Writing the Republican Platform
The Preamble of the 1976 Republican platform begins: "You are about to read the 1976 Republican platform. We hope you will also find time to read the Democratic platform. Compare. You will see basic differences in how the two parties propose to represent you." Comparison of the two platforms yields interesting evidence of the differences between the two major political parties. Though party platforms seldom deal explicitly or in great detail with some of the more salient issues facing the American electorate, they do often point up basic philosophical and ideological differences between the parties. In addition, studying the process by which the parties arrive at their platforms often provides keys to understanding the parties themselves-their composition, their rules and norms, and their leadership and leadership strategies. The differences between the Democratic and Republican platform-writing processes were pronounced in 1976. Some of those differences reflected events peculiar to that particular election year. For example, by the time the Democrats held their convention, Jimmy Carter had the Democratic presidential nomination locked up. In contrast, the Republican nomination was still closely contested when the Republicans held their convention in August. As a result, it was a clear possibility that the platform might become a battleground between President Ford and Governor Reagan, two candidates of somewhat different ideological bent. At the same time, since it was not clear which candidate would be the nominee, neither candidate's organization wanted to go far out on a limb to battle for specific issues in the platform at the risk of alienating the party or the electorate.