The Republican Resistance: #NeverTrump Conservatives and the Future of the GOP

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States in November 2016 was a political earthquake, one supporters and detractors alike agree has changed the course of history. The policy implications have been stark and will continue well beyond his presidency. The political implications have been perhaps even more drasticfor both political parties. Trump has shaken the 40-year-old coalition of traditional conservatives, orthodox religious voters, and free-market libertarians that has long-composed the Republican Party. The Republican Resistance: #NeverTrump Conservatives and the Future of the GOP explores the members of that coalition, especially traditional, establishment-oriented Republicans and conservative intellectuals who opposed his candidacy, who generally still oppose his presidency, and who represent the elite-in-waiting that believes it will have to rebuild the GOP when the Trump coalition implodes. In the end, The Republican Resistance argues that the Trump presidency and the #NeverTrump countermovement reflect key features of modern American politics which both major political parties must contend: the rise of a populist insurgency intent on overtaking the parties from within and challenges of embracing demographic and structural realities on the one hand while catering to a political base often built to oppose those trends on the other.

Reviews

These ten essays, contributed by eleven political scientists and edited with an introduction by Pieper and DeWitt, amount to a preliminary assessment of the predicament and prospects of so-called never-Trump Republicans.... The first six contributions attempt to describe the scope of diffuse anti-Trumpism at various levels of government and in the press, at think tanks, and within the Republican establishment. The remaining essays identify ways that Trump's campaign and presidency violated essential conservative principles, driving people into opposition.... Based primarily on public and journalistic sources, this work [provides] a starting place for...research on the topic. Recommended.

Author Bio

Andrew L. Pieper is associate professor in the School of Government and International Affairs and coordinator of the Political Science program at Kennesaw State University.

Jeff R. DeWitt is professor of political science in the School of Government and International Affairs at Kennesaw State University.