(US), one of the two main parties of the monopolistic bourgeoisie in the USA. (The other is the Democratic Party.) Founded in 1854, the Republican Party was the outgrowth of a coalition of the industrial commercial bourgeoisie of the Northeastern states and other social strata, which advocated the elimination of the political power of the slave-holding oligarchy in the South.
The struggle between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party reflected the antagonistic contradictions between capitalism, which was developing in the North, and the slave-holding system in the South. The victory of A. Lincoln, the Republican candidate, in the presidential election of 1860 led to the secession of the slaveholding states and the beginning of the Civil War (1861–65), which ended in the defeat of the slaveholders. With the change in the disposition of political forces after the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Republican Party, like the Democratic Party, gradually became the representative of the big capitalists and lost its progressive character.
The Republican Party was in power from 1861 to 1885 (Presidents A. Lincoln, A. Johnson, U. Grant, R. B. Hayes, J. Garfield, and C. A. Arthur), from 1889 to 1893 (President B. Harrison), from 1897 to 1913 (Presidents W. McKinley, T. Roosevelt, and W. H. Taft), from 1921 to 1933 (Presidents W. Harding, C. Coolidge, and H. Hoover), from 1953 to 1961 (President D. D. Eisenhower), and from 1969 to 1977 (Presidents R. Nixon and G. Ford).
The Republican Party’s social base consists of circles of the big financial bourgeoisie, which gravitate toward it, and a portion of the middle bourgeoisie and farmers. The Republican Party is most influential in the Northeast, the Midwest, and the West. After World War II it gained influence in the southern states. In the early 1970’s, as the world balance of forces changed in favor of socialism, the party’s leadership took a realistic approach to Soviet-American relations, making it possible to implement several measures to improve relations between the USA and the USSR.
The Republican Party consists of several political groupings of different orientations—a liberal, a “centrist,” and a conservative wing. The party does not have a permanent membership, platform, or rules. The fundamental party document, the party platform, which outlines the party’s political beliefs, is adopted by the national convention before every presidential election. The party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates are chosen at the national convention. The National Committee coordinates the party’s current activities. Party factions in both houses of Congress also play a significant role in party affairs. The leader of the party is the president, or, if the party is out of power, the candidate for that office in the last election. The headquarters of the National Committee is in Washington, D.C.
V. V. SHIMANOVSKII