Liberalism

LIBERALISM HAS BEEN an important element of American politics since the time of the Populists in the late 1800s. However, the influence of liberalism has varied substantially over the years, and from place to place. In addition, the definition of liberalism has changed and varies from person to person. Its presence is generally clearer at the elite level than at the mass level.

Liberal politics expanded dramatically with the New Deal and Franklin Roosevelt's administration. With the nation mired in the Great Depression, many people demanded governmental action, although they were not necessarily certain of what sort of action. The New Dealers embarked on a number of policy experiments that increased the roles of federal and state governments in helping the needy and trying to stimulate and stabilize the economy. Most of the programs were modest in size, but they were a significant change from the policy of the 1920s. Because of the gravity of economic problems in the 1930s, the economic side of liberalism received primary emphasis.

The New Deal era featured a major increase in the organization of non-elite groups in society; blue-collar workers were probably the most important example. Also, the Depression provided fertile ground (by American standards) for leftist organizations to promote their political perspectives, although some of those groups were frustrated by the limited progress that they made. The 1930s illustrate several lessons regarding the patterns of liberal politics in America. In general, the New Deal was based on a coalition between disadvantaged groups seeking help for their specific needs, and ideological liberals with a broader range of concerns. The liberalism of the time included numerous variations, none of which formed a tightly integrated theory. Also, Americans revealed an ambivalent relationship with liberalism. On one hand, many Americans leaned in a generally conservative direction and were skeptical of leftist ideologies. However, many Americans favored specific liberal policies, as long as they did not seem too extreme.

The Truman Administration generally sided with organized labor, and extended the New Deal's liberal emphasis on assisting the needy. Truman's proposals to assist people with paying the cost of healthcare and to attack racial discrimination reflected that emphasis, but the civil rights initiatives came with an increased stress on non-economic liberalism (social liberalism). The liberal strain continued, with numerous exceptions, up to the Reagan administration. The high-watermark of liberalism occurred during the 1960s, with the John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson administration's Great Society programs and civil rights initiatives. During the same era, liberal Republicans, such as Nelson Rockefeller also stressed attacking social problems and broadening opportunities.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, growing disillusionment over the war in Vietnam, disappointments with some of the Great Society programs (partly due to inflated expectations), and urban disorders, led some liberals to doubts their ideas. In addition, the counterculture, with its emphasis on social liberalism, created political currents that were distant from many in the traditional Democratic coalition.

The rise of social liberalism was based on an amalgam of groups concerned with civil rights, women's rights, alternative lifestyles, environmental protection, and opposition to the Vietnam War. Those groups helped to shape the public image of the Democratic Party. The development of the modern conservative movement was partly a reaction to the liberal politics of the 1960s and afterward, along with older opposition to the New Deal.

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