The "ac" code is for "adequacy-confidence"--a data
quality measure ranging from 0 (low) to 9
(high)
1.01 year of origin and 1.02 name
changes
1854, ac9
0, ac9
Writers generally agree in fixing the date
of the origin of the Republican Party in 1854, following the
passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act which permitted slavery to be
established in the Northwest Territory. Several communities,
including Jackson, Michigan, and Ripon, Wisconsin, claim to be the
birthplace of the Republican Party as they hosted anti-Nebraska
protest meetings which backed candidacies of anti-slavery
candidates in the 1854 Congressional elections. A national
convention was held in 1856 to nominate a Republican candidate for
the presidential election. The Republican John C. Fremont, a
former Democratic senator, ran second to the Democratic candidate
James Buchanan, but the party had quickly become established as a
major party. There have been no name changes throughout the
party's existence. (Jones, 1965--4-6. Sundquist,
1973--65-74)
1.03 organizational
discontinuity
0, ac9
There were no splits or mergers in the
Republican Party at the national level during our time
period.
1.04 leadership competition
16, ac9
The closest phenomenon to leadership in the
Republican Party comes before presidential elections and is
exhibited by the party's presidential candidate, who is chosen in
a party convention. Thomas E. Dewey had led the Republicans to
defeat in the 1944 and 1948 presidential elections. In a spirited
contest for the Republican nomination in 1952, General Dwight D.
Eisenhower defeated Robert A. Taft and then won the presidency.
Eisenhower was renominated in 1956 and re-elected president.
Richard Nixon led the party in 1960 but lost the
election.
1.05 legislative instability
Instability is .10, ac9
The Republican Party won control of the
House of Representatives only once during our time period, which
coincided with the first two years of the Eisenhower
administration. The remainder of the time, the Republicans were
always the minority party in the house, as well as in the
senate.
1.06 electoral instability
Strength is .48 for 1950-56, ac9 and .45
for 1957-62, ac9
There were seven elections for the House of Representatives during
our time period. The Republican percentage of the vote ranged from
a low of 43 in 1958 to a high of 49 obtained on three different
occasions--1950, 1952, and 1956.
2.01 government discrimination
1, ac9
The Republicans, like the Democrats,
benefit from state laws which award a place on the ballot to
parties which had received certain percentages of the vote at
previous elections. Both parties are thus favored by the electoral
system, which forces new parties to petition for positions on the
official ballot, and petition processes are notoriously
complicated and frustrating.
2.02 governmental leadership
4 out of 7 for 1950-56, ac9
4 out of 6 for 1957-62, ac9
Eisenhower, a Republican, was president
from 1953 through 1960, having been elected for two successive
terms in 1952 and 1956.
2.03 cabinet participation
6 out of 7 for 1950-56, ac9
6 out of 6 for 1957-62, ac9
Robert Patterson, Secretary of War from
1945 to 1947, was a Republican in the Democratic administration of
Harry Truman, but this was before our time period. During our time
period, however, Robert A. Lovett (Republican) was Secretary of
Defense under Truman for two years, beginning in 1951. Naturally,
the Republicans dominated the cabinet during the eight years of
the Eisenhower administration. Two Republicans (Douglas Dillon as
Secretary of Treasury and Robert McNamara as Secretary of Defense)
were also in the otherwise all Democratic cabinet of John Kennedy
for the last two years of our period.
2.04 national participation
5, ac9
If the United States is divided into four
geographic regions--east, central, south, and west--the
composition of Republican Party identifiers deviates from the
population distribution across regions by an average of 5.8
percentage points in 1952 and 6.0 points in 1960. If the country
is divided into eight rather than four regions, however, the
average deviation drops to 3.5 for 1952 and 3.1 for 1960. Because
the Republican Party had a special difficulty in penetrating the
south during our time period, the cruder division was used in
scoring the party on this variable.
2.05 legislative strength
Strength is .47 for 1950-56, ac9 and .40
for 1957-62, ac9
The Republican Party won control of the
House of Representatives only once during our time period, which
coincided with the first two years of the Eisenhower
administration. The remainder of the time, the Republicans were
always the minority party in the house, as well as in the
senate.
