<Ul> <Li> Politics of United States </Li> <Li> Political parties </Li> <Li> Elections </Li> </Ul> <Li> Politics of United States </Li> <P> The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP (abbreviation for Grand Old Party), is one of the two major political parties in the United States, the other being its historic rival, the Democratic Party . The party is named after republicanism, a major ideology of the American Revolution . Founded by anti-slavery activists, economic modernizers, ex National Republicans, ex Free Soilers and Whigs in 1854, the Republicans dominated politics nationally and in the majority of northern states for most of the period between 1860 and 1932 . </P> <P> The Republican Party originally championed classical liberal ideas, including anti-slavery and economic reforms . The party was usually dominant over the Democrats during the Third Party System and Fourth Party System . In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt formed the Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party after being rejected by the GOP and ran as a candidate . He called for many social reforms, some of which were later championed by New Deal Democrats in the 1930s . He lost the election and when most of his supporters returned to the GOP--they were at odds with the new conservative economic stance, leading to them leaving for the Democratic Party and an ideological shift to the right in the Republican Party . The liberal New Deal Democrats dominated the Fifth Party System at the national level . The weak liberal Republican element was overwhelmed by a conservative surge begun by Barry Goldwater in 1964 and fulfilled during the Reagan Era . </P>

What does gop in american politics stand for