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My research studies the role and place of the moderate faction within the US Republican Party from the 1980s to the present day. Such research aims to provide an insight into the political development of the Republican Party from the perspective of moderates rather than the more habitual framing focussed on the party’s conservative wing. While other studies have focussed on moderate Republicans from the period of 1960 to 1980, there has been comparatively little attention paid to moderates from 1980 to the present day. Furthermore, there is a general lack of understanding in the current scholarship as to why moderates continue to identify and stand for elected office as Republicans – albeit, admittedly, in reduced numbers than in the past – and the basis for such Republicans being considered moderates, whether this is a result of ideology or for other possible reasons.
This research project fits neatly into my wider research focus on comparative party politics, in particular mainstream right parties. This includes my undergraduate studies at UCL’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES), which culminated in my dissertation focussed on ideological cohesion of the member parties in the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament, and also my Master’s research project conducted at the Institute of the Americas that looked at Republican governors in the predominantly Democratic states of Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey.
Teaching
PGTA 2023-2024:
SESS0052: Parties and Elections in a Global Perspective
PGTA 2022-2023:
SESS0033: Comparative Political Analysis
SESS0052: Parties and Elections in a Global Perspective
(both at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies SSEES, University College London)
PGTA 2021-2022:
Publications
Schlachter, M. E. K. (2024) ‘Book Review: The Case for the Centre Right’, Party Politics, https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688241239161
Schlachter, M. E. K. (2024) ‘Commissioned Book Review: Martin Steven, The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR): Politics, Parties and Policies’, Political Studies Review, 22 (1), NP5-NP6, https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299231173593
Schlachter, M. E. K. (February 2023) ‘A Phoenix from the Ashes or a Dead Duck: The Fate of Moderate Republicans in the 2022 US Midterm Elections’ in Finn, P., Furse, T., Harrington, C. and Espinoza, M. (eds.) Exploring the 2022 US Midterms: A Briefing Paper from the American Politics Group of the Political Studies Association, pp. 29-34. Available at: https://ukpsaapg.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Midterms-22-PSA-APG-Brief-Final.pdf
Conferences
2024: ‘The Survival of Moderate Republicans Post-1980: A Working Definition and Theoretical Model’, American Politics Group Annual Conference, Queen Mary University of London, January.
2023: ‘Republican Voters Against Trump: An Analysis of Anti-Trump Republican Voters in the 2020 US Presidential Election’, American Politics Group Postgraduate and Early Career Conference, University of Oxford, June.
2023: ‘The Fate of Moderate Republicans in the 2022 Midterm Elections’, American Politics Group Annual Conference, University of Leicester, January.
Awards and Funding
UCL Institute of the Americas Fieldwork Travel Grant (2023)
The Political Studies Association American Politics Group’s Elisha and Elizabeth Atkins Award (2023)
Selected media appearances
- The Conversation. US midterms: 42 new voting laws since 2021 risk undermining confidence in American democracy. 9 November 2022