2.06 electoral strength
Strength is .48 for 1950-56, ac9 and .45
for 1957-62, ac9
There were seven elections for the House of
Representatives during our time period. The Republican percentage
of the vote ranged from a low of 43 in 1958 to a high of 49
obtained on three different occasions--1950, 1952, and
1956.
2.07 outside origin
8, ac7
The Republican Party was born out of a series of meetings of anti-
slavery forces called to protest the passage of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 . These meetings had a grass-roots
character about them, as some were held in local schools and halls
outside the major cities. Leaders and members of local Democrat,
Whig, and Free Soil parties joined together in fusion groups, some
in which immediately adopted the Republican label while others
took a little longer. In any event, the Republican Party was a
spontaneous reaction to events and did not come about by inspired
leadership of one or a few outstanding individuals. (Jones1965--5.
Sundquist, 1973--65-66. Binkley, 1962--206-208).
5.01 ownership of means of production
3, ac9
Republicans have consistently opposed the
establishment of federal "_ valley" authorities, such as TVA, and
have stood against federal governmental ownership of power
facilities built in connection with such projects. Indeed, the
party has continually worked to restore power developments to
private enterprise. In addition, the party has supported the free
enterprise system in common carrier transportation, and it has
opposed the federal government's claim to oil in the tidelands off
state coasts. (Harris, 1962--12)
5.02 government role in economic
planning
2, ac9
The Republican Party opposes governmental
planning in principle, and it has been true to its principle in
most instances. Thus Republicans have opposed federal spending
policies to accelerate growth in preference for the spurs of
private initiative and investment. The 1952 platform opposed price
and wage controls and the 1956 platforms praised the elimination
of controls under a Republican administration. Specifically in the
area of agriculture, the Republicans favored more flexible price
supports than did the Democrats. On the other hand, Republicans
have tended to accept economic planning under certain
circumstances, and they specifically favored the role of the
Federal Reserve System in controlling the economy and credit.
(Porter and Johnson, 1966)
5.03 redistribution of wealth
2, ac8
The Republican program has advocated the
reduction of taxes for low and middle income groups, but the party
has backed legislative measures that have given even more
favorable treatment to higher income groups. Thus Republicans have
sought to cut taxes on stock dividends, have favored regressive
sales and property taxes at local levels, and opposed increased
corporation taxes. (Harris, 1962--154)
5.04 social welfare
1, ac9
Republican Party platforms in 1952 and 1960
emphasized the individual's responsibility to care for himself and
opposed obligatory health insurance programs. Nevertheless, the
party accepted the social security program once enacted and even
suggested extending coverage of its provisions, although specific
proposals extending such coverage were not pushed.
5.05 secularization of society
1, ac9
The first amendment of the U.S.
Constitution enjoins Congress from making laws for the
establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise. The
Supreme Court has interpreted the "due process" amendment to the
constitution as applying the first amendment to the states also,
and virtually all of the Court's decisions upholding the latter
have concerned state, and not national action. Congress, however,
has taken actions which have given symbolic support to religion in
general. In 1952, it memorialized the president to proclaim an
annual day of prayer. In 1954, the phrase "under god" was inserted
into the pledge of allegiance. In 1955, the phrase "in god we
trust" was prescribed for all currency and coins. In 1956, the
same phrase was adopted as the national motto (Van Alstyne, pp.
866-868). These actions received bipartisan support in the
Congress and usually did not elicit a roll call vote. Some
conflict appeared in the Congress in 1966, however, over a
proposed constitutional amendment allowing prayer in public
schools, with Republicans voting heavily for the measure, 27 to 3
(CQ Almanac, 1966, p. 516). On the other hand, Republicans have
been more likely to invoke the separation of church and state in
opposing bills to aid education which would indirectly finance
catholic parochial schools.
