American History: Conservative Movements Since 1950 PDF

**HISTOIRE AMERICAINE** **« Les Mouvements Conservateurs depuis les années 1950 »** ***David French =*** - Involved in religious cases - He has a column in the NYT American journals publish both liberal and conservative editorials even if they are more bent to one side (political spe...

**HISTOIRE AMERICAINE** **« Les Mouvements Conservateurs depuis les années 1950 »** ***David French =*** - Involved in religious cases - He has a column in the NYT American journals publish both liberal and conservative editorials even if they are more bent to one side (political spectrum) - Conservative = pro-life **Dobbs vs Jackson (2022)** = most recent Supreme Court case on abortion = very important case = women have no constitutional rights to an abortion procedure = a victory for Conservatives **Roe vs Wade (1973)** = conservatives had been battling against this Supreme Court decision = says that women have a constitutional right to abortion ***David French - "To save conservatism from itself, I am voting for Harris" August 2024*** - **Trump thrives on lies, relies on it causes a problem for democracy and becomes a contagious practice** - He brought about a **new level of political violence** January 6 2020 + level of threats against public officials escalated - His insistence on fealty is changing religious conservatives especially evangelicals he takes it personally if one disagrees - **MAGA movement is pushing the Republican Party further and further away from Reagan conservatism** - Values only himself - **Trump has fascist tendencies** - Under trump the Republican party can't be a force for genuine good in American life Liz Cheney representative in Wyoming 2016-2022 daughter of Dick Cheney conservative but fighting Trump **Conservatism** = - **An attitude** = insistent on tradition, aversion to risk and change, a psychological disposition? - **An ideology** = religious values, guns right, opposition to abortion but not all share the same beliefs - **A political party** = not in France but UK (the Tories), Canada, Australia USA the Republicans but clearly associated with conservatism - **No fixed meaning of conservatism** a set of beliefs but not set in stone ***Emmanuel Wallerstein = Conservatism in Western History (Genesis, 1992)*** Conservatism has **no fixed content**, like socialism and liberalism, it has **evolved over time** but they are related chronologically in the following way: liberalism was the first modern ideology (individual rights) socialism in the 19^th^ century was a response to liberalism (from the individual to the social classes, protection of the working class from economic exploitation) and conservatism in the late 19^th^ and 20^th^ century was a response to socialism (preserve society from being torn apart and revolution, the social order, radical change is dangerous for society) ***Hirschman, "The Rhetoric of Reaction" 1991*** **In conservatism discourse you find 3 specific tropes =** - **Futility** = attempts at social transformation will be unavailing, will fail to "make a dent" - **Perversity** = any purposive action to improve some feature of the political, social or economic order only serves to exacerbate the condition one wishes to remedy - **Jeopardy** = the cost of the proposed change of reform is too high as it endangers society, some previous, precious accomplishment Right-wing = - Anti-federalist - Smaller govs - Less regulation - Reliance on the free market - Literal interpretation of the Constitution Left-wing = - Federalist - More economic regulation - More social laws - More intervention **Economic views =** **Right-wing** gov should tax less and spend less charity is the responsibility of the people **Left-wing** gov should play a role fighting inequality, provide more services to the less fortunate and increase tax if necessary people with higher incomes should pay more taxes **Social views =** **Right-wing** Opposed to gay marriage, abortion and embryonic stem cell research / support the right to bear arms, death penalty and personal responsibility as an individual **Left-wing** gay couples to get equal rights, abortion should be legal, support embryonic stem cell research, support restrictions and regulations around the right to bear arms Constitutional Conservatism: A Statement for the 21^st^ Century (2010) Obama was president reform of health care = Obama Care opposed by Conservatives American Conservatives are obsessed with the Founding Fathers and want to go back to the constitution Timeless values protected by the constitution See the document "Mount Vernon Statement" **The Reagan Revolution** 1^st^ president to openly identify with the conservatives elected in 1980, re-elected in 1984 CPAC speech, 1985 Lionel Trilling = renowned professor at Columbia = wrote that conservatism doesn't exist in USA 40's In only 30 years, a political idea was born and embraced by millions of people, became dominant **[FIRST PART]** **["STANDING ATHWART HISTORY"]** 1. **[Conservatism and the New Deal 1922-1947]** Conservatism didn't exist as a political identity in the 1930's but 1930's is a defining moment for the explication of its development **The Great Depression 1929** = - economic crisis - fundamentally transformed American society - remains a fact of life until WW2 economic social and political effects of this crisis were still visible = economy didn't regain its full capacity before the war **Franklin Roosevelt** = a transformative president = elected in 1932 Dramatic drove of federal power The New Deal **New Deal** = - created all kinds of **laws for social security** by expanding the reach of the federal government on those matters - **created