I think by this point that it should be painfully obvious to everyone Republicans aren’t conservative and conservative people aren’t Republicans. I’ve been struggling lately to define what, exactly, the Republican Party is on a philosophical level – and I think I’ve finally settled on an answer. The Republican Party represents an entirely different branch of conservative thought, completely different and separate from religious conservatism, fiscal conservatism, libertarianism, or any other form of the conservative philosophy that leaps to mind. Unquestioningly, the Republican Party is an entirely different beast. It is popular conservatism.

What is popular conservatism? Simply put, to win an election in America, a political party needs a majority of the votes. Popular conservatism is a spin off of the conservative movement designed to appeal to over 50% of the electorate. It acknowledges the fact that only about 40% of the population identify themselves as conservatives, that there are philosophical differences within the conservative community which further divides it, and that to win elections appeals have to be made to independent voters as well. To win elections, the conservative movement needs to garner the support of that other 11% and remain a cohesive faction (that is to say, one group can’t leave and form it’s own splinter party or the whole thing goes down the tubes.)

In politics, when an ideological rift opens in a faction, there are two ways to recover: reach out to those you disagree with and put aside your differences to achieve what you all agree are the most important things, or cast off the rogue elements and either acquire or ally with a new constituency. With regards to the latter, the second step is critical to the process. If you decide to disavow people who disagree with you, you’re going to lose those votes. If we were merely talking philosophy, votes are irrelevant. In elections, however, they’re extremely important. You just can’t tell a sizable chunk of your voting electorate, “we don’t want your vote any more.” It’s suicide.

Unless you run a blog. Then, you know, being sane isn’t worth a dime.

That said, disagreements are inevitable in life. When the disagreement happens between two completing philosophies, nothing much comes of it. They can agree to disagree or go their separate ways and no one outside of their social circles every really notices. When the disagreements happen inside a party, on the other hand, the potential for major political change is incredible and it invariably leads to an evolution of political ideology.

When this evolution of party platforms, constituencies, and identity occurs, the philosophies tend to drift apart and mutate into entirely different beasts, each of which claim to be the “true” philosophy. [Corollary: Ask an Evangelical Lutheran who the real Christians are and see what happens.] This process – this evolution – this mutation – whatever you want to call it – is directly responsible for the “conservative philosophy” of the Republican Party.

Is the Republican Party really conservative? Well, yes and no. The best way to think of the Republican Party is to think of it as a coalition of philosophies. Social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, libertarians, and moderates all contribute to the agenda and ideology of the Republican Party. Social conservatives disagree with fiscal conservatives and libertarians about expanded welfare programs, for example. Libertarians disagree with fiscal conservatives on the powers that should be granted to law enforcement. Moderates would prefer to be more liberal and compromise far more on virtually every issue.

All of these internal disagreements and dialogues change the core ideology of the party. Republican’s have to make compromises and set priorities that appease the group as a whole, and these decisions do not necessarily conform to anyone’s definition of true conservatism. The resulting philosophical construct is an aggregated patchwork of ideas that is neither truly conservative, nor intellectually coherent – but it is conservatism. Kind of.

The Republican Party is currently looking to reinvent and rebuild itself. Social conservatives are calling for the expelling of those who do not conform to their particular brand of conservatism. Libertarians want to liberalize the party’s social platform and reduce the power of law enforcement and counter-terrorism forces. Moderates want to spur the party to action over the economic crisis while fiscal conservatives are screaming bloody murder over the budget.

Regardless of how everything pans out, the Republicans will have to evolve for the next election. The evolution will not result in a true conservative party. It will be, as it has always been, a unique creation which is completely independent of it’s constituent philosophies.