Conservative Ideas and Social Policy in the United States

Abstract

This article explores social policy development in the United States since the beginning of the George W. Bush presidency. Starting from an analysis of the discourse about compassionate conservatism at the centre of the 2000 presidential campaign and proceeding to a discussion of the meaning of the more recent ownership society blueprint, it underlines the fragmented nature of the conservative policy agenda in the United States. Yet, the article suggests that, despite this fragmentation, the ideological dominance of the right and the related absence of needed reform in key policy areas are of great significance for the future of federal social policy. Overall, the article shows how paying close attention