The Emergence of The New Right in the United States

The Emergence of the New Right

The prevalence of perceived social, economic and political imbalances are deemed as the elements that contribute to the call for change in societies and nations across the globe. In the case of the United States, the emergence of the New Right in the 20th century created a turning point in the country’s socio-economic and political affairs. This paper will assess the issues that contributed to the emergence of the New Right and how the New Right shaped the United States’ 1980 election.

The Emergence of the New Right

The emergence of the New Right is attributed to the growing dissatisfaction experienced by United States’ business community, religious leaders and political groups on the legislative amendments, policies, and programs that were deemed to affect the country’s moral status, labor welfare, and corporate competitiveness in the global market. The conservative businesspeople in the United States who formed the New Right asserted that the labor and environmental regulations in the country hampered the competitiveness of the American companies in the international market. Here, calls for the reduction of the welfare and social spending were made as a way of reducing the tax burden on households and individuals in the country. The New Right led to the adoption of was deemed as dynamic conservatism in the United States whereby the policy makers believed in ’conservatism when it comes to money and liberal when it comes to human beings’ (Berkin et al. 240). While the United States comprised of many religious groups with varying theological ideologies, the New Right emerged as religious groups collectively perceived that ’should have a religious faith’ (Berkin et al. 270). The New Right campaigned on the preservation of the family unit and the social morality across the country as the tolerance of homosexuality and abortion as well as the increase in juvenile delinquency attracted criticism.

1980 Elections

The New Right shaped the 1980 election as the political parties capitalized on the pressing issues that affected the society to front campaign ideologies. The pressures from the New Right led to the passage of the voting rights act by the Congress in the year 1960. The influence of the business community and the religious groups who existed within the New Right was evident in the 1980 elections as the contestants in the election incorporated the demands of the New Right in their campaigns as a way of addressing the societal needs and appealing to the electorate. The electoral amendments that resulted from the New Right ensured the implementation of the voting rights that increased the voter turnout in the 1980 election. Also, political contestants and parties that did not agitate for the enhancement of the global competitiveness of United States firms and the preservation of the moral standards in the country lost elections.

Connection to the 21st Century

In the 21st century, aspects of the New Right are still evident as the calls for the country’s global competitiveness continue leading to the implementation of protective policies, unilateral and bilateral deals as well as the revision of taxes and levies to ensure favorable trade in the country. Also, policies ensuring social morality are evident as the exposure of the minors to contents perceived as indecent are protected by the law as well as the seeking of religious inputs in passing bills such as the ones on abortion.

Insight

The insights from the New Right include the fact that social institutions have a great influence on a country’s political outcomes and the concerns of the business community are important in political elections. By addressing the needs of the society as well as ensuring competitive economic environment, political groups are able to earn electorate support.

Work Cited

Berkin, Carol, Christopher L. Miller, Robert W. Cherny, and James L. Gormly. Making America: A History of the United States. Australia: Cengage Learning, 2016.