Abstract
By the 1990s both the leadership and membership of the Republican Party in the House were dominated by conservatives, as John Owens demonstrated in chapter 4. This conservatism was evinced in the policy agenda of the 104th Congress, notably in the bills arising from the Contract With America, the House Republican manifesto for the 1994 elections and the focus of the party’s post-election claims to a mandate. Inspired by Republican House leader Newt Gingrich, the Contract was informed by the principles of accountability, responsibility and opportunity. Elected officials were to be more accountable, individuals were to be encouraged to take greater responsibility for their own welfare and people were offered greater economic opportunities. These principles followed from a commitment to conservative ideas which pervaded the party.1
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Notes
Nigel Ashford, ‘The Right after Reagan’, in Alan Grant, ed., Contemporary American Politics (Aldershot: Dartmouth, 1995) pp. 117–43.
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Aaron Wildavsky, Searching for Safety (New Brunswick NJ: Transaction, 1988), ch. 3.
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Alan Grant, ‘Legislative Careerism and the Term Limitation Movement’, in Grant, Contemporary American Politics, pp. 80–2.
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© 1998 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Ashford, N. (1998). The Republican Policy Agenda and the Conservative Movement. In: McSweeney, D., Owens, J.E. (eds) The Republican Takeover of Congress. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26570-1_5
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