5.06 support of the military
5, ac9
During the last years of Truman's
administration, the Republicans took a moderate posture towards
defense spending, urging in their 1952 platform only that our
military services be "adequately supported" to defend the country
and meet treaty obligations. Under Eisenhower however, the
military budget assumed more importance to the party. By 1960, the
Republican platform stated "that there is no price ceiling on
American security."
5.07 alignment with east-west
blocs
5, ac9
The Republicans and Democrats did not
differ on this issue. Both parties saw the United States leading
western Europe and the so-called "free world" in cautious
confrontation with the USSR and the "communist bloc."
5.08 anti-colonialism
2 for 1st half, ac7
-1 for 2nd half, ac7
The U.S. was involved in neo- colonial
relationships with a variety of countries during our time period.
The Latin American countries taken together will provide the
reference group for coding this variable. Republicans had fewer
inhibitions about shaping the domestic politics of Latin American
countries than did Democrats. Eisenhower's Secretary of State,
John Foster Dulles, became especially concerned about communism in
Guatemala and its possible export to other Latin American nations.
In 1954, the CIA sponsored an invasion of Guatemala by Guatemalan
exiles which succeeded in bringing down the leftist Arbenz
government. The 1956 Republican platform praised "the expulsion of
the communist regime ruling Guatemala." By 1958, however, a shift
in policy under Eisenhower could be detected. The U.S. withdrew
its opposition to the establishment of an inter-American
development bank, which lessened the importance of private capital
in Latin American development. In 1960, the U.S. Also followed OAS
policy by withdrawing support of the Trujillo dictatorship in the
Dominican Republic. (Gil, 1971-- 209-221)
5.09 supranational integration
3, ac7
Republican platforms pledged support of the
United Nations, but the UN was valued for its role in collective
security and not as a supranational entity. On the issue of
economic union, Republicans consistently have favored higher
tariffs rather than free trade, although the difference between
the parties eroded somewhat during the Eisenhower
administration.
5.10 national integration
1, ac9
Especially in comparison with northern
Democrats, Republicans in Congress tended to oppose policies which
would increase the power of the federal government at the expense
of the states.
5.11 electoral participation
5, ac9
The civil rights act of 1957 was
specifically concerned with the right to vote--especially as it
had been denied negroes in the south. Although this act emerged
during the Eisenhower administration, it was sponsored by Attorney
General Herbert Brownell and drew mixed feelings from others in
the administration, including Eisenhower. Nevertheless, the
Republicans in Congress tended to support legislation to insure
universal suffrage.
5.12 protection of civil rights
4, ac9
Republican platforms repeatedly called for
an end to racial discrimination. While the actions taken by the
party to eliminate discrimination were not as strong as its
platform statements, Republicans in Congress tended to give
greater support to civil rights legislation than did
Democrats.
5.13 interference with civil
liberties
1, ac8
Republicans did not give as much attention
to the matter of civil liberties and freedom of expression in
their platforms as did the Democrats. Moreover, the party's record
shows a greater readiness to interfere with freedom of expression
when national security was threatened. Thus, the Republicans gave
almost unanimous support to the establishment of a subversive
activities control board in 1950, and during the Joseph McCarthy
era, Republicans lined up more solidly in support of
administration security measures.
U.S. says nothing
Soviets say 1, one of two parties of monopolistic capital in the
USA. After the civil war, the party became a reactionary party of
the upper bourgeoisie and a supporter of large
monopolies.
6.00 open competition in the electoral process
4, ac9
During our time period, the Republicans
subscribed completely to a strategy of winning office through
electoral competition.
6.10 restricting party competition 0,
ac9
During our time period, Republicans
eschewed illegal activities directed against the Democratic Party.
The types of activities involved in the Watergate affair, however,
may have altered our code if they had occurred during our period
of interest.
6.20 subverting the political system 0,
ac9
Subversion had no place in the Republicans"
strategy during our period.
6.30 propagandizing ideas and program
6.31--0, ac9.
The Republicans operated no mass
communications media as a party, but much of the nation's press
had Republican orientations.
6.32--0, ac9.
Republicans organized workshops in several
cities, but they had nothing which could be called a party
school.
6.33--1, ac9.
