AP United States History

## Learning Outcomes

- Explain why conservative criticism of liberal programs grew stronger in the late 1970s and 1980s
- Identify the main economic and social critiques conservatives made of New Deal and Great Society liberalism
- Recall key evidence including **Proposition 13 (1978)**, the **Economic Recovery Tax Act (1981)**, the **Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (1981)**, and the **PATCO strike (1981)**
- Distinguish between attacks on means-tested welfare and the continued survival of major entitlement programs
- Analyze how the **New Right** linked economic conservatism with social conservatism
- Use this topic in causation, continuity and change, and comparison essays for AP United States History

## AP United States History Syllabus

For the AP United States History, you are expected to understand conservative critiques of liberal programs in the Reagan era, with a focus on the following syllabus points:

- Know that conservative critics argued liberal programs had pushed the nation too far toward socialism and weakened American values
- Identify how conservatives criticized the **New Deal** and **Great Society** for expanding federal power, taxes, regulation, and welfare spending
- Explain **Reaganomics**, including supply-side tax cuts, deregulation, reduced domestic spending growth, and increased defense spending
- Understand **New Federalism** as an effort to shift responsibility from the federal government to the states, often through **block grants**
- Know the role of the **Moral Majority**, evangelical Christianity, and figures such as **Jerry Falwell** and **Phyllis Schlafly**
- Distinguish criticism of welfare programs from the political survival of **Social Security**, **Medicare**, and **Medicaid**
- Use specific evidence such as **Proposition 13**, **ERTA (1981)**, **OBRA (1981)**, and the **PATCO strike**

## Test Your Knowledge

_Attempt these questions before reading this article. If you find some difficult or cannot remember the answers, look more closely at that area during your revision._

1. Why did many conservatives argue that Great Society programs had failed by the late 1970s?
2. What was the difference between **supply-side economics** and the critic’s phrase **trickle-down economics**?
3. How did **New Federalism** challenge liberal ideas about the role of the federal government?
4. Why did social conservatives oppose abortion rights, the ERA, and school prayer decisions?
5. Why is it inaccurate to say Reagan completely dismantled the welfare state?

## Introduction

In APUSH Unit 9, Reagan’s election in **1980** marks more than a presidential victory. It represents the arrival of a stronger conservative movement that had been building since the late 1960s and especially through the crises of the 1970s. Conservatives argued that liberal programs from the **New Deal** and **Great Society** had made the federal government too large, too expensive, and too involved in daily life.

These critiques were economic and social at the same time. Conservatives attacked welfare spending, federal regulation, and high taxes, but they also attacked abortion rights, feminism, affirmative action, and what they saw as a decline in traditional moral standards. For APUSH, this topic matters because it connects politics, economics, culture, and the long-term shift away from the liberal dominance of the mid-20th century.

> **Key Term: Reagan conservatism**
> A late-20th-century conservative movement linked to Ronald Reagan that favored limited domestic government, lower taxes, deregulation, strong defense, anti-communism, and traditional social values.

### Why conservative criticism grew in the 1970s

Conservative attacks on liberal programs did not come out of nowhere in 1980. They grew from widespread dissatisfaction in the **1970s**. Students often remember Reagan but forget the conditions that made Reagan persuasive.

The first major cause was **stagflation**. Earlier liberal economic policy had been associated with growth and rising living standards. But in the 1970s, the United States faced inflation, slow growth, and economic uncertainty at the same time. That was politically damaging because many Americans began to doubt that activist government could manage the economy effectively.

A second cause was backlash against social change. Since the 1960s, liberalism had become linked in many voters’ minds with civil rights enforcement, feminism, abortion rights, school desegregation busing, and a more secular public culture. Many conservatives believed these changes had gone too far and that liberal leaders were hostile to religion, family authority, and local control.

A third cause was the tax revolt. In **1978**, California voters passed **Proposition 13**, sharply limiting property taxes. This was important because it showed that anti-tax politics had mass support, not just elite support. Conservatives could now argue that ordinary Americans, not only business leaders, were rebelling against what they saw as government excess.

A fourth cause was regional and demographic change. Sun Belt growth increased the political importance of regions more favorable to suburban expansion, low taxes, defense spending, and conservative politics.

> **Key Term: New Right**
> A conservative political coalition that emerged in the 1970s, combining economic conservatives, anti-communists, religious conservatives, and supporters of traditional family values.
>
> **Key Term: Proposition 13**
> A **1978** California ballot measure that cut property taxes and became a major symbol of the anti-tax revolt against big government.

The New Right was effective because it united groups that had not always worked together. Business conservatives cared most about taxes and regulation. Religious conservatives cared most about abortion, the family, and public morality. Anti-communists focused on defense and foreign policy. Reagan gave them a common language: government had become the problem.

