Administrative Burden

Republicans figured out how to build a politics of burdens that Democrats have been unable or unwilling to develop. Republicans have done so despite the fact that in other areas—such as the regulation of businesses, campaign donations, or firearms—they have also been successful in opposing governmentally imposed burdens in the name of liberty. Their success is not built on an ideological consistency, but in a situational capacity to connect burdens to political values shared by their supporters. Christian conservatives who oppose abortion might support mandatory ultrasounds for women seeking abortions, but bristle at government requirements that employers cover birth control in their health insurance plans.