new arms of gov, agencies to regulate the economy** = FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) protects you and your savings - **sought to bring about prosperity, security and stability** Intervene in WW2 bc we need to defend values such as freedom **The four freedoms** = - Of speech - Of worship - From want liberty to not lack of anything - From fear **Herbert Hoover** = president from 1929 to 1933 Republican but not Conservative Emerged as **a critique to the New Deal** believed in science, progress, was moderate, never mentioned going back to the constitution **Believed America's most precious value was individualism** **Praised capitalism** which was about to end poverty in America bc it created so much wealth and opportunity according to him 1928 **FDR Philadelphia 1936** = - freedom suggests freedom from some restraining power - almost spoke like a socialist but he was not - believed capitalism needed to be made more democratic but was not opposed to it - liberalism should be reformed - offer some kind of citizenship **The industrial revolution and the rise of capitalism created inequalities** = **Europe socialism developed** not liberalism bc individual rights lead to capitalism they believed in economy runt by the gov & protection of the working class **US Democratic party under Roosevelt's influence operated a change of course in the 1930's** to them, being a liberal was not only believing in individual right but also using the gov to help the people = **state interventionism** Minimum wage implemented with the New Deal Key to that transformation was the New Dealers' belief that freedom does not have the same meaning during an economic crisis = - political freedom - **economic freedom = in many ways economic security** **First outspoken critic of this idea is Hoover** **Hoover -- The Challenge to Liberty** - **the challenge to Liberty is the New Deal** - **the idea of economic security is utopian** - Maldistribution of income wages too low Purchasing power - the new deal reinforced the power of the president led congress to adopt a more responsive role **a step to lead away from true freedom** - the New Deal is in no way liberal **Hoover & men like him who were opposed to it needed a new word to explain it** = **Conservatism** **Taxation** = New dealers increased the ability of the gov to tax gov interventionism relies on taxation Adopt progressive taxation that idea was very new a federal income tax idea was very new people in the right saw it as a deprivation of liberty New dealers didn't believe in the ability of the rich to help society, in philanthropy they believed in the gov doing it they challenged the idea of social Darwinism and philanthropy **Industrial democracy** = The rise of labour union (=industrial democracy as the new dealers' call it) stroke resentment and developed conservatism Congress of Industrial Organisation = CIO Believed the wages were too low in US solution = minimum wage + encouraging workers to join unions more powerful in group to negotiate wages Unacceptable for business men total denial of individualism = the idea that workers would be better off collectively than individually challenges the American individualism Unions would be excessive + it would be easier for them to strike/rebel **Tensions btw Northern and southern democrats over segregation** = **Robert Taft (1885-1953)** = Senator of Ohio 1938 **Voice of Conservatism 30's & 40's** Noticed that labour unions tended to side with democrats = give money to democrats gave them an advantage in elections so wanted to regulate that Agreed with Hoover + similar argumentation = **3 important themes of modern conservatism** = - **Fealty to the main intent of the Constitution** = preserve property - **Contempt for intellectual elite interested in social experimentation and willing to disregard tradition** that is dangerous - **Reverence for the "Anglo Saxon Race**" goes back to social Darwinism idea of Anglo Saxon superiority group of people associated with capitalism and defence of economic freedom HOOVER ET TAFT A RETROUVER OBLIGATOIREMENT DANS LE DEVOIR OU L'EXAM 2. **[Reaction VS Conservatism]** ***Hugh Brogan -- recipe for conservatives*** Conservatives in the US are making a tremendous mistake by opposing change purely reactionary they should look at the Tories in the UK = conservatism is about accepting gradual change the house of Lords has slowly lost power, the house of commons has gained power The US conservatives are too dominated by economic interests and focused on individual freedom to do like the Tories Conservatism has proven to be possible in history but reactionism (trying to prevent change) is not US Conservatism is not possible and the result will be that people might look to other ideologies they are endangering the democracy rather than protecting it He told them "you failed to see the movement of history, you are perverted and obstinate" **Cleveland - Speech at Tippecanoe club 1938** 1948 presidential election map = **Harry Truman** = Democrat following the new dealers the fair deal won against a moderate republican Thomas Dewy 4 states won by Strum Thurmond = Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana - After WW2 New Dealers considered segregation to be a problem in the US and asserted the determination to end Jim Crow difficult to wage a war on Nazi Germany while having Jim Crow - **Smith VS Allwright 1944** = Supreme Court ruled that **the white primary was unconstitutional** - 1948 Truman decided to desegregate 1^st^ time the Democratic Party had the civil right programmed in its platform repeal of the poll tax (= impôt censitaire) that made it impossible to most black American to vote - By 1948 many southerners were worried that they were losing their influence on the Democratic Party and segregation was in danger they weren't interested in creating their own party they wanted to remain democrats **Strum Thurmond** = South Carolina democrat Campaigned in 1948 for the presidential elections postcards to influence people to donate money Called himself a state's rights democrat = believed that the Democratic Party was a danger to the Dixie **The Dixie = the old south** = Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia - The republicans did very poorly in that area bc they were considered the party of Lincoln = the party that ended segregation - The South's economy was much more rural **The State's Right Party** = - **wanted a New Deal for white people which wouldn't challenge segregation** their new deal didn't apply to agriculture or domestic workers (80% of African Americans were agriculture or domestic workers) - **wanted to prevent both Truman and Dewy from winning the election** together they amounted to 127 electoral votes so if Thurmond won, neither Truman nor Dewy could win strategy failed bc many southern states voted for the democrat party - **revealed that the democratic party, party of reform was divided by the issue of segregation** Those southerners who insisted on defending segregation had in fact a few things in common with conservatives like Taft and Hoover the constitution should not change, the segregation was said to be constitutional in 1787 + they spoke the language of individual liberty In the south a reactionary politics was the future 3. **[National Review and the Birth of the American Conservative Movement ]** National Review = 1^st^ conservative magazine in the US Conservatives (business men or southern democrats) had an editorial venue to voice their ideas & engage in debates Created by **William Buckley** = - son of a north eastern business man, educated in private schools in New Jersey, Switzerland & England - went to Yale = elite university = formative time for him bc was **appalled by the education he received the absence of any conservative pov** **To gain power they needed** = - **To conquer the national media** bc they media in the US were all progressive (NYT, The Post) - **To have much more of a presence at the university level** their weakness was in these institutions that shaped students minds - National Review was the 1^st^ step relied on many subventions **The 1^st^ issue was very clear** offered the 1^st^ definition of American Conservatism - wanted to be a forum for radical conservatives but it promised to be **"standing athwart history, yelling stop"** - Criticism of the power of New Deal liberals in American culture - Reaffirmation of classical liberalism - Recast the Declaration of Independence - Birth of a self-conscious conservatism - Questions of defs - **Fusionism** the fusion of individualism and order & tradition two things that seems antithetic individual economic freedom, property were essential to produce prosperity but at the same time they recognize that the ability to make individual choices should be exercised in a general context emphasizing virtue and religion **Ayn Rand** = - Russian immigrant - Wrote about individualism and its power - Known for a philosophy called objectivism, preaching selfishness as a virtue - **Rejected by National Review bc she was an atheist = she didn't believe in virtue nor tradition** **Conservatism argue that a moral order could be attained by free individuals if they were taught to be virtuous** Individualism would not degenerate into anarchy Fusionism implied both individualism and respect for tradition, moral values and faith 1950's = fusionism 1970's = Christian right becomes a political force 2016 onwards = Christian right supports Trump Conservatives were worried about the evolution about the US economy **1950 = Treaty of Detroit** = a contract btw one labour union (United Auto Workers) and General Motors (huge company) = the workers negotiated 5 years without going on strike for a private pension, significant pay increases for 156 000 workers Reinforced the power of labour unions and so labour leaders in the American economy This kind of treaty was really the antithesis of individualism argued that labour unions forces an unnatural solidarity among workers Those unions in favour of a "regulated" economy so worries the Conservatives worried they were in tune with Democrats and Lyndon B. Johnson who became president when Kennedy was assassinated = 22/11/1966 **Lyndon Johnson** campaign focused on "the great society" = a very ambitious program like the new deal - **"war on poverty"** 20% of the AM pop was under the poverty line (= poverty line was based on the amount of money necessary for a very basic way of life) Community Action, Food stamps - **improve education & particularly elementary schools** idea that the Federal Gov had a role to play in fostering education throughout the US not simply a state or local issue) gave rise to a program called Headstart - **Urban renewal** improving decaying city centers/neighbourhoods gave rise to a program called Model Cities - Protection of the environment became an issue in the US as early as the 1960's **1964 = Barry Goldwater = Conservative candidate = lost to Lyndon Johnson** If capitalism and individualism, economic freedom made for a perfect self-regulated system why can one explained continued inequality, why was there so much poverty in the US, why did the civil rights movement denounce not simply racial inequality but also the economic subordination of Black Americans **Martin Luther King "Why We Can't Wait" in 1963** civil rights movement was not simply for political