Politics class: The big government spending Maga voters cannot live without

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Specification:

• Edexcel Component 3, Section 5.2: The key ideas and principles of the Democratic and Republican Parties

• AQA Component 3.2, Section 3.2.1.6: Political parties: the ideological changes in both the Democratic and Republican parties making them more distinct and polarised

Background: what you need to know

The article highlights tensions within the US Republican Party over possible cuts to welfare spending. Donald Trump won the 2024 election with the support of a diverse coalition of fiscal conservatives, tech billionaires and lower income, working class voters. There is a major gulf between the first two groups, who want to reduce the size of the federal government, and the third group, many of whom are dependent on social programmes such as Medicaid.

Make sure that you are clear about the purpose of welfare policies such as Medicaid and Medicare, which were established in the 1960s.

Click the link below to read the article and then answer the questions:

The big government spending Maga voters cannot live without

Question in the style of AQA Politics Paper 2

• Explain and analyse three causes of division within the Republican Party. [9 marks]

Question in the style of Edexcel Politics Paper 3A

• Evaluate the view that the Republican Party is less internally united than the Democratic Party.

  You must consider this view and the alternative to this view in a balanced way. [30 marks]

  TIP: The article focuses on welfare spending but to write a complete answer to one of these questions, you need to examine two other policy areas. How united, for example, are Republicans on the economy? You could also look at foreign policy, discussing attitudes towards the conflict in Gaza and the Ukraine war. Note that the Edexcel-style question requires you to look at areas of agreement as well as disagreement, and you must consider the Democrats as well as the Republicans.

Graham Goodlad, Portsmouth High School