In politics, a purity test is a rigid standard on a specific issue by which a politician or other figure is compared. Purity tests are established to ensure that the subject maintains ideological purity with the ideas supported by a particular group, often a political party or one specific faction of a party. Purity tests are often used in the form of strict in-group and out-group boundaries, where failure of purity tests indicates membership of an out-group. When used in this fashion, purity tests are a form of no true Scotsman fallacy. Purity tests are similar to the concept of litmus tests that are used in political nominations and appointments.
During the New Order, purity tests were conducted on public servants in order to filter out people suspected to be communists or supportive to the communist cause. [1] [2] This is no longer practiced by the reformation.
In the 2020s, members of the Labour Party were criticized for applying purity tests to their membership, and it has been attributed by some commentators as a reason for the party's electoral failure in the preceding years. [3] [4] [5] Similar criticisms have also been made toward the Conservative Party in relation to issues such as Brexit. [6] [7]
In American politics, Republicans that are perceived as failing purity tests are referred to as Republicans in Name Only (RINOs). Likewise, such Democrats are referred to as Democrats in Name Only (DINOs).
In 2009, some members of the Republican Party advocated a list of ten requirements that candidates would have to meet in order to receive financial support from the party. This list was described by critics as a purity test. [8] [9] Purity tests became more prominent in the Republican Party during and after the Trump administration, where support for Donald Trump and his attempts to overturn the election has been described as the party's main purity test. [10] [11] Some Republican politicians, including Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, were censured by their party for disagreement with Trump's false claims of election fraud. [12] [13] [14] Measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic met a similar response in the Republican Party, where opposition to certain measures had been described as a purity test. [15] [16]
In 2016, purity tests became an issue in the Democratic Party, especially in regard to issues such as abortion and health policy. [17] [18] This pattern continued during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, during which candidates and other major figures expressed concerns that purity tests were a cause for concern among the party. [19] [20] Former president Barack Obama broke his silence over the primary elections to warn Democrats about the danger of purity tests, saying that "we will not win just by increasing the turnout of the people who already agree with us completely on everything". [21] In 2022, then-Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema was censured for disagreement with the party on filibuster reform, with some commentators describing this as an instance of purity testing. [22] [23]
Anti-Zionism and support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has been described as a purity test for left-wing movements in the United States. [24] [25] [26]
David Norman Bossie is an American political activist. Since 2000, he has been president and chairman of conservative advocacy group Citizens United and in 2016, Bossie was the deputy campaign manager to the Donald Trump presidential campaign.
American electoral politics have been dominated by successive pairs of major political parties since shortly after the founding of the republic of the United States. Since the 1850s, the two largest political parties have been the Democratic Party and the Republican Party—which together have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and controlled the United States Congress since at least 1856. Despite keeping the same names, the two parties have evolved in terms of ideologies, positions, and support bases over their long lifespans, in response to social, cultural, and economic developments—the Democratic Party being the left-of-center party since the time of the New Deal, and the Republican Party now being the right-of-center party.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fundraising and election strategy. It does not have direct authority over elected officials. It is also responsible for organizing and running the Republican National Convention. When a Republican is president, the White House controls the committee. According to Boris Heersink, "political scientists have traditionally described the parties' national committees as inconsequential but impartial service providers."
Elizabeth Lynne Cheney is an American attorney and politician. She represented Wyoming's at-large congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023, and served as chair of the House Republican Conference—the third-highest position in the House Republican leadership—from 2019 to 2021. Cheney is known for her vocal opposition to former president Donald Trump. As of March 2023, she is a professor of practice at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
The Republican Party in the United States includes several factions, or wings. During the 19th century, Republican factions included the Half-Breeds, who supported civil service reform; the Radical Republicans, who advocated the immediate and total abolition of slavery, and later advocated civil rights for freed slaves during the Reconstruction era; and the Stalwarts, who supported machine politics.