> **Test Tip:** For APUSH causation questions, do not just say “Reagan won because people liked conservatism.” Build a chain: **stagflation + tax revolt + backlash against social change + evangelical mobilization = conservative resurgence**.

### Economic critiques of liberal programs

The central economic conservative argument was that liberal programs had expanded the **welfare state** too far. Conservatives claimed that the federal government taxed too much, spent too much, regulated too much, and weakened incentives to work, invest, and produce.

> **Key Term: welfare state**
> The network of government social programs intended to provide economic security or assistance, especially those expanded under the New Deal and Great Society.

Conservatives treated the **Great Society** as a key target. They argued that anti-poverty programs and welfare benefits were expensive and ineffective. In their view, such programs often created dependency rather than self-reliance. This was a powerful political claim because it attacked liberalism not only as costly, but as morally harmful. The critique was not just “these programs cost money.” It was “these programs change behavior in the wrong way.”

That helps explain why conservatives were especially critical of **means-tested** welfare programs, such as cash assistance and food support. They viewed these as direct examples of dependency-producing policy. But here is a distinction students often miss: conservatives did not find it equally easy to attack all social spending. Programs like **Social Security** and **Medicare** were politically popular and widely used. As a result, even in the Reagan era, the federal safety net survived in large part.

Reagan translated economic criticism into policy through **Reaganomics**.

> **Key Term: Reaganomics**
> Reagan’s economic program of tax cuts, deregulation, reduced domestic spending growth, and increased defense spending.
>
> **Key Term: supply-side economics**
> The theory that lower taxes on businesses and higher earners would encourage investment, production, and job creation, leading to wider economic growth.

Supporters called this **supply-side economics**. Critics called it **trickle-down economics**. The difference matters. “Supply-side” was the formal argument: cut taxes and regulation to increase production. “Trickle-down” was the attack line: benefits would flow upward first and only maybe reach ordinary people later.

The main legislative example was the **Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981**, which cut taxes significantly. Reagan also supported deregulation in areas such as business and the environment. In addition, the **Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981** cut funding for many domestic programs, showing that criticism of liberal spending was not just rhetoric.

> **Key Term: Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981**
> A major Reagan-era tax cut law designed to stimulate economic growth through supply-side principles.
>
> **Key Term: Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981**
> A law that reduced spending on many domestic programs and reflected conservative efforts to limit parts of the Great Society welfare state.

The conservative argument worked politically because it simplified a complex issue. If a voter felt overtaxed, worried about inflation, or believed welfare had become permanent rather than temporary, Reagan’s critique seemed to fit lived experience. Whether the policy solved every problem is a different question. APUSH rewards that distinction.

Results were mixed. Inflation did fall, and economic growth eventually recovered after recession. But the benefits were uneven, and many critics argued that the rich gained most. Also, Reagan increased defense spending sharply, which meant that “small government” did not apply equally to all areas.

### New Federalism, labor, and the limits of rollback

Conservative criticism of liberalism also targeted federal power itself. Reagan argued that Washington had taken too much authority from the states and local communities.

> **Key Term: New Federalism**
> A Reagan-era effort to shift responsibility and authority from the federal government to the states.
>
> **Key Term: block grants**
> Federal funds given to state governments with broader discretion over how the money is spent.

This is where **New Federalism** matters. Reagan wanted more **devolution**, meaning power would move downward from the national government to the states. In practice, that often meant using **block grants** rather than tightly controlled federal programs. Conservatives said this would reduce bureaucracy, improve local control, and allow states to respond more flexibly.

This critique also connected to conservative opposition to **affirmative action** and **busing**. Many conservatives argued that federal courts and agencies had gone too far in trying to engineer social outcomes. They portrayed such policies as unfair to individuals and intrusive toward local communities.

Reagan’s stance toward organized labor also fit the broader conservative attack on post-New Deal liberalism. The most famous example is the **PATCO strike** in **1981**.

> **Key Term: PATCO strike**
> The **1981** strike by the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, after which Reagan fired more than **11,000** striking workers.

When Reagan fired the striking air traffic controllers, he sent a clear signal that the federal government would take a harder line against unions. This mattered symbolically as much as practically. The Democratic coalition since the New Deal had relied heavily on organized labor. Reagan’s response suggested that unions no longer held the same political position they once had.

The event also reassured business interests that this administration was serious about changing the balance of power between labor and management. In APUSH terms, it marks continuity with the longer post-1970 decline of unions and change from the stronger labor politics of the New Deal order.

Still, conservative rollback had limits. Reagan often spoke as if he wanted to shrink government dramatically, but the federal state was too established to dismantle quickly. **Social Security**, **Medicare**, and **Medicaid** endured. New Federalism itself did not fully succeed because states often feared the cost of taking over responsibilities from Washington.