equality, it also **aimed at improving the economic standing of Black Americans** The answer offered by Conservatives was that people who were poor simply did not work hard enough, people who lacked the ability to exert themselves J.D. Vance -- Hillbilly Elegy emphasizes the poverty culture of people who are said in the US to be "white trash" James Baldwin = an intellectual in the context of civil rights movement **James Baldwin VS Willian Buckley on the civil rights movement** **Buckley =** - argues that it's not a question of racism, that the differences btw black and white American Is not cultural it's not a mistake on the part of white Americans who don't see the talent in black Americans and racism is not a failure of AM civilization - denies the discrimination imposed on Black Americans the lack of economic freedom - argues that they don't work enough and that white people are better of bc they worked more - a win for the civil rights movement meant to abandon the American Dream - We understand the size of the problem, the humiliation faced by Black Americans, we are compassionate but there is nothing we can do - The fact that Baldwin is famous and gives speech in universities proves that there is a growing care for the civil rights movement and the fate of Black Americans - Most children born out of wedlock are black Americas - Equality would be a regression of white people - agrees that there is a voting problem in the south but the problem is not that black Americans aren't voting but that too many white people are - Reverses the pattern of discrimination by saying that Black Americans are responsible for it - Conservatives looked at America arguing that capitalism was a perfect system and the poor Americans whether they were white or black were people who didn't exert themselves enough, showed inequality in terms of talent Racism & discrimination are just defied bc white people are the advanced race To thwart majority though undemocratic can be enlighten **It would be better not to be violent in repressing the civil rights movement but it may be necessary if we want to protect white supremacy** Idea of demagogy everyone is entitled to vote Millions of people who have the right to vote don't vote and don't know how and don't care Argues that universal suffrage shouldn't be a goal of democracy majority of Black American don't want the vote and if they did get it they wouldn't know who to vote for The fear that given the right to vote, they would be to easy to influence and would not see the importance of conservative ideas if there really was an expansion of voters, their ideas would be on the minority There should be a genuine cultural egality btw White and Black Am before they were given the right to vote When the civil rights was in full swing 1964 = Civil Rights Act = discrimination forbidden 1965 = Voting Rights Act = right to vote for Black Americans protected Discrimination as a result of inequality in development of white and black AM Brown "Board of Education" 1954 = Supreme Court ruling that stated that discrimination is unconstitutional in schools Weaver = English professor Weaver argues that the civil rights movement and the logic of racial integration was a front a kind of justification for communism Conservatisms rapt their defence of white privilege in patriotism, defended southern states not simply by defending states rights or emphasizing white cultural superiority but by emphasizing the communism threat and using the widespread belief that communism was incompatible with the American culture and way of life The communism tactic is racial collectivism Weaver does not doubt that americans don't want this Communism in the US is making progress through the civil rights movement Shelley VS Kraemer = prohibited restrictive covenants = agreements signed by people to keep neighbourhoods white to Weaver it deprived owners of their freedom to prevail of their property the way they want Fair Employment Practice Committees = to protect the aility of Black AM to access the job market = created during the war and expanded after Integration and communization are closely synonymus Anti-communism = - was the glue that allowed defenders of segregation and defenders of fusionism to work together - developed in the US in the context of the cold-war - Freedom bookstore = largely developed in the 1950's in middle class and upper class suburbs - John Birch Society = 1958 = an anti-communist organization founded by Robert Welch = particularly influential in California = conspiracy theories = welch argued that Eisenhower who was president was in fact a communist agent - Christian anti-communist Crusade = created by Fred Schwartz an Australian immigrate who specialized in speaking tours in which he sought to educate people about the danger of communism pushed Janet Greene (folk singer in 1960's) sang folk songs with anti-communist, anti-leftist lyrics - The cold war created an anti-communist that was very favourable to the dissemination of conservative ideas Jone stormer none care stronger America had retreated from victory in the cold war That American elite were no longer trying to win the cold war, there was a betrayal of the American principle Phyllis Moderates control the Republican Party and try to stifle the voice of Denounced the action of a few secret king makers who tried to oppose conservative ideas in the Republican Party J Evette Denounced Johnson (candidate) as an immoral character Was better suited for the penitentiary and suggested that he may have had something to do with the assassination of Kennedy They were published in rapid succession in 1964 sold combined 16 million copies Communism as a pathology The books