The Resurgence of Conservatism

The New Conservatism

“The problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”

- Margaret Thatcher

Created by: Mr. Chansen, Stephen T.Department Head - Sunset High SchoolDallas Independent School District

Liberalism & Conservatism

• Liberal – a person who generally believes the government should take an active role in the economy and in social programs but should not dictate social behavior.

• Modern Liberals tend to believe that the government should regulate to protect the people and should provide for the poor through social welfare programs that are funded by taxing the wealthy. However as a group, liberals are against government regulation of social behavior.

Liberalism & Conservatism• Conservative – a person who generally believes

government power, particularly in the economy, should be limited in order to maximize individual freedoms.

• Modern conservatives tend to believe in a smaller federal government that is fairly “hands-off” in terms of the economy, because they feel that this will increase economic productivity. Conservatives, as a group, also tend to oppose higher taxes and social welfare programs which they often see as a “redistribution” of wealth. Also, as a group, conservatives tend to think that social problems result from a lack of “moral fiber” or lack of character, and that a solution to this can be religion and/or the use of police powers to regulate social behaviors.

Role of the Cold War

• Conservatism had fallen out of favor going all the way back to the Great Depression and the New Deal.

• It had a come-back after WWII, due in part to the Cold War and the “threat of communism.”• Some thought that America’s liberal economic policies

were taking us down the road toward communism.• Also thought that liberal did not understand the need

for strong anti-communist foreign policy.

• The “struggle against communism” also took on a religious sense as people saw it as a battle of good v. evil, and thus turned to conservatism.

Conservatives Organize

• 1955 – National Review founded by William F. Buckley, a young conservative.

• 1960 – About 90 young conservatives meet with Buckley and found the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF).

• 1964 – By the time of the presidential election, conservative Republicans had enough pull within the party to get their candidate the nomination for president.

Rise of the Sunbelt

• 1950s & 1960s – South and West were more conservative than most regions.• Southern conservatives voted Democrat• Western conservatives voted Republican

• Since the conservative vote was split, whoever one the populous liberal northeast generally won the election.• This caused both major parties to lean liberal.

• This began to change after WWII, when people began to move to the “Sunbelt,” or Southern and Western states.• Caused a rapid population boom in these areas between

1950 & 1980.• Many of the people who moved to the Sunbelt states took on

a more conservative mindset.

Suburban Conservatism• As the Northeast entered decline it earned the nickname: “Rustbelt”

• People living there, looked to the government to help solve the problems like: unemployment, congestion, and pollution.

• Meanwhile, people in the Sunbelt opposed higher taxes and government regulation that would interfere with their growing economy.

• Many white Southerners were also mad at Northern Democrats for having supported Civil Rights.

• Barry Goldwater, a conservative candidate for president in 1964, said that the Federal Government was growing too strong.• Although he lost, his message began to bring Western and Southern

conservatives together and eventually into the same political party, the Republican Party.

• 1960s &1970s – Many people move to the suburbs to escape urban chaos, but their middle-class lifestyle was threatened by high inflation.• When conservatives called for lower taxes, most middle-class Americans

joined their movement.

The Religious Right• Some people joined the conservative movement because they thought that

the U.S. had lost its traditional values.• Many were shocked by the Supreme Courts ruling in the Roe v. Wade case, which

said abortion was not illegal.• Other cases limited prayer in schools and expanded rights for accused criminals.

• People were also shocked by student protestors lack of respect for authority and by the feminist movements push for the Equal Rights Amendment.

• All of these things galvanized the Religious Right, which was made up of mainly Protestant Evangelical Christians.• Evangelical ministers such as Billy Graham & Oral Roberts built national

followings and began to hold worship services on TV, and became some of the first “televangelists.”

• Televangelist – an evangelist who conducts regularly televised religious programs.• One televangelist, Jerry Falwell, founded the Moral Majority, which was a group

organized around ministers who focused on registering religious conservatives to vote and supporting conservative candidates and issues.

Gun Control & the N.R.A.

• While many Christians were became conservatives due to Roe v. Wade, many in the South and West joined the movement because of the Gun Control Act of 1968.• Rising crime in the 1960s – Congress imposes

new laws on gun sales.• Many people see it as an attack on the 2nd

Amendment.• National Rifle Association (NRA), which was

formed in 1871, begins to focus on politics.• It becomes a backbone conservative organization

The New Coalition

• Many different people / many different concerns joined the conservative movement• Almost all agreed government was to big & country

had lost its way.• Political scandal• Economic worries• Growing Federal power• Social turmoil• Withdrawal from Vietnam has made America appear weak

• From these many different concerns, a united group arose to confront all the issues and sought to create stability within the U.S.