Factions in the Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party of the United States is composed of various different groups or factions. Although their interests at times conflict, they share enough in common to remain in the same party.

It should be noted defining the views of any "faction" of any political party is difficult at best, and that any attempt to apply labels within a single political party is no more effective than the application of broad labels to political parties as a whole. Keeping that in mind, there are several ideological groups widely recognized within the modern-day GOP:

• Religious right - Often used synonymously with Christian right because most of its members are fundamentalist Protestants and, to a lesser extent, traditional Catholics; however, Orthodox Jews may also belong to this category. The religious right is an important GOP faction consisting of conservatives united on social issues, embracing traditional Judeo-Christian moral values. They are against abortion, same-sex marriage, and embryonic stem-cell research; they also favor school prayer and the interpretation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment which prohibits only the official establishment of a state church, as opposed to the more secularist view that the clause requires a strict separation of church and state. (Since the 1960s, the latter interpretation has generally been favored by the Supreme Court.) Some of this faction argue that the American colonies and the United States were founded to be Christian societies, although also tolerant of other Abrahamic religions. Some estimate religious conservatives represent the largest faction of the GOP in numbers. Prominent social conservatives include Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Senator Rick Santorum.

• Paleoconservatives - This group has a blue-collar, populist tinge with a strong distrust of a centralized federal government, and has heavy appeal among rural Republicans. They are conservative on social issues (e.g. support for gun rights) and oppose multiculturalism, but favor a protectionist economic policy and isolationist foreign policy. Many are also active against illegal immigration, or even all immigration. Prominent paleoconservatives, such as Pat Buchanan, have spoken against NAFTA and what they see as a neoconservative takeover of the party. Some with similar views are in the Democratic Party.

• Neoconservatives - Neoconservatives are generally regarded as the most militaristic branch of the party, in favor of an aggressive pre-emptive foreign policy. Many were once active members of the American Left, now "disillusioned" with the perceived extreme relativism and "anti-Americanism" of the 1960s protest generation. They favor unilateralism over reliance on international organizations and treaties, believing such commitments are often against America's interests. Many are strongly pro-Israel. They began rising to significant influence during the Reagan administration. Those considered among the neoconservative circles include Jeane Kirkpatrick, Paul Wolfowitz, and David Frum.

• Moderates - Moderates within the GOP tend to be fiscally conservative (e.g. balanced budgets, lower taxes, less government regulations) and more liberal on social issues (e.g. supporting domestic partnerships, affirmative action, abortion rights, gun control measures, etc.). On foreign policy, they may be less militaristic than conservatives and neo-conservatives, opting for bilateral negoations and peace talks as a solution to global discord before direct military intervention. Moderate Republicans today include U.S. Senators Lincoln Chafee, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe and Arlen Specter, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Mayor of New York City Rudolph Giuliani. Members of some of the other factions sometimes characterize moderates as "Republican In Name Only". The Republican Main Street Partnership represents middle-of-the-road party members in Congress.

• Fiscal conservatives - This faction is extremely pro-business, receiving fervent support among corporations and the nation's economic elite. They favor large tax cuts, reduced domestic spending, privatization of Social Security, and decreased regulation of business and the environment. Originally, the pro-business branch of the GOP was practically defined by its support of protectionism-but in recent years the pro-corporate elements of the GOP have been more supportive of free trade deals. Traditionally, fiscal conservatives were enormously concerned about maintaining a sound currency and balanced budgets-but that emphasis has changed somewhat in recent years and some have supported both enormous trade deficits and governmental borrowing. The fiscal conservative branch of the GOP includes both pro-business elements and others who are much more sympathetic to libertarian positions. Prominent fiscal conservatives include Barry Goldwater and Newt Gingrich.

• Libertarians - This faction's philosophy is libertarianism. This faction is pro-private property and pro-personal liberty. They favor capitalism, reducing taxation and government as much as possible, privatization of as many government services and monopolies as possible, reducing government regulation of business and people's private lives, keeping religion out of government, supporting pro-life (though this is a point where there is disagreement within this faction), establishing free trade treaties with all nations in the world, and restricting government to only what is outlined in the US Constitution. They oppose the "War on Drugs", protectionism, corporate welfare, immigration restrictions, governmental borrowing, and the USA being the world's police officer. The faction is represented in the party by the Republican Liberty Caucus and one of its major leaders has been U.S. Representative Ron Paul, a Texan who ran under the banner of the Libertarian Party for President. During the 2004 Republican presidential convention, this faction butted heads with the Religious Right faction over the party platform. It also actively courts members of the United States Libertarian Party to get its members to join the Republican Party and this faction to increase the voice of libertarianism within the party.