Interest Aggregation in the
Current U.S. Republican Party
By: Jeanne Almeida, Richard Lynch,
Craig Castiglia, and Courtney Hogan
Review of Concepts
• Interest Aggregation
o 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 System
o 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 Party
Social 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 Security
Due 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Reform Bill repealed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 Security
supports voluntary privatization of
Social Security
o wants to raise retirement age
o
• Viewpoint on National
Security
strongly opposes the withdrawal of
troops from Afghanistan and Iraq
o against granting rights to immigrants,
supports establishing a fence on the
Mexican-American border
o
• Viewpoint on Healthcare
strongly disapproves of Obamacare,
1st executive order = repeal
o doesn't approve of prescription
medicine coverage with Medicare
o
Rick Perry
Governor of Texas
• Reform Social Security
• National Security
o
o
Immigration
Afghanistan
• Viewpoint on Healthcare
o
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
o
Wants to secure border with fence
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
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
o
• Viewpoint on Healthcare
ObamaCare is health care "deformed":
repeal & replace.
o Medicaid/Medicare fraud: stop paying
the crooks
o
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 nonintervention, 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/POLITICS
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/jun/17/herman-cain/herman-cain-touts-alternative-social-securityused/
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-andafghanistan-since-911.html
http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/opinion-zone/2011/03/obamacare-s-first-birthday-commemorates-twenty-one-new-orhigher-taxes
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124173977440798743.html
•
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/jun/17/herman-cain/herman-cain-touts-alternativesocial-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-2000000troops-to-iraq-and-afghanistan-since-911.html
•
http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/opinion-zone/2011/03/obamacare-s-first-birthday-commemorates-twentyone-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-itleads-to-cuts/
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gvqPw5BRpeiucFgDZSPPQa8fXgQ?docId=d7f411fe41d34318af75ef4f9632b370
•