Conclusion

Abstract

This concluding chapter highlights how the Republican Party has been substantially transformed by the experience of having Donald Trump at its head. The president's reelection in 2020 would only deepen that transformation. Deep sociological forces—in particular, a Republican Party base that is increasingly white, working class, Christian, less formally educated, and older—will lead the party to go where its voters are. What Trump started, his Republican successors will finish. Just as parties of the right across the Western world have become more populist and nationalist, so will the Republicans. That, of course, bodes poorly for most of the Never Trumpers, who combined a deep distaste for Trump personally with a professional interest in a less populist governing style and a disinclination to see their party go ideologically where he wanted to take it. Ultimately, the future is unwritten because it will be shaped by the choices of individuals. Never Trump will have failed comprehensively in its founding mission, which was to prevent the poison of Donald Trump from entering the nation's political bloodstream. However, it is likely to be seen, in decades to come, as the first foray into a new era of American politics.

How Local Factions Pressure Parties: Activist Groups and Primary Contests in the Tea Party Era

“…Such findings suggest that the intra-party strife over policy, practice, and adherence to democratic norms under Trump can be understood as a continuation of factional divisions that were exacerbated during the Tea Party era. This work also highlights the importance of factions like the Tea Party in shaping parties' policy platforms, election strategies, communication, and organizational structures (Bendix and Mackay 2017; Bloch Rubin 2017; Blum 2020; Clarke 2020; Cohen et al 2016; Cowburn and Knüpfer 2023; DiSalvo 2012; Kamarck 2014; Masket 2020; Noel 2016; Saldin and Teles 2020; Thomsen 2017).…”