tell us that American conservatism in the context of the cold war developed a kind of populist Conservatives had deep suspicion about their institutions (the media, the gov) and that conspiracy theory revealed that populism 1960 = a new organization = Young American for Freedom - Organization of students created by William Buckley - The aim was to promote conservative and anti-communist ideas, fusionism on American compasses in universities - First drafted a document called "the Sharon Treatment" that outlined the Conservative Ideas - 20 000 member = its ability to expand shown in 1962 - March 8 1962 Madison Square Rally for world liberation from communism showed the growing strength of Conservatism - Very active in the Goldwater campaign 1964 In the 50's the conservatism becomes a movement pushed by National Review but also in the context of the civil rights movement and the cold war and the growth of an anti-communist culture in the US Orange County (south of LA) = famous for being the county of "kooks" (=slang for "tarés) **The Battle of Newburgh = 1960 =** National political debate over what it means to be poor and the responsibilities of society epicentre of a controversy **Mitchel = Newburgh's Mayor** basically **challenge the right of the Welfare program war against it** **Decline of the city** = - **old industries, manufacturing developed** relied on low skilled workers - Automation gradually reduced the number of workers - **Retail sector** vacant stores increasingly moved to the suburbs - **Suburbanization** middle class people move to the suburbs - **Changing pop** unemployment needs for assistance developed **Mitchel came around** and argued that **these problems were not causes but consequences of public assistance** the existence of it created lazy people who did not want to work, maintain their homes nor raise their children properly hence the slums **the poor were responsible for the decay of that city** **The city was victim of migrants** they came from different parts of the US (nearby cities) looking for work and cheaper housing "loafers" **Black Americans coming to the city to collect assistance** = Welfare **Assistance is the State's responsibility, not the city = funded by the State AFDC** **Mitchel wanted a reform of assistance** = getting assistance would be very difficult had to be a resident for a number of years and could get it for only 6 months then you had to prove you had a job **rejected** the cities does not have the jurisdiction to do that Argued that his duty was to protect the "taxpayer" from the Black AM migrants who were parasites to the society taking advantage of Welfare Mitchel directly active in politics as opposed to Buckley Buckley interested in Mitchel bc of his ability to appeal to the people disappointed that he did not have the ability to win elections on a grand scale just a local politician **Question planted at the centre of political debates and stayed there** should people who don't work get assistance? Under what conditions? Are the right people getting assistance? - **Reagan campaigned against "Welfare Queens" 1990** - **Bill Clinton** = Democrat but a bit Conservative **1996 = signed a law that tied public assistance to work** Orange County deemed the Republican Party to be much too moderate interpreted their own prosperity, their socio-economic status as a consequence of their personal qualities, a validation of the power of individualism and work, their entrepreneurial spirit they believe the RP did not really speak to the need to emphasize this vision of society these people mobilized In Orange county conservatism as a response to economic success In Newburgh response to decline Social Conservatives passed resolutions calling for freedom from filth in TV programs or Hollywood very religious appalled by the student movement that developed at Burkley (near San Francisco) = a free speech movement in the early 1960's = rebelled against university system that they find too authoritarian, not democratic enough In Orange County people 1962 = election 1964 = response to Supreme Court decision that insisted that every person in the US should have a vote that counts = constituencies equal in size = "one man one vote" Mobilized for Barry Goldwater "CRA" Nelson Rockfeller 1964 moderate republican that seems to be on his way to be the nominee for the election At the end pf the republican primary he was defeated by Barry Goldwater, who received the republican nomination bc he won California more radical very narrow victory his strength was Southern Carolina, Orange County **Barry Goldwater** = business men from Arizona, owned a retail store, senator of Arizona not necessarily known for being a racist defender of segregation he had briefly been a member of the national association for the advancement of coloured people but he was in 1964 when the civil rights act was adopted, the only non--southerner to vote against the Civil Rights Bill bc he believed that the gov had no business intervening in that debate Opponent of - the New Deal - gov interventionism - minimum wage - graduated income taxes - united nation his campaign was a total disaster lyndon jonhson his opponent received twice as many votes as him the south turned republican = significant development George Wallace = pro new deal, initially a moderate on racial issues a working class background reveals that as a democrat if you wanted to be elected in the south you had to be extreme on the civil rights matter Elected governor of Alabama 1962 1964 decided to enter the democratic primaries - Pro labour - Segregationist - Tough on crime - Criticized welfare for devaluating work Wallace a typical southerner did extremely well in some