How electable would the GOP be in your country?

[Democratic Hawk]

In my country the Republicans would do very well.  They would hold the presidency and majorities in both houses of congress.

Really? I mean considering the Christian Democrats aren't that right

Dave

[A18]

GermanFarRight is really Jake (Pennsylvanian).

[Middle-aged Europe]

Besides, Germany doesn´t have a congress.

[DanielX]

They do quite well in the US.

The GOP would probably be competitive in Eastern Europe, as well as bits and pieces of South and Southeast Asia (In India, for example, the BJP/Congress split is eerily like Republican/Democrat, except that they're both a bit more extreme in India - BJP is more extreme on a religious standpoint, Congress is more Socialist. Oh, and their religious right is Hindu, as opposed to  Christian). They'd probably do okay in Israel too, if the Religious Right could expand to include Orthodox Jews.

They'd be a minority party at best in the British Commonwealth (UK, Canada, Australia, etc.), and would do very poorly in Scandanavia and most of Western Europe proper, except possibly in the South (they *might* have a chance in Italy, Spain, and/or Portugal).

[they don't love you like i love you]

The GOP would probably be competitive in Eastern Europe

um, no. The communists are competetive in much of Eastern Europe.

The GOP is too socially conservative for most of the industrialized world, and socially conservative countries tend to be more populist. The US is really the only country where so many people vote against their economic issues. The only country I can see where the GOP would be a good fit both economically and socially is Singapore, and even there they'd have to tune down on the religious right since Singapore's far right government is still rather secular.

[A18]

Great. If they don't vote against their economic interest, the GOP will win landslides.

[DanielX]

The GOP would probably be competitive in Eastern Europe

um, no. The communists are competetive in much of Eastern Europe.

The GOP is too socially conservative for most of the industrialized world, and socially conservative countries tend to be more populist. The US is really the only country where so many people vote against their economic issues. The only country I can see where the GOP would be a good fit both economically and socially is Singapore, and even there they'd have to tune down on the religious right since Singapore's far right government is still rather secular.

Are you channeling Opebo? You sound like it...

And the GOP would do okay in Eastern Europe. Why? Communism was imposed on a good deal of it by the USSR; only Yugoslavia independently developed communism. Therefore, most Eastern Europeans really aren't too fond of communists. Although a lot of Eastern Europe nowadays is secular, it's experiencing a smallish revival. Plus, remember that social issues are only 1/3 of the troika - economics and foreign policy also count. And the Reagan/Cold War victory could be played for a lot, on both counts. Although many Democrats did take the cold war seriously (Truman, Kennedy, and Johnson are examples), the party has since been taken over by Vietnam-era doves. This has had a net positive side effect, as far as Eastern Europe is concerned - the Republicans get the 'anti-communist' sheen. Plus, secular doesn't always equal social libertine - Romania and Bulgaria or, for a greater extreme, Belarus and Russia, are all examples.

Also, not all Republicans are social authoritarians - even non-moderates. Dick Cheney is an example of a conservative who isn't really of that bent (although his daughter is probably the biggest reason for that).  Generally, Republicans from Western states would do better - a bit more libertarianism in the mix.

That said, the Democrats would be considered a right-wing party in north-west Europe. I think they might consider a handful of fruits and nuts on the extreme fringe of the Democrats (from Dennis Kucinich   to Barbara Lee) as left-wing.

I actually think the 'religious' and 'authoritarian' questions are different, although they're often related. Example: Communist China, their government is secular but authoritarian.  A lot of 'Nationalist' parties (ranging from the Kuomintang to the BNP to the Nazis) were authoritarian but not religious.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It's important to remember that the poltics of various European countries and the United States are not as different as is commonly supposed.

The GOP would do very well in France (minus the religious right element o/c)

[Bono]

It's important to remember that the poltics of various European countries and the United States are not as different as is commonly supposed.

The GOP would do very well in France (minus the religious right element o/c)

very true. I think that percieved difference, altough it exists, it's much overblown.

[Julien]

It's important to remember that the poltics of various European countries and the United States are not as different as is commonly supposed.

The GOP would do very well in France (minus the religious right element o/c)

I don't know, Giuliani types would do well in certain areas(Paris's suburbs, Alsace, the Riviera).

