Late Twentieth-Century Politics
Explain political realignment, conservatism, liberalism, Watergate, deregulation, globalization, and changing trust in government.
A lesson of US History, in Civil Rights and Contemporary America, about 10 minutes.
Late Twentieth-Century Politics: The Conservative Turn
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to describe the rise of the New Right, explain the Reagan Revolution's policies and legacy, and analyze the partisan realignment of the late 20th century.
The New Right: Building a Movement
The social upheavals of the 1960s — civil rights, the anti-war movement, counterculture, rising crime, women's liberation — generated a powerful backlash.
Who comprised the New Right:
- Religious conservatives (Moral Majority, 1979): evangelical and Catholic Christians alarmed by school prayer bans, abortion (Roe v. Wade, 1973), gay rights, and perceived moral decay. Jerry Falwell organized this constituency; it became a dependable Republican voting bloc.
- Business conservatives: opposed to regulation, environmental protection, and labor unions; favored tax cuts and free markets.
- Neo-conservatives: former liberals and Democrats who shifted right over Vietnam, crime, and civil rights enforcement.
- Southern whites: the "Southern Strategy" — Republicans appealed to white Southerners resentful of civil rights legislation; this realigned the Solid South from Democratic to Republican.
Key intellectual infrastructure: think tanks (Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute) provided policy ideas; a new conservative media ecosystem (AM radio, Rupert Murdoch's media empire) broadcast them.
The Carter Years and Their Legacy
Jimmy Carter (1977-1981): won as a post-Watergate outsider; faced stagflation (high inflation + high unemployment), the Iran hostage crisis (1979-1981), and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. His administration appeared paralyzed.
Carter's actual accomplishments: Camp David Accords (peace between Egypt and Israel); energy policy; deregulation of airlines and trucking. But he was perceived as weak, and the country was frustrated.
The 1980 election: Ronald Reagan won in a landslide. 44 states. The coalition that elected Reagan — religious conservatives, business interests, white Southern Democrats, working-class "Reagan Democrats" — defined American politics for a generation.
The Reagan Revolution
"Government is not the solution to our problem; government IS the problem."