cities in the north, won 33% in Wisconsin, 42% Maryland & 30% Indiana A large number of typically new deal democrat thought that the views expressed by Wallace were very appealing his criticism of welfare his support for anti-communism intervention in Vietnam and his pro labour stance Democrats in 1964 did not know what to whit that why were they interested in Wallace rather than Johnson meant that Newburgh was not an exception, could have happened in other cities in the US increasingly a part of the democratic electorate felt abandoned bc in the 1960's in spite of federal programs in education, transportation, social security, development of labour unions many Americans believed that their economic position was very fragile their jobs, modest homes & socio-economic position were under threat from the Great Society increasing assistance, the Civil Right movement, the increasing opposition among students to the war in Vietnam Wallace expressed this working class resentment, these fears that prosperity was elusive, that the civil rights movement or public assistance program would basically weaken the economic standing of white workers, fear that their contribution to America was not recognized First Conservative candidate who actually spoke as a working class American, he did not say as Roosevelt that he represented the working class he was working class first serious presidential candidate who identified as a working man, first to ask if a truck driver could be elected he dressed like a working man, slicked back his hair, inexpensive suits, put ketchup in everything and admitted it proudly criticized liberal politicians who wanted to desegregate schools but sent their children to private schools first populist 1968 Wallace no longer entered democratic primaries, he had his own party = The American Independent Party won 14% of the vote with his own party Not enough to prevent Nixon from winning the election actually changed American politics = showed to conservatives that they should not simply emphasize individualism and simply defend segregation as the logical consequence of social dominance as Buckley did, he insisted that republicans would read benefits from opposing virtuous am from unvirtuous ones offered a new version of the populist language **Kevin Phillips = technician of politics = obsessed with statistics and electoral data** 1969 = The Emerging Republican Majority Argued that the US was now Conservative The conservative coalition that national review and conservative activists had called for since the 1940's now existed You had to take Nixon and Wallace and see a conservative majority Invented de word "sunbelt" to suggest that the seat belt of that conservative majority was this part of the south of the US North East no longer the centre of rallity in the US The key electorate for this conservative coalition is middle America lives in suburbs throughout the nation, not poor not rich, white working class, lower middle class, people who work, have an income, the key is populism Race, racial politics is now a big divide It is good for us if civil rights movement keep making progress bc the more civil rights victories the more strong and popular the conservative coalitions will be Many people outside of the south will be pushed to conservatism by the Civil Rights movement 1964 = Civil Rights Act 1965 = Voting Rights Act 65-68 = - Affirmative action = force entries in universities & job market of Black Americans = designed to encourage accompanies to diversify their workforce = also implemented to encourage companies to hire more women = Davis Medical School at Burkley had 100 opening were for the best candidate but a certain number reserved for the best AM candidates = policy mostly gone - Busing = a system of buses that took kids from one part of the city to a different neighbourhood to achieve diversified schools = very controversial = used as a policy for about 10 years to achieve integration = in both cases white working class Americans felt that they were victims of policies that did not really affect people in power who sent their children to private schools & would go to uni anyway, it affected their children in their choice of colleges liberal increasingly argued that ending discrimination was not enough to undo, remedy the consequences of segregation and slavery you had to help the Black AM move up the social ladder Jonhson agreed = thanks to the great society a igger number of AM qualified for public assistance kevin phillips argued that liberals made a terrible mistake adipted a olitic that benefited the many at the expense of the few cosnervatives should precisely exploit this weakness there was no doubt that republicans would win future election if they stuck to this populist strategy others disagree Richard Scammon and Benjamin Wattenbern No conservative majority AM still want a gov that intervene, still support the New Deal but the context is different The Democratic Party need to understand who the average am is The middle voter is a 47 years old Dayton housewife married to a worker afraid to walk alone at night, she had a mixed view about blacks civil rights bc moving to the suburbs she lived in a neighbourhood that turned all black Increasingly the leader of the democratic prty saw a majority composed of women, black americans, and an increasing number of white collar in their rows They thought about giving up the working class who was more and more racist and less and less progressive **\ ** 4. **Guardians of privilege?** Conservatives were guardians of privilege = - In the south protect segregation - In the north business men = wanted to restore their domination they should be trusted to create prosperity