The Republican convention enacted a party
platform every four years.
6.34--1, ac9.
The Republicans would occasionally publish
small books or pamphlets that espoused the party's principles, but
the publishing program was not large.
6.50 providing for welfare of party
members
6.51--0, ac9.
With the demise of machine politics, the
party rarely undertook the provision of food, clothing, or
shelter.
6.52--0, ac9.
The party dispensed patronage but did not
run employment services.
6.53--2, ac9.
Party connections were often important in
cutting red tape.
6.54--0, ac9.
The Republicans operated no general
education schools.
6.55--0, ac9.
Apart from occasional picnics or tea socials, the Republicans did
not function in a major way to provide recreation for its
members.
7.01 sources of funds
1 (sector 04), ac6
Heard's data on financing the 1952
presidential campaign discloses that 45 percent of the
expenditures by national-level committees of the Republican Party
was contributed by individuals who gave sums of $500 or more
(p.20, p.47). Most of these large contributors within the
Republican Party had backgrounds in business or
commerce--specifically banking and manufacturing. Approximately 90
percent or more of the contributions by officials of the nation's
largest businesses were madpublicans candidates (p.104). While
Heard reports that a smaller percentage of contributions came from
gifts of $500 or more, the business backgrounds of the donors
remained largely the same.
7.02 source of members
6, ac9
There are no formal requirements for
membership in the Republican Party, certainly not at the national
level.
7.03 sources of leaders
3 (sector 03), ac9
Considering the Republican members of the
House of Representatives as the referent group of party leaders
for comparison with other countries, we find in 1952, 1954, 1958,
and 1961 that approximately 50 percent of the Republican members
of the house are lawyers and about 40 percent say they are in
business. If one considers convention delegates instead, as did
McKeough and Bibby in 1964, the proportion of lawyers drops to
about 20 percent and businessmen rise to about 33 percent
(p.83).
7.04 relations with domestic
parties
7, ac9
The Republican Party operates largely
independently of other parties across the nation. In certain
localities, however, the party may find its candidates backed by
other parties, particularly conservative ones.
7.05 relations with foreign
organizations
5, ac9
The Republicans are not affiliated with any international party
organization.
8.01 structural articulation
10, ac9
There are four main components in the
Republican Party's national organization--a convention which meets
every four years to select the party's presidential candidate, a
national committee which meets between conventions, a House
Campaign Committee, and a Senate Campaign Committee. The
Republican convention is smaller than the Democrats but is still
large--growing from about 1,200 in 1952 to 1,300 in 1960. During
our time period, delegates to the convention were selected in a
variety of ways. Ranney and Kendall report that about 38 percent
of the Republican delegates were picked by state and territorial
conventions, 14 percent by district conventions, 44 percent by
primaries, and only 3 percent by state and territorial committees
(297). The party also uses a variety of methods to choose national
committeemen. Sorauf finds that 48 percent are chosen by state
conventions, 32 percent by delegates to the national convention,
14 percent by the state central committee, and only 6 percent by
primaries (p.116). The House Campaign Committee is composed of one
representative from each state with Republican representation in
the house, and the Senate Campaign Committee is chosen by the
chairman of the party's caucus. While variegated in procedure, the
selection processes are relatively clearly specified. Less clear,
however, are the functional responsibilities of these committees
and their interrelationships. The national convention has sole
responsibility for nominating the party's presidential candidate,
but its monopoly over the formulation of party policy is not as
complete. The national committee seldom operates as a committee,
and it has no authority over the house and senate committees,
which are also independent of the national convention and of each
other.
8.02 intensiveness of
organization
5, ac7
Statistics concerning the various sizes and
distribution of local party organizations in the United States are
not readily available. It appears, however, that the Republican
Party would parallel the Democrats and be organized mainly on the
basis of precincts which encompass 1,000 or fewer
voters.
8.03 extensiveness of
organization
5, ac5
Information on extensiveness of
organization, like that of the intensiveness of organization, is
not good. But it would seem that the Republican Party during our
time period would have less extensive coverage than the Democrats,
particularly in the south, where Republican precinct organizations
would be scattered at best.