Censure is a formal, public, group condemnation of an individual, often a group member, whose actions run counter to the group's acceptable standards for individual behavior. In the United States, governmental censure is done when a body's members wish to publicly reprimand the president of the United States, a member of Congress, a judge or a cabinet member. It is a formal statement of disapproval. It relies on the target's sense of shame or their constituents' subsequent disapproval, without which it has little practical effect when done on members of Congress and no practical effect when done on the president.
In U.S. politics, an independent Democrat is an individual who loosely identifies with the ideals of the Democratic Party but chooses not to be a formal member of the party or is denied the Democratic nomination in a caucus or primary election. Independent Democrat is not a political party. Several elected officials, including members of Congress, have identified as independent Democrats.
Kyrsten Lea Sinema is an American politician and former social worker serving as the senior United States senator from Arizona, a seat she has held since 2019. A former member of the Democratic Party, Sinema became an independent in December 2022.
Adam Daniel Kinzinger is an American politician, a senior political commentator for CNN, and a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard. He served as a United States representative from Illinois from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Kinzinger originally represented Illinois's 11th congressional district and later Illinois's 16th congressional district.
Rubén Marinelarena Gallego is an American politician and U.S. Marine Corps veteran serving as the U.S. representative for Arizona's 3rd congressional district. Gallego served and deployed as a USMCR corporal in the US invasion of Iraq. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
The 2018 United States Senate election in Arizona took place on November 6, 2018. Incumbent Republican Senator Jeff Flake did not seek reelection to a second term. The election was held concurrently with a gubernatorial election, other elections to the U.S. Senate, elections to the U.S. House of Representatives, and various other state and local elections.
The 2022 United States elections were held on November 8, 2022, with the exception of absentee balloting. During this U.S. midterm election, which occurred during the term of incumbent president Joe Biden of the Democratic Party, all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate were contested to determine the 118th United States Congress. Thirty-nine state and territorial U.S. gubernatorial elections, as well as numerous state and local elections, were also contested. This was the first election affected by the 2022 redistricting that followed the 2020 census. The Republican Party ended unified Democratic control of Congress and the presidency by winning a majority in the House of Representatives while Democrats expanded their Senate majority.
Ronna Romney McDaniel is an American political strategist who served as chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) from 2017 until her resignation in 2024. A member of the Republican Party and the Romney family, McDaniel was chair of the Michigan Republican Party from 2015 to 2017.
The 2022 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 8, 2022. Incumbent senator Lisa Murkowski won reelection to a fourth full term, defeating fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka and Democrat Patricia Chesbro.
The Problem Solvers Caucus is a group in the United States House of Representatives that has included members equally divided between Democrats and Republicans, with the Caucus' stated goal of fostering bipartisan cooperation on key policy issues. The group was created in January 2017 as an outgrowth of meetings held by political organization No Labels as early as 2014. It is co-chaired by Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) as of 2021.
The 2024 United States Senate elections are scheduled to be held on November 5, 2024, as part of the 2024 United States elections. Thirty-three of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate will be contested in regular elections. Senators are divided into three classes whose six-year terms are staggered so that a different class is elected every two years. Class 1 senators will face election in 2024.
The 2024 United States Senate election in Arizona will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Arizona. Democratic congressman Ruben Gallego and Republican former TV news anchor Kari Lake are seeking their first term in office. The winner will succeed independent incumbent Kyrsten Sinema, who is not seeking re-election after one term. The election is considered essential for Democrats' chances to retain the Senate majority in 2024.
Mark Lamb is an American law enforcement officer and politician who has served as sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, since 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party. Lamb previously served in the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community police department.
The 2022 United States House of Representatives election in Wyoming was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the U.S. representative for Wyoming's at-large congressional district. The election coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections.
The Renew America Movement (RAM) was an American political group founded in 2021 by former staffers from Republican Party administrations, with the intention of working to reduce political polarization in the United States. In 2022 it merged with the Serve America Movement, and the Forward Party, to form a political party under the Forward Party name, which was launched on September 24, 2022.
