Introduction/Thesis
The
rise of the American Neoconservative movement during the late 1970's
and early 1980's caused a massive shift in social and economic policy,
gutting entitlement programs, creating a new wing of the Republican
party, and dramatically increasing the military budget in the process.
Neoconservatives lacked a defining doctrine, but for the most part
believed in aggressive foreign policy coupled with conservative social
and economic policies. The purpose of this blog is to use an oral history
of the period in addition to other materials in order to explore the
rise of the American Neoconservative movement, the effect of
Neoconservative policy on American politics, and to determine whether
the rise of the Neoconservative wing of the Republican Party is similar
to the the rise of another movement that caused significant political
and economic changes in the United States, the Second Great Awakening.
While the Second Great Awakening and the American Neoconservative
movements were created as reactions to societal changes, each movement
differed in the way it utilized religion to advance its message, and the
two movements had contrasting views on addressing social and economic
injustice, making them fundamentally different.
Interview Subject
Bernard Ward, beginning in 1981, was an aide to then-Congresswoman (and current Senator) Barbara Boxer (D-CA), eventually rising through the ranks to become her chief legislative aide in 1985. During this four-year period, Ward witnessed the rise of the American Neoconservative movement firsthand, as Neoconservatives came to dominate both the Legislative and Executive branches in Washington D.C. In this interview, Ward discusses many topics, including; when he first began to notice Neoconservative ideology influencing the policy of the Federal Government; the reasons the movement became popular; the core values of the Neoconservative movement; the relationship between Neoconservatives and the so-called Religious Right; and the effect of the Neoconservative movement on the modern-day Republican Party.
Table of Contents
1. The Genesis of the American Neoconservative Movement
2. Reactionary Politics of the American Neoconservative Movement
3. The Utilization of Religion in the American Neoconservative Movement
4. Economics and the Irony of Neoconservative Success
5. The Effect of Neoconservative Policy on the Modern-day Republican Party and American Politics in General
1. The Genesis of the Neoconservative Movement
In this first clip, Ward explains the origins of the Neoconservative movement, its leaders, and when he first began to notice the Neoconservative agenda gain prominence in Washington D.C. Ward says that the influence of Neoconservative ideology on national politics was apparent as early as 1976, but was clear when President Ronald Reagan passed his first budget, which cut spending for entitlement programs while simultaneously bolstering military spending.
2. Reactionary Politics of the American Neoconservative Movement
Neoconservative ideology arose—Ward explains in this clip (expanding on points he made in the first clip)—as a reaction by Conservatives to the expansion of social programs like the New Deal and the Great Society, as well as the social movements and U.S. foreign policy failures of the 1950’s, 1960’s, and 1970’s. Neoconservatives believed that the anti-war movement was to blame for the U.S. losing the Vietnam War, and believed that the hardline positions taken by traditional Conservatives towards these movement only provided fuel for their growth. The Second Great Awakening, too, was a reactionary movement, writes Richard Lee Rogers in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, spawned by the rapid urbanization and expansion of the U.S. economy in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. (Rogers) American industrialization and urbanization brought low wages, dangerous working conditions, disease, and a drop in overall church attendance. Both movements sought to "repackage," ideology in order to appeal to a society undergoing massive social change.
3. The Utilization of Religion in the American Neoconservative Movement
While religion played a central role in both the rise of Neoconservative politics and the Second Great Awakening, members of each movement used religion differently to achieve their goals. Neoconservatives, as Ward explains in the clip below, aligned themselves with religious conservatives, and in doing so created a powerful new wing of the Republican Party that had no interest in either economic equality or social reform, a stance that stands in stark contrast to the leaders of the Second Great Awakening. Preachers and disciples of the Second Great Awakening utilized religion to address economic and social injustice, as well as other issues that would make their congregation safer and more prosperous. Jama Jazerow, in an article published in American Quarterly, emphasized how important understanding the Christian ideology of the Second Great Awakening is to fully understanding the worldview of the labor reformers of the Market Revolution, writing
"Yet that picture will remain incomplete, indeed distorted, so long as it ignores the powerful Christian tradition embodied in early American culture. For these traditions shaped workers' responses to industrial capitalism..." (Jazerow)
Neoconservatives used religion in order to form a powerful coalition within the Republican Party, whereas the leaders of The Second Great Awakening used religion to address the social injustice of their time.
4. Economics and the Irony of the Neoconservative Association with the Religious Right
The irony of the association between leaders of the Neoconservative movement and the leaders of the Religious Right, Ward highlights in this clip, is that, in order to pass the social policies they desired, leaders of the Religious Right instructed their followers to vote against their own economic self-interest. Religious leaders like Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, and Jim Swaggart, whose congregations mainly consisted of working-class and impoverished individuals, gave their support to a movement bent on eliminating many of the social programs designed specifically to help their followers. Somewhat tragically, this meant that oftentimes poor people, in their quest for salvation, were forced to vote for economic policies that would only bring them despair.
5. The Effect of Neoconservative Politics on the Modern-day Republican Party and American Politics in General
Despite
being responsible for the electoral dominance of the Republican Party
over a large portion of the past three decades, Neoconservative policy,
as Ward asserts in this final clip, can also be blamed for the electoral
failures of the Republican Party since the end of the George W. Bush
presidency. The shrewd use of social policy by Neoconservatives to win
the support of religious conservatives, which at one time helped to form
a powerful voting bloc, is now backfiring. Millenials have largely
rejected the policies of the Neoconservative wing of the Republican
Party, especially their social policy. As a result, many members of what
will soon be the country's most populace age demographic are rejecting
the Republican Party, which they associate with the regressive and, in
some cases, discriminatory policies of the Neoconservatives. The
rejection of Neoconservative policy has caused a rift within the
Republican Party itself, as new wings like Libertarianism and the the
Tea Party emerge, embracing many Neoconservative fiscal policies, but
distancing themselves from Neoconservative social and foreign policy,
all in order to become appealing to a younger electorate. In the end,
Ward argues, the blame for the polarization of American politics, as
well as the country's rapidly increasing income inequality, can be
placed squarely on the shoulders of the Neoconservative movement.
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