8.04 frequency of local
meetings
2, ac4
Republican precinct organizations, like
their Democratic counterparts, are likely to meet only at campaign
times.
8.05 frequency of national
meetings
3, ac6
Cotter and Hennessy state that the
Republican National Committee typically meets only twice a year.
An executive committee of 15, commonly drawn from the membership
of the whole committee but not so required, also meets
infrequently, perhaps once or twice more per year
(pp.36-37).
8.06 maintaining records
12, ac9
The Republican Party publication program
varies according to campaign years, availability of funds, and
orientations of staff members. A biweekly newsletter, "Battle
Line," had a regular existence during our time period, and the
party issued manuals for party leaders and workers. The party also
publishes research reports and policy statements on an occasional
basis. The research division of the Republican Party is far more
active than its Democratic counterpart and produces work that has
drawn acclaim from journalists and academics. The party certainly
maintains lists of contributors for purposes of fund raising, but
these lists are poor as membership lists.
8.07 pervasiveness of
organization
3, ac9
The Republicans have a women's division and a National Federation
of Republican Women. Cotter and Hennessy say that the national
committee finances the women's division completely and about
two-thirds the expenses of the NFRW office (p.152). A Young
Republican National Federation became allied with the national
committee in 1946 and has been financed by the committee since
(p.155). The party has also had divisions to court the ethnic and
minorities vote, but these sectors of the society were not
associated to the party through ancillary organizations. Thus, the
party's organization only penetrated to women and the youth, and
only small proportions of both groups were involved in party
activities.
9.01 nationalization of structure
3, ac9
The Republican National Committee, like its
Democratic counterpart, consists of representatives of state party
organizations and would appear to stand at the peak of an
organizational hierarchy. But the national committeemen seldom
command their own state organizations, having been chosen mainly
for status in the party and frequently for financial support of
the party. As a result, membership on the national committee
connotes prestige rather than power. During our time period at
least, state party organizations operated virtually autonomously
of the national committee, and they were certainly independent of
the House and Senate campaign committees. Even decisions of the
national convention were frequently flaunted by state party
organizations, some of whom enacted state platforms subsequent to
that of the national convention and espoused contradictory
policies.
9.02 selecting the national
leader
3, ac9
For our purposes, the party leader is taken
to be the party's presidential candidate rather than the chairman
of the national committee, who is usually in fact appointed by the
presidential candidate. The Republican Party's presidential
candidate is named by an elaborate and tumultuous convention
process involving thousands of delegates representing state party
organizations. Excepting the situation which arises when an
incumbent president seeks re-election, there are spirited contests
for the party's nomination, and the choice is the subject of
speculation for months in advance. This situation holds true for
the Democratic Party also.
9.03 selecting parliamentary
candidates
1, ac9
The national party organizations have no
role to play in the determination of party candidates, who are
typically named in direct primary elections usually open to all
voters who profess to support the party. Once the nomination has
been secured, Republican candidates can look to the Republican
House and Senate campaign committees for financial help for their
campaigns against Democrats. For example, McKeogh determined that
in 1964 the Republican house committee distributed an average of
$2,851 to each of 153 incumbents seeking re-election and $1,914 to
each of 122 non-incumbent candidates from a field of 234 (p.20).
Republican candidates running in competitive districts received
most of the support. But these funds constitute only a fraction of
the money needed to run a campaign in a competitive district, and
money was available only after the nomination was won. Rare
attempts at intervention by the president to oppose renomination
of Senators or Congressmen of his own party who did not support
his programs have failed more often than they have
succeeded.
