Kategóriák: Minden - suburbs - reagan - conservatism - taxation

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The Election of Reagan

The rise of the conservative movement in the United States during the late 20th century was marked by a growing discontent with the federal government's control and liberal policies.

The Election of Reagan

The Election of Reagan

Liberalism Loses Its Appeal

Loss in government trust
Iran hostage crisis
Watergate
Counterculture
Distanced white conservative Christians
Distanced Midwestern and Southern Americans
Polarizing issues took first priority
Urban riots
Vietnam
Democratic Party began to unravel

Rise of the Conservative Movement

Reagan became the spearhead of the new Conservative movement
Population Trends
Republicans had become the dominant political party in the South
Migration from the Rust Belt to the Sunbelt
More Americans moved to suburbs and their support for liberal ideas waned (cities were mostly liberal)
Sagebrush Rebels
Wanted more power to the states
Thought that the federal government controlled too much land in the Western states
New Right
Thought that government taxed citizens and businesses too heavily
Criticized liberal programs

Thought that Great Society had made things worse

Some said welfare programs rewarded lack of effort

Resurgent conservative movement

Prior to the 1980 election

1940s and 1950s
Bipartisan foreign policy
Blurred party dividing lines
Conservatives
Shared some core values with liberals but differed on a few counts
Not very prevalent
Few conservative presidents within the last few years and had lost significant votes after the defeat of Barry Goldwater
Liberals
Cooperation with international orgs. like UN
Protecting rights of minorities and women
Believed that the federal government should be very active
Had picked up significant steam as civil right and other activist driven issues began to appear on the national stage

Ideas and Goals of Conservatism

Anticommunism
Fought SALT II in the Senate
Questioned detente
Focused on dangers posed by the Soviet Union
Other conservatives
warned about abandoning traditional values for new freedoms from counterculture
traditionalists
neoconservatives
Conservative Economist Milton Friedman and his wife Rose Friedman wrote Free to Choose
"the story of the United States is an economic miracle... What produced this miracle? Clearly not central direction by government"
Wanted to reduce taxes and limit government regulation of industry to promote economic growth
Criticized "throwing money" at social issues
State government over federal government

Why Reagan Won

A Time for Choosing speech
Allowed Reagan to win the nomination by a landslide
Won admiration
Motivated many Conservatives
Religion became prevalent
2 million more registered voters
Reached out to Americans who traditionally didn't participate in the political process
the Moral Majority was a political org. working to fulfill religious goals

Moral majority "report cards" always favored Republicans

Worried about the decline of the traditional family

founded by Jerry Falwell

Electoral votes
Electoral votes are given on a "winner takes all" basis
Reagan won 50.6% of the popular vote, but 90.9% of the electoral vote
Personality
Even-tempered communicator skills shone through before the debate
Convinced Americans he would bring a new era of prosperity and patriotism
Radiated optimism
Reagan was much more charismatic and polished than Goldwater