[cp]

"what are the disagreements between the Canadian Conservative party and the Democarts?"

Well, Phillip, it's not very cut and dry, sadly. The Conservatives have a more economically conservative policy than the Democrats do; especially when it comes to free trade. Conservatives in Canada tend to be like economic conservatives in the U.S.: big on free trade, low defeceits, cutback on social spending, regressive or flat taxation, etc. When the the tories were the government in Canada when Reagan was President in the U.S. relations were never better.

Socially the map in Canada is just too different from the U.S. Canada has to deal with the french/english issue in a way that no party in the U.S. does (with anything comparable). Although economics are tied into it, the rhetoric around it makes it sound like a social issue. Consequently, the Conservatives seem more socially liberal than the Democrats, but in reality their virtually indistinguishable.

One observation I've made is that the Canadian Conservative Party has the same problem as the Democrats in terms of including their fringe elements. Democrats in the states seem to get judged by their most extreme elements (anti-war protesters, militant anti-establisment protesters, etc.) In Canada, the Conservatives have trouble selling themselves as anything but the fringe right-wing party defined by gun-crazy, anti-immigrant, anti-minority Albertans.

I will say for the sake of decency, that neither generalization is anywhere near the truth.

cp

[Gustaf]

Hm. Depends a little on whether the other parties are still there. But generally, not very good at all. You could probably catch some far-right voters, perhaps about 3-6% of the overall vote. But most Swedish conservatives are fairly libertarian and those who are socially conservative tend to be more populist.

If we're talking about Democrats v Republicans I'm guessing that the Democrats would capture roughly 60% of the vote.

[Richard]

The GOP would do very well in France (minus the religious right element o/c)

Right, because we all know the GOP stands for a massive welfare state.

[Julien]

The GOP would do very well in France (minus the religious right element o/c)

Right, because we all know the GOP stands for a massive welfare state.

Do you realise that your apalling lack of knowledge about my country makes you look like a complete jackass?

[Jake]

The GOP would do very well in France (minus the religious right element o/c)

Right, because we all know the GOP stands for a massive welfare state.

Do you realise that your apalling lack of knowledge about my country makes you look like a complete jackass?

Julien, BTW, how would US parties do in France?

[Julien]

The GOP would do very well in France (minus the religious right element o/c)

Right, because we all know the GOP stands for a massive welfare state.

Do you realise that your apalling lack of knowledge about my country makes you look like a complete jackass?

Julien, BTW, how would US parties do in France?

It depends. We have a lot of parties, where the US parties have many factions. The religious-right of the GOP wouldn't win anywhere, but as I said the business and law&order republicans(my example was Giuliani) would do very well. If you would like I can work on a map.

[Cashcow]

The GOP would do very well in France (minus the religious right element o/c)

Right, because we all know the GOP stands for a massive welfare state.

Do you realise that your apalling lack of knowledge about my country makes you look like a complete jackass?

Julien, BTW, how would US parties do in France?

It depends. We have a lot of parties, where the US parties have many factions. The religious-right of the GOP wouldn't win anywhere, but as I said the business and law&order republicans(my example was Giuliani) would do very well. If you would like I can work on a map.

I'd love a map! I've been all over France, from Nice to Bayeux and almost everywhere in between. I also lived in the wonderful city of Nancy for over three months. How would Lorraine vote?

[Julien]

Lorraine is pretty conservative

I will make a map, but I need a map with the départements that I can use. I will try to find one.

[Julien]

It took me a while. I took a mixture of legislative results and traditional alliances, but mostly the last presidential election. I'm assuming these are RINO's(is that the right term?) running. Thanks, now I won't get to sleep tonight


           

[Jake]

Excellent, I assume red is GOP?

[Julien]

Excellent, I assume red is GOP?

No I'm afraid. Red is democrats. This is just basic, we can never know what would be. I gave most of the swing areas to democrats.

Another factor is that I just used two parties. If the republicans were moved over here then there would be massive vote splitting on the left(between the social liberal, socialist, and communist parties).

You also have to understand the population demographics. Many of teh areas that are GOP controlled are highly populated