The Republican Resistance

The Republican Resistance studies the #NeverTrump Republicans who view Donald Trump as an existential challenge to the party that he claims to lead. The contributors argue that the #NeverTrump opposition represents a key feature of modern American politics: the rise of a populist insurgency intent on overtaking the Republican party from within.

The election of Donald Trump as President of the United States in November 2016 was a political earthquake, one supporters and detractors alike agree has changed the course of history. The policy implications have been stark and will continue well beyond his presidency. The political implications have been perhaps even more drastic—for both political parties. Trump has shaken the 40-year-old coalition of traditional conservatives, orthodox religious voters, and free-market libertarians that has long-composed the Republican Party. The Republican Resistance: #NeverTrump Conservatives and the Future of the GOP explores the members of that coalition, especially traditional, establishment-oriented Republicans and conservative intellectuals who opposed his candidacy, who generally still oppose his presidency, and who represent the elite-in-waiting that believes it will have to rebuild the GOP when the Trump coalition implodes. In the end, The Republican Resistance argues that the Trump presidency and the #NeverTrump countermovement reflect key features of modern American politics which both major political parties must contend: the rise of a populist insurgency intent on overtaking the parties from within and challenges of embracing demographic and structural realities on the one hand while catering to a political base often built to oppose those trends on the other.

Chapter 1: Resisting Trump: Origins of #NeverTrump and the Battle for the Soul of the GOP, Andrew L. Pieper and Jeff DeWitt

Part I: Where #NeverTrump?

Chapter 2: A Dying Breed: “#NeverTrumpism in Congress, Jeffrey Lazarus

Chapter 3: Laboratories of Resistance? #NeverTrumpers and the Opportunities and Limits of State and Local Autonomy in a Polarized Era, Anthony Sparacino

Chapter 4: #NeverTrump and the Fourth Estate, April A. Johnson and Karyn A. Amira

Chapter 5: #NeverTrumpers and the Think Tank Resistance, Heather E. Yates

Chapter 6: Elephants Grumble: The Republican Establishment’s Rejection of Donald Trump, Jason S. Byers

Part II: Why #NeverTrump?

Chapter 7: The Art of the Deal? #NeverTrumpers and the Struggle for GOP Foreign Policy, Wesley B. Renfro

Chapter 8: Whose Conservatism? Domestic Policy and #NeverTrump Opposition, Robert (Bo) Wood

Chapter 9: Never One of Us: The Battle for Conservative Purity in Trump’s America, Christopher Paskewich

Chapter 10: Conservative Character? Donald Trump and the Corrosive Presidency, Martin Cohen

Chapter 11: #NeverTrump Conservatives and the Corruption of Donald Trump, Beth Rosenson

Part III: Conclusion

Chapter 12: #NeverTrumpism and American Politics: Past, Present, and Looking Ahead, Jeff DeWitt and Andrew L. Pieper