So the best APUSH judgment is not “Reagan ended liberalism.” It is that Reagan reshaped political debate around liberalism. He made criticism of big government, taxation, regulation, and welfare central to national politics, even though much of the existing system remained.

> **Test Tip:** A strong APUSH sentence here is: “Reagan’s conservatism represented major political change in rhetoric and priorities, but only partial policy rollback because core entitlement programs remained popular and intact.”

### Social and moral critiques of liberalism

Economic conservatism alone does not explain Reagan-era politics. The **New Right** was equally powered by social conservatism.

Conservatives argued that liberalism had weakened American values. They pointed to **Roe v. Wade (1973)**, the women’s movement, the failed but controversial **Equal Rights Amendment**, changing family structures, and the decline of public religious influence. Their criticism was that liberalism encouraged moral relativism, secularism, and the breakdown of traditional authority.

> **Key Term: Moral Majority**
> A conservative evangelical political organization founded in **1979** by **Jerry Falwell** that mobilized voters around abortion, school prayer, and family values.

The **Moral Majority**, founded in **1979** by **Jerry Falwell**, helped turn these social concerns into organized political action. Evangelical Christians became a major Republican voting bloc. This was a major development because it connected private moral concerns to national elections and public policy.

**Phyllis Schlafly** played a similar role in opposition to feminism and the **ERA**. Her campaigns argued that liberal reforms threatened the family, traditional gender roles, and even women’s legal protections in some cases.

> **Key Term: Moral Majority**
> A conservative evangelical political organization founded in **1979** by **Jerry Falwell** that mobilized voters around abortion, school prayer, and family values.
>
> **Key Term: Equal Rights Amendment**
> A proposed constitutional amendment intended to guarantee equal legal rights regardless of sex; it passed Congress but was never ratified.

Social conservatives also criticized liberal civil rights remedies such as affirmative action and court-ordered busing. Here the critique was framed less around morality and more around fairness and local control. Conservatives argued that race-conscious policies violated merit and individual equality, while federal intervention overrode community decisions.

This social critique mattered because it helped Reagan attract not just lifelong Republicans but also **Reagan Democrats**: often white working- and middle-class voters who felt alienated from the Democratic Party’s social liberalism.

### How to use this in APUSH essays

This topic is highly usable in **causation**, **comparison**, and **continuity/change** essays.

For causation, explain why conservatism gained strength:

- stagflation
- tax revolt
- backlash against 1960s and 1970s social change
- evangelical mobilization
- distrust of federal problem-solving

For comparison, compare:

- **New Deal/Great Society liberalism**: active federal government, anti-poverty programs, civil rights enforcement
- **Reagan conservatism**: lower taxes, deregulation, devolution, anti-welfare arguments, traditional values

For continuity and change, argue:

- change: conservative rhetoric and policy moved politics rightward in the 1980s
- continuity: core welfare-state programs survived, and the federal government remained powerful, especially in defense

A strong LEQ line of reasoning might be:

1. Economic failures of the 1970s weakened faith in liberal policy
2. Social conflict expanded conservative appeal beyond economics
3. Reagan transformed national politics, though he did not fully dismantle the liberal state

## Key Point Checklist

_This article has covered the following key knowledge points:_

- Conservative criticism of liberal programs grew from the crises of the **1970s**, especially stagflation and distrust of government
- Conservatives argued that New Deal and Great Society liberalism made the federal government too large, costly, and intrusive
- A major conservative claim was that welfare programs encouraged dependency and weakened individual responsibility
- **Proposition 13 (1978)** symbolized the anti-tax revolt that helped the conservative resurgence
- **Reaganomics** combined tax cuts, deregulation, reduced domestic spending growth, and higher defense spending
- **Supply-side economics** was the formal theory behind Reagan’s tax cuts, while **trickle-down economics** was a critic’s label
- The **Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981** and **Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981** are key policy examples
- **New Federalism** sought to shift authority and responsibility from Washington to the states, often through **block grants**
- Reagan’s firing of striking **PATCO** workers in **1981** signaled a harder conservative line against organized labor
- Social conservatives attacked abortion rights, feminism, affirmative action, busing, and secularism
- The **Moral Majority** and the **New Right** linked religious conservatism to Republican politics
- Reagan reshaped national politics, but core entitlement programs such as **Social Security**, **Medicare**, and **Medicaid** survived

## Key Terms and Concepts

- Reagan conservatism
- New Right
- Proposition 13
- welfare state
- Reaganomics
- supply-side economics
- Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981
- Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981
- New Federalism
- block grants
- PATCO strike
- Moral Majority
- Equal Rights Amendment


Reagan and Conservatism - Conservative critiques of liberal programs