To Emulate or Not to Emulate: Congressional Republicans and the Modern Politics of Industrial Policy

• In Event: 20467 - Social Movements and Institutions in US Politics

Abstract

This paper investigates the various positions taken by members of the Republican Party during the debates on the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act in response to global economic shifts, particularly the rise of state capitalism and geopolitical competition with China. Using political discourse analysis this paper identifies three positions taken within the party: Economic Nationalist Republicans, Market Fundamentalist Republicans, and Innovation-Only Republicans. Despite these differences, nearly all Republicans recognize the geopolitical threat posed by China and the need for policy interventions. These interventions either see the growing preeminence of state capitalism as an invitation to step up the industrial state or as a frame to differentiate the economic policies of a ‘free’ United States and an ‘oppressive’ China and defend free markets while bolstering the national security state. These debates suggest that global processes, particularly the rise of state capitalism and geopolitical competition are driving competitive emulation, polarizing Republican ideology and prompting discursive revaluations that legitimize a more visible and expansive industrial policy. This calls for a revaluation of the politics of economic nationalism that includes these views into discussions of the Republican Party and the ever so evolving politics of industrial policy in the United States where rising state capitalism compels political parties to legitimate themselves in response to various pressures in the current conjuncture.

Author

• Jonathan Blum, Boston College