Racism, Conservatism and the Obama Administration

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between President Barack Obama and Republican leaders in the United States Congress between 2008 and 2012. This paper examines the extent to which conservative members of the United States Congress opposed policies and programs introduced by the Obama Administration. This is of particular concern in cases where a variant of the policy or program was initially introduced by a Republican President or conservative member of the United States Congress. The premise of the thesis in this study is that opposition by conservative members of the United States Congress to policies and programs introduced by the Obama Administration were politically and in some instances racially motivated. In addition, the level of opposition by conservative members of congress against policies and programs introduced by the Obama Administration are unprecedented in contemporary presidential politics.