Populism and Party Success in the Modern GOP

• In Event: Transatlantic Advances in the Study of Party Factions

Abstract

This paper seeks to accomplish two main tasks: 1) Establish a useful set of metrics for whether a Republican Party organization has been taken over by a populist faction, and 2) Demonstrate whether populist-dominated GOP organizations fare better or worse in the political sphere. For the metrics, I examine the use of various rhetorical phrases in the websites, Facebook groups, and platforms of various state and county Republican Party organizations, as well as turnover in the chair positions of those organizations. I then examine whether parties with a greater control by a populist faction demonstrate reduced fundraising success, increased number of candidates in primaries, and worse performance in general elections.

Author

• Seth E. Masket, University of Denver