9.04 allocating funds
3, ac9
Enormous sums are required to finance
electoral campaigns throughout the United States. Sorauf's
compilation of the total estimated expenditures during the
presidential campaigns of 1952 through 1960 shows a growth from
$140 million to $175 million (p.311). Even in non-election years,
however, the costs may run from 5 to 10 million dollars (Bone,
p.393). The Republicans have circumvented the provisions of the
Hatch Act of 1940, which limits income or expenditures of any
single interstate committee to $3 million per year, with the
establishment of a Republican finance committee, which coordinates
fund raising for the Republican National Committee and the House
and Senate campaign committees. As in the Democratic Party, state
quotas were assessed during our time period to raise funds for the
operation of the national committee. But because of the
coordinating role of the Republican finance committee, the
allocation and disbursement of funds within the Republican Party
were judged to be somewhat more centralized. Departing from the
strict operationalization of this variable, we are counting the
finance committee as an intermediate "regional" committee in our
scoring.
9.05 formulating policy
5, ac9
Policy-making within the Republican Party,
as in the Democratic Party, is clearly subordinate to the task of
selecting the presidential candidate. Every four years, the
Republican national convention does adopt a party platform prior
to nominating a candidate, but the nominee is free to interpret
the platform to suit his campaign, selectively emphasizing and
neglecting platform policies. An incumbent president who seeks
renomination, moreover, can guide the platform formulation
according to his interests. Nevertheless, party activists work for
the adoption of acceptable policies within the platform and may
not support the candidate if their interests are not served. Thus,
Nixon's concern over Rockefeller's dislike of the conservative
platform being formulated in 1960 led Nixon to influence its
revision to gain Rockefeller's support. Throughout our time
period, only the Republican national convention can be identified
as the authoritative voice of party policy--as distinguished from
presidential policy made by the Republican Eisenhower from 1953
through 1960. A Republican committee on program and progress was
formed in 1959, following the Republican defeat in the 1958
Congressional elections, to apply Republican principles to
problems of the day. It issued a policy statement later that year,
but the importance of this committee as a policy-making body was
far less than that of the Democratic advisory council in the other
party.
9.06 controlling communications
0, ac9
The Republican National Committee published
a magazine called "Battle Line," but this cannot be considered to
be an important means of communication within the party. While
most of the newspapers within the United States can be said to
have had a Republican orientation, this was due to the
philosophical inclinations of their publishers and not to any
control exercised by the Republican Party.
9.07 administering discipline
0, ac9
The Republican Party has virtually no means
to discipline those who deviate from party policy. No committee
within the party is charged with responsibility for disciplining
party deviance, and the party deviance, and the party
organizations within the two houses of Congress steer clear of
reprimanding members for voting against the majority of the
party.
9.08 leadership concentration
1, ac9
As the party in control of the presidency for 8 of the 13 years in
our time period, the Republicans might be regarded as being high
in leadership concentration. However, presidential policies are
not necessarily party policies, and presidential pronouncements
are not necessarily regarded as party pronouncements. In the
particular case of Eisenhower as the Republican president,
moreover, no special effort was made to exercise leadership in
party affairs. Thus, the Republicans experienced much the same
situation of fragmented leadership as did the Democrats. The
minority leaders in the House and Senate spoke out on party policy
in competition with the chairman of the national Republican Party
as well as with prominent senators and governors.
10.01 legislative cohesion
.70 for first half, ac6
.65 for second half, ac6
Turner and Schneier report data on the
average cohesion of parties in the House of Representatives for
selected years from 1921 through 1967 (p.21). In 1953, the
Republicans had an average cohesion of .70 as measured by the rice
index, and it was .65 in 1959.
10.02 ideological factionalism
5, ac9
The Republican Party, like the Democratic
Party, has had a definite liberal-conservative division within it.
To some extent, this division within the Republican Party had a
geographical basis, with eastern Republicans tending to be more
liberal than midwestern and western Republicans. The geographical
basis of this alignment, however, was never as clear as the
north-south division within the Democratic Party. Burns would
characterize the division within the Republican Party as one
between the conservative "Congressional wing " and the more
liberal "presidential wing." During our period, these dual
tendencies were not incorporated into any formal factional
organizations.
10.03 issue factionalism
2, ac9
Long standing issues have not divided
Republicans as they have Democrats. Civil rights, for example, has
not been a basis for factionalism within the Republican Party. One
issue that did retain some power to divide Republicans in Congress
was that of internationalism-isolationism although Eisenhower's
internationalism forced many erstwhile Republican isolationists to
soft-pedal their criticism of American foreign policy during his
presidency.
