Republican Ideology

The Republican belief system, like any political ideology, is open to criticism from the opposition. Those at the extreme right are particularly vulnerable to disparagement because their ideology is more rigid and their views are farther from the mainstream. Republicans have never been good at defending their positions because, for the longest time, they had no ideology. Their moral foundations propel gut-level, automatic responses to decision-making. The left employs a more analytical strategy for decision-making because they are guided by and prompted by a moral foundation ideology, that being equality.

Prior to 1950, there was no distinct Republican ideology; only a Republican perspective on maintaining traditional values existed. In other words, Republicans were mainly traditionalist conservatives. Critics have long asserted that conservatives possess an inborn inclination to be negative, which is why they instinctively resist change. To those on the left, conservatives were disconnected from reality because they reacted against change without understanding its benefits.

In 1960, the Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek criticized conservatives for lacking an ideology. He recognized that conservatism was legitimate and necessary in its role to resist political efforts for change when the value of change was unknown. Without their own ideology, however, conservatives were destined to be dragged along a path not of their choosing. Hayek stated:

When I say that the conservative lacks principles, I do not mean to suggest that he lacks moral conviction. The typical conservative is indeed usually a man of very strong moral convictions. What I mean is he has no political principles that enable him to work with people whose moral values differ from his own, for a political order in which both can obey their convictions.

After 1960, a Republican ideology was established when conservative intellectuals were able to put together a unified set of ideas that they could move forward with. The prime mover behind the new Republican ideology was William F. Buckley, who single-handedly built a Republican coalition consisting of traditional conservatives, libertarians, and anti-communists. The latter group had abandoned the Communist Party because its ideology was ineffective. The new Republican ideology took twenty years to mature, starting with Barry Goldwater and culminating with the election of Ronald Reagan.

After Reagan, the Republican ideology splintered. A neoconservative wing pushed for American intervention around the world. A paleoconservative faction sought to return the Republican Party to its traditional conservative roots. The party also split between ideologues and pragmatic political operatives who prioritized getting elected over ideology. Today’s Republican Party is made up of traditional conservatives, libertarians, and practical party people. They compete with each other by emphasizing their ideological differences. That competition prevents unity within the party and makes it difficult to win elections.

Conservatives are often criticized for being reactionary, unprogressive, and feudalistic. Here, “reactionary” refers to an opposing stance against political or social liberalization or reform. “Unprogressive” refers to denying the necessity of “progression” when it is obvious that change is needed. “Feudalistic” refers to the desire for a society dominated by wealthy landowners. At times, these criticisms have been accurate.

Conservatives attract criticism for opposing any commitment to a secular philosophy. They tend to be theistic, referring to a belief in God, rather than deistic, which involves the belief in natural forces or laws, or agnostic, which questions whether God exists at all. Conservatives have remained religious believers, while leftists have moved away from religion, claiming to be emancipated from the superstitions and primitive beliefs most religions advocate.

Conservatives are criticized for taking opposite positions on the same issue at different times, for example, opposing foreign intervention during one period and supporting it during another. This serves as proof to critics that there is no distinct Republican ideology. That argument is faulty, however, because it denies the historical foundations of conservatism, which protect traditions, even when they change over time.

Conservatives adhere to order and the symbols that justify and sustain it. They believe in the continuity of experience; those patterns in history provide clues to the future. They believe in an orthodoxy of tradition which includes moral order. Conservative morality acts as a brake against anarchy and serves as an anchor that protects society from mob rule. Conservatives express distrust in unbounded human nature, a concern shared with America’s founders.

Although it seems immoral to the left, Conservatives understand the necessity of inequality as a byproduct of capitalism. They believe that unequal wealth is an unfair consequence of the structure of advanced human society and a crucial aspect of capitalism’s function-reward principle. In other words, those who work the hardest are entitled to gain the greatest benefit from their labor.

Conservatives believe human beings are not guaranteed success in life, nor are all human beings capable of achieving the same level of success. Consequently, they resist efforts to “go against nature” and try to equalize society. They cite evidence of socialist and communist failures as proof that human beings are unable to achieve equality.

Conservatives believe in government with limited power. A political system must impose restrictions on the operation of majority rule to ensure it remains under control and supportive of a pluralistic society. Big government is a stepping stone to a planned society, so conservatives are suspicious of welfare state trends due to their negative impact on the free market.

Conservatives are defenders of private property before they are defenders of capitalism. Private property has been a part of human society for thousands of years, whereas capitalism is a relatively recent development of the Enlightenment.

The conservative belief system became the subject of academic debate after 2012, when Jonathan Haidt published “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided over Politics and Religion.” Haidt described the differences between the left and right in terms of their moral foundations.

He characterized the left as expressing a strong attraction to caring and fairness, which makes them focus on equality. The right is more focused on loyalty, respect for authority, and sanctity, which is the veneration of traditional symbols. In a rebuttal to Haidt, John Jost asserted that the right’s moral foundations are not real; they are actually behavioral traits not attached to morality or ideology. Jost concludes that conservatives stand for nothing other than resistance to change. Academic arguments over the origin of left-right ideologies are a waste of time. The only thing that matters is their public behavior.

Conservatives, warts and all, are fundamental to the success of a liberal democracy because they slow down the left’s desire for rapid change and demand a rational justification for societal change before they will support it. A liberal democracy can only succeed when opposing ideologies recognize the benefits of collaborating rather than competing. When they work together, they increase the likelihood that most Americans will see the benefits of their efforts.

Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.