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Zorluk: ZorThe Conservative Movement and the Election of 1980

Read the excerpt below.

"The 'new class'—consisting of the educational establishment, the media, the public-interest lobbies, and the government bureaucracy—seeks to expand the power of the state at the expense of the private sector. The growth of the conservative movement in the late twentieth century is, at its core, a democratic reaction against the paternalistic rule of this new class. This class has utilized federal courts and regulatory agencies to bypass the legislative process, eroding the economic freedom and traditional community values of the American populace."
—Irving Kristol, essay in a neoconservative journal, 1979

Which of the following best explains how the ideas expressed in the excerpt contributed to the political realignment that culminated in the election of 1980?

  1. A
    By calling for a return to the isolationist foreign policies of the 1920s to avoid international military and economic commitments
  2. B
    By proposing Keynesian demand-side tax cuts designed to stimulate consumer spending among lower-income demographics
  3. By uniting traditionalists concerned about social values with business interests opposed to federal regulation under a shared skepticism of federal authorityCevap
  4. D
    By building a base among rural voters that rejected corporate capitalism in favor of localized, agrarian cooperative economics

Cevap

By uniting traditionalists concerned about social values with business interests opposed to federal regulation under a shared skepticism of federal authority
The correct answer is correct because the neoconservative critique of a federal 'new class' provided a common political target that united social conservatives, who felt federal courts were imposing secular values, and fiscal conservatives, who opposed federal regulatory burdens on the free market.

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1
Analyze the source text to identify the core argument and the groups targeted.
The author critiques the 'new class' (bureaucracy, media, courts) for expanding state power and eroding both 'economic freedom' and 'traditional community values.'
Understanding the dual targets of the critique (economic and social) helps identify which groups would find common ground in this rhetoric.
2
Evaluate the political goals of the conservative coalition in the lead-up to the election of 1980.
The New Right coalition brought together business leaders seeking deregulation and religious/social conservatives seeking to restore traditional values.
Connecting the intellectual arguments of neoconservatives to the electoral coalition-building of Ronald Reagan explains the realignment.
3
Compare the analyzed coalition-building strategy against the options to find the correct fit and eliminate historical distractors.
The option focusing on uniting traditionalists and business interests aligns with the text's emphasis on values and economic freedom, while other options incorrectly describe isolationism, Keynesian economics, or Populism.
This confirms the correct choice and identifies the specific historical misconceptions in the distractors.

Anahtar Kavram

The formation of the modern conservative coalition in the late twentieth century, which united fiscal and social conservatives against federal government expansion.
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Konular

The Conservative Movement and the Election of 1980

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