

National Security: Immigration & Securing Borders

• Source of population growth and cultural change

• US-Mexico border = most frequently crossed international border

• Republican Party is in support of:– Tightening the Border– Setting up a fence across

the entire border– Preventing illegal

immigrants from receiving amenities and citizenship

National Security: War in Afghanistan and Iraq

  The War on Terror continues to be an important issue and is playing a large role in the 2012 election

The majority of candidates support continued fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq until the region is stable

Healthcare    All candidates want Democratic Health Care Reform Bill repealed Replace with "patient -centered" and free market approach to health care

Republican Candidates

Michele Bachmann• leader of the Tea Party Caucus

and US Representative from Minnesota

• Supports privatizing Social Security, repealing Obamacare, and introducing the Ryan Plan

• 4-Point Immigration Platform

• Supports continuing in the Middle East

Mitt Romney • Governor of Massachusetts

• Opponent of Obamacare, supports market-based reforms, and state-funded healthcare

• Government-run Security program is essential

• Increased legal immigration, decreased illegal immigration and amenities

• Supports maintaining troops in the Middle East

Rick Santorum• Viewpoint on Social

Securityo  supports voluntary privatization of

Social Securityo  wants to raise retirement age

 • Viewpoint on National

Securityo strongly opposes the withdrawal of

troops from Afghanistan and Iraqo against granting rights to

immigrants, supports establishing a fence on the Mexican-American border

• Viewpoint on Healthcareo  strongly disapproves of

Obamacare, 1st executive order = repeal

o doesn't approve of prescription medicine coverage with Medicare

Rick Perry Governor of Texas • Reform Social Security

 • National Security

o Immigrationo Afghanistan

• Viewpoint on Healthcareo Wipe out ObamaCare

Herman Cain • Born December 13, 1945 in Atlanta,

GA• CEO of Godfather's Pizza• Vice President of Pillsbury• Host of the Herman Cain Talk Show• Only candidate who isn't a politician  • On Social Security:

o Believes that instead of "reshuffling" Social Security, "restructuring" it is necessary

• On National Security:o Wants to secure border with fenceo Believes War on Terror involves

fighting in Iraq• On Healthcare:

o Wants to repeal and replace ObamaCare with free market approach

Newt Gingrich• Viewpoint on Social

Security• believes that the system has been broken

for decades and thinks that instead of "reshuffling", "restructuring" is necessary 

• Viewpoint on National Security o supports putting up a fence,

securing the borders and enforcing the laws

o wants to continue fighting in Afghanistan and believes that part of the War on Terror involves fighting in Iraq

• Viewpoint on Healthcareo ObamaCare is health care

"deformed": repeal & replace. o Medicaid/Medicare fraud: stop

paying the crooks

Ron Paul

• Doctor and Author, as well as US Congressman for 14th Congressional District of Texas

• Six-point plan to stop illegal immigration

• Foreign policy of non-intervention, neutrality, and independence

• Against Obamacare and for affordable insurance

Question 1

Of the issues discussed in the presentation, which interest do you think will affect the results of the election the most and why?

Question 2

Why do you think the Tea Party has become one of the biggest groups that the Republican Party aggregates interest from?

Question 3

How has interest aggregation shaped American political culture?

HIGHLIGHTS OF DEBATE

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2011/09/13/tea-party-debate-zingers.cnn?iref=videosearch

Works Cited

Sources:www.cnn.com/POLITICShttp://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/jun/17/herman-cain/herman-cain-touts-alternative-social-security-used/ http://www.hermancain.com/the-issues/national-security http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/06/08/239145/herman-cain-great-wall-plan/ http://www.ontheissues.org/2012/Herman_Cain_War_+_Peace.htm http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20002529-503544.html http://www.teapartypatriots.org/ http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/15/new-cnn-poll-gop-divided-over-tea-party-movement/ http://www.ufppc.org/us-a-world-news-mainmenu-35/9235-background-us-has-deployed-more-than-2000000-troops-to-iraq-and-afghanistan-since-911.html http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/opinion-zone/2011/03/obamacare-s-first-birthday-commemorates-twenty-one-new-or-higher-taxeshttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB124173977440798743.html 

• http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/jun/17/herman-cain/herman-cain-touts-alternative-social-security-used/

• http://www.hermancain.com/the-issues/national-security

• http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/06/08/239145/herman-cain-great-wall-plan/

• http://www.ontheissues.org/2012/Herman_Cain_War_+_Peace.htm

• http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20002529-503544.html

• http://www.teapartypatriots.org/

• http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/15/new-cnn-poll-gop-divided-over-tea-party-movement/

• http://www.ufppc.org/us-a-world-news-mainmenu-35/9235-background-us-has-deployed-more-than-2000000-troops-to-iraq-and-afghanistan-since-911.html

• http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/opinion-zone/2011/03/obamacare-s-first-birthday-commemorates-twenty-one-new-or-higher-taxes

• http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124173977440798743.html

• http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/04/tea-party-wins-57-of-americans-ok-with-government-shutdown-if-it-leads-to-cuts/

• http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gvqPw5BRpeiucFg-DZSPPQa8fXgQ?docId=d7f411fe41d34318af75ef4f9632b370