Beginning in the 1960's, America experienced a great resurgence of conservatism in the form of a social and political movement which was a reaction to the pro-government public philosophies of liberalism which had been the major force in America since Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal" in the early 1930's. However, in the late 1960's, this conservative movement began to be supported by many southern Democrats and especially by the advocates and supporters of Barry Goldwater within the Republican Party who later endorsed Ronald Reagan in the 1970's and early 1980's.

             Generally, the conservative movement was closely linked to what some saw as the basic causes of economic and social distress in America, namely, the policies and ideals of the liberals in Washington, DC. Economically, the conservatives believed that the problem associated with a stagnant economy was due to inflation coupled with "big government" and the Democrats with their "tax and spend" attitude, mainly related to spending federal dollars on various social welfare programs for those Americans trapped in poverty.

             Out of this movement arose two specific traditions-neo-conservatism and the "New Right." With the first tradition, the main theme, often supported and defended by Ronald Reagan, was the economic ideology of free market capitalism and anti-statism which inferred that private enterprise was a positive trend while public enterprise was negative. In addition, those that supported neo-conservativism advocated the deregulation of the economy, the elimination of many national programs, the privatizing of specific public functions (the airline industry, for example), a nationalist foreign policy and the support of certain traditional institutions linked to federal and state governments.

             With the "New Right," closely affiliated with the New Christian Right movement of the late 1970's, the main thrust was on social and cultural issues and under the influence of such religious leaders as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, the focus shifted to the decline in traditional American values linked to abortion, sex and violence in the media and forced busing for school integration.