10.04 leadership factionalism
5, ac9
Leadership factions have been both more
identifiable and durable within the Republican Party than within
the Democratic Party. During the first part of our time period,
Eisenhower supporters, who represented the more liberal
"presidential wing" of the party, won out over the supporters of
Senator Robert Taft. During the second part of the period,
leadership factionalism centered around Senator Barry Goldwater
(representing the conservative wing), Governor Nelson Rockefeller
(representing the liberal wing), and then Vice-President Richard
Nixon (representing the middle course).
10.05 strategic or tactical
factionalism
1 for first half, ac9
2 for second half, ac9
As the minority party in the nation,
Republicans tended to devote more attention to discussing how the
next election might be won. In the second half of our time period,
this discussion became more focussed, with Senator Goldwater
speaking on behalf of those who thought that the party should
become more distinctly conservative, which he felt would attract
many citizens to the party who ordinarily did not vote because
both the Democrats and the Republicans were too
liberal.
10.06 party purges
0, ac9
The Republican Party experienced no purges and was incapable of
carrying out any purges.
11.01 membership requirements
0, ac9
The Republican Party at the national level
establishes no requirements for membership in the party. State
party organizations per se also have no requirements for party
membership. However, in approximately 35 states during our time
period, participation in the Republican primary was closed to all
voters who failed to meet some test of party affiliation.
Typically, this test in such "closed primary" states was
established by state law rather than party rules and applied to
the Democratic Party as well as the Republicans. The test was
administered in some states by the party, with which the voter had
to register in advance of the primary election, and in other
states by a challenge system, in which voters who requested a
Republican ballot were open to challenge as to their party
affiliation. Depending on the state, challenges could be met by
the voter swearing that he had supported the party in the past, or
supports it at present, or will support it in the future (Ranney
and Kendall, p. 206). These legal requirements of party membership
in closed primary states pertained mainly to the eligibility of
the voter to participate in the primary election at hand and not
to his participation in party activities generally. In the 15 or
so "open primary" states, even these minimum tests were not
present, and any voter could request a Republican ballot and vote
for Republican candidates in the primary.
11.02 membership participation
0, ac9
Most "members" of the Republican Party are
self-defined and do not participate in party meetings or engage in
campaign activity.
11.03 material incentives
1, ac5
Research on incentives for party activists
in the United States is still in the beginning stages. Researchers
in the field have distinguished between incentives that draw the
person into party work initially and those which serve to keep him
active in the party. Conway and Feigert's study of precinct
chairmen in Montgomery County, Maryland, and Knox County,
Illinois, found that material incentives drew less than 10 percent
of Republican chairmen to their jobs but served to sustain about
25 percent of the chairmen in their roles (pp.1166-1168). Gluck's
data on committeemen in Buffalo, New York, showed that material
incentives attracted about one-third of the Republican
committeemen to their jobs but continued as the most important
reward for only about one-quarter.
11.04 purposive incentives
1, ac5
In the same research discussed in variable
11.03, Conway and Feigert found that purposive incentives
attracted about 75 percent of the Republican chairmen initially
but that they continued to sustain only about 20 percent in their
jobs. Gluck's data showed that purposive incentives recruited more
than half of the Republican chairmen but that only about 30
percent looked to purposive incentives as a reason for staying in
the job. In both studies, the importance of social contacts and
solidary motivations increased for Republican officials following
recruitment.
11.05 doctrinism
0, ac9
No identifiable body of material can be
cited as the touchstone of Republican Party policy.
11.06 personalism
0, ac7
Eisenhower's campaigns in 1952 and 1956 were populated by many
"citizens for Eisenhower" activists who worked primarily for his
election rather than for the election of Republicans generally.
Because these Eisenhower Republicans stayed largely aloof from
Republican Party politics otherwise, they have not been included
in scoring this variable. Nixon in 1960 did not seem to claim much
personal allegiance from Republican militants, although he was
their clear choice for the nomination.