Republicans clash over what 'conservative' means

+ Nobel Peace Prize's mixed record; SCOTUS justice labels don't always fit US Edition - Today's top story: Reagan wouldn't recognize Trump-style 'conservatism' – a look at how the GOP has changed [View in browser]( US Edition | 5 October 2023 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Who’s a conservative? GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz? Retiring Sen. Mitt Romney? Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy? Donald Trump? That question – who gets to call themselves a conservative – has been much in the air over the past few weeks. Former Vice President Mike Pence, now a presidential candidate vying for the GOP nomination, like Trump, asked at a recent campaign stop, “Will we be the party of conservatism, or will we follow the siren song of populism unmoored to conservative principles?” Political scientist Karyn Amira at the College of Charleston explains how the animating principles of the Republican Party have changed since Trump came on the scene. She aims to help us better understand what’s behind this fundamental question now facing the Republican Party. [“Defining ‘conservatism’ is complicated,”]( Amira writes. “It has taken many forms over the course of U.S. history. It reinvents itself over time. But a main tenet was summed up by President Ronald Reagan in his 1989 farewell address to the nation: ‘There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.’” Amira’s piece elegantly dissects the individual ideas that flow from Reagan’s philosophy. And she details how profoundly those ideas have transformed under Trump’s leadership of the Republican Party. One last thing: If you like The Conversation’s international coverage, we think you’ll also like the DailyChatter. This daily newsletter covers more than 150 countries by highlighting trusted sources like The Conversation from around the world. Subscribe today and [get the world in your inbox tomorrow](. Naomi Schalit Senior Editor, Politics + Democracy Mitt Romney, left, represents an old-fashioned GOP conservatism. Donald Trump, right, doesn’t − and Romney is leaving politics. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images [Reagan wouldn’t recognize Trump-style ‘conservatism’ – a look at how the GOP has changed]( Karyn Amira, College of Charleston Republicans Mike Pence and Mitt Romney both spoke recently about the conservative ideals that animate their politics − and which Donald Trump has violated. Do voters care? Is justice – and are the justices – blind to partisan politics? Simple Images/Moment via Getty Images [Supreme Court justices’ ideologies don’t always fit ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ labels]( John A. Tures, LaGrange College The ‘most divided’ Supreme Court ever may have been in 1941, when seven of the nine justices were New Deal supporters appointed by the same president, Franklin D. Roosevelt. 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Here’s more on the state-by-state process for replacing a senator who has died, is facing criminal charges or has serious illness. - [Supreme Court is increasingly putting Christians’ First Amendment rights ahead of others’ dignity and rights to equal protection]( Pauline Jones, University of Michigan; Andrew Murphy, University of Michigan Using the rhetoric of the First Amendment, a string of US Supreme Court cases has allowed members of some religious groups to limit the freedoms of other Americans. - [The splendid life of Jimmy Carter – 5 essential reads]( Howard Manly, The Conversation Beloved in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, Jimmy Carter became the 39th US president and used his office to make human rights a priority throughout the world. - [US Supreme Court refuses to hear Alabama’s request to keep separate and unequal political districts]( - [Lessons for today from the overlooked stories of Black teachers during the segregated civil rights era]( - [Climate change is about to play a big role in government purchases – with vast implications for the US economy]( - [From France to Italy, Hungary to Sweden, voting intentions track the far-right’s rise in Europe]( - [Despite one of the US military’s greatest fiascoes, American troops are still in Somalia fighting an endless war]( Like this newsletter? 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