Is the Republican party the most right-wing major party in the world?

[morgieb]

Serious question. I know there's like facsist parties and stuff but they aren't that big. Being one of the 2 major parties with their policies seems like a farce.

[k-onmmunist]

No, the Conservative Party are to the right of the Republicans.

[tpfkaw]

No, even in terms of rhetoric they're to the left of the "right" major party in Switzerland, Northern Ireland, and a bunch of Eastern European and Latin American countries (and on certain issues, such as immigration, to the left of most center-right parties), in terms of their actual domestic policies once in government they're unremarkable by world standards, although the state parties are admittedly sometimes more radical.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The type of parties you're disregarding aren't as fringe as one would like, they might not have near half the electorate but no party does due to the voting systems often used. But look at the party that has a majority in Hungary currently.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Serious question. I know there's like facsist parties and stuff but they aren't that big. Being one of the 2 major parties with their policies seems like a farce.

Are they really much to the right of the Liberals?

No, the Conservative Party are to the right of the Republicans.

I don't see this.

[k-onmmunist]

Serious question. I know there's like facsist parties and stuff but they aren't that big. Being one of the 2 major parties with their policies seems like a farce.

Are they really much to the right of the Liberals?

No, the Conservative Party are to the right of the Republicans.

I don't see this.

Even the Republicans wouldn't have the balls to privatize the police/roads. The Tories are way more right wing than the GOP on the economy.

[tpfkaw]

I'm with Winston on the Tories generally being to the right of the Republicans in practice (though I must point out that the Tories haven't privatized the police or roads).

[k-onmmunist]

I'm with Winston on the Tories generally being to the right of the Republicans in practice (though I must point out that the Tories haven't privatized the police or roads).

The Tories have been far more dogmatically anti-welfare than the Republicans too, though the US welfare state is/was much smaller than the British one.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Of rather more importance is quite how right-wing the Democratic Party is these days. Much more so than most people realise.

[k-onmmunist]

Of rather more importance is quite how right-wing the Democratic Party is these days. Much more so than most people realise.

The modern Democratic Party's always had a right wing faction, especially in the South. Then again, Obama's proven even more of a neoconservative than Bush...

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Of rather more importance is quite how right-wing the Democratic Party is these days. Much more so than most people realise.

Yeah. It's not that America has a major right-wing party that's more appropriate to as wormyguy said Eastern Europe, Latin America, or highly sectarianized parts of Western Europe than anything else, it's that America's major left-wing party is in fact a right-wing party.

[Niemeyerite]

PP.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The Democrats are currently more left wing than they've probably been at any point since FDR, but that's primarily due to the decimation of the Blue Dogs. And it's quite a bit of an oversimplification I think to basically label the whole party right wing based on what had more to do with incompetence than anything else, like note lots of state party platforms which are all for single payer health care and full gay marriage. But a union of 51 smaller parties is going to have quite a few issues in getting a consistent platform to carry out what we want.

[LastVoter]

The Democrats are currently more left wing than they've probably been at any point since FDR, but that's primarily due to the decimation of the Blue Dogs. And it's quite a bit of an oversimplification I think to basically label the whole party right wing based on what had more to do with incompetence than anything else, like note lots of state party platforms which are all for single payer health care and full gay marriage. But a union of 51 smaller parties is going to have quite a few issues in getting a consistent platform to carry out what we want.

That isn't really left wing though, it's normal for most of developed world, right wing parties don't dare touch the single health payer everywhere except UK. How about lower work week and/or vacation time, living wage, etc. Or even free public college tuition.

[k-onmmunist]

The Democrats are currently more left wing than they've probably been at any point since FDR, but that's primarily due to the decimation of the Blue Dogs. And it's quite a bit of an oversimplification I think to basically label the whole party right wing based on what had more to do with incompetence than anything else, like note lots of state party platforms which are all for single payer health care and full gay marriage. But a union of 51 smaller parties is going to have quite a few issues in getting a consistent platform to carry out what we want.

That isn't really left wing though, it's normal for most of developed world, right wing parties don't dare touch the single health payer everywhere except UK. How about lower work week and/or vacation time, living wage, etc. Or even free public college tuition.

Until recently they said they wouldn't touch it here. Goes to show, the right wing can get away with murder quite easily.

[Pheurton Skeurto]

No, of course not.

[Redalgo]

My initial impression is there is no mainstream interpretation of the Right that would allow for the Republican Party to be considered the most rightist major party in the world. What really strikes me as peculiar is that social liberalists dominate the left-most major party of a liberal democracy.

[Franzl]

My initial impression is there is no mainstream interpretation of the Right that would allow for the Republican Party to be considered the most rightist major party in the world. What really strikes me as peculiar is that social liberalists dominate the left-most major party of a liberal democracy.

Well, the Democrats basically are a liberal party...or rather, they wind up supporting liberal policies even if they're is a slight social democratic element within the party. Liberalism, for better or worse, is basically American consensus. Democrats advocate policies to "create jobs, increase growth", etc. The welfare state which is perhaps one if the central aspects of political debate in most democracies, not only is incomplete, but not even the subject of serious political debate.

[freefair]

They're pretty pragmatic when they get in, though rhetorically and in some states yes. As a card carrying Tory I will even admit that Economically the Tories are rather more right wing, but our liberal social views balance us out into center right territory.

[Vermin Supreme]

I would say that it's more reactionary compare to conservative parties like the Tory's.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClXAaGoT5eE&feature=related

[afleitch]

All depends on semantics; our understanding of what a left wing and a right wing party changes. I would say the Tories are to the ‘right’ of the GOP on some economic issues, in the same way the Lib Dems are to the right of the Tories also on issues of trade and the economy but have never (rightfully) been considered 'right wing'. I would consider Obama to be a conservative president in economic policy in relation to his predecessor.

On social issues, the GOP is to the right, and tending right of nearly all major western political parties. It’s worth noting however that the increasing social progressiveness of right of centre parties in Europe is recent and reflects changing social attitudes. The GOP however has tried to buck the trend (or at least not move on from a position they held that is now out of date) The only parties that tend to try and counter social change in Europe are parties we would consider to be far-right.

[Indy Texas]

Serious question. I know there's like facsist parties and stuff but they aren't that big. Being one of the 2 major parties with their policies seems like a farce.

Are they really much to the right of the Liberals?

No, the Conservative Party are to the right of the Republicans.

I don't see this.

Even the Republicans wouldn't have the balls to privatize the police/roads. The Tories are way more right wing than the GOP on the economy.

America has never liked infrastructure/transport privatization, despite our enthusiasm for economic liberalism in all other things. Major airports are owned by city governments, rather than privately held as is often the case in Europe. Our only intercity passenger rail service is nationalized (and rarely used). Attempts by state governments to privatize toll roads often fail or are discontinued. And Congress and the Justice Department exercise a very firm hand in matters like airline mergers and route service (look up the Wright Amendment for a notorious example).

The only explanation I can think of is that private railroads here completely screwed over consumers (particularly farmers transporting crops and livestock) with monopoly practices and collusion in the late 19th and early 20th century and we still haven't fully gotten over it.

[freefair]

The Republicans claim to be fiscally conservative but always turn out to be fiscally incontinent and leave the books severely unbalanced when they lose , whereas the Tories  eliminate budget deficits and leave the economy in great shape with low inflation.

[k-onmmunist]

The Republicans claim to be fiscally conservative but always turn out to be fiscally incontinent and leave the books severely unbalanced when they lose , whereas the Tories  eliminate budget deficits and leave the economy in great shape with low inflation.

And no manufacturing/a fraud-ridden banking sector. Thanks!