Ronald Reagan 1980 Election

Stagflation and Economic Problems

New Right believed government taxed citizens and businesses too heavily; spent too much on wrong programs

Unfunded Mandates

Programs required but not paid for by federal government

Great Society and Welfare Programs

Argued that it made poverty worse not better

Believed it encouraged the decline of traditional family

Felt that affirmative action programs went too far; contributed to reverse discrimination

New Right

Resurgent conservative movement

Grew rapidly

Coalition of several different groups with various ideas/goals

Liberalism Unravels

Vietnam War and urban riots divided people

Rise of counterculture alienated midwestern Americans and white conservative Christians in the South

Watergate, oil crisis, Iran hostage crisis weakened faith in federal government

Shifts in economy in 1970s dampened America's optimism about the future

Moral Majority

Political organization working to fulfill religious goals

Worried about decline of traditional family

Registered at least 2 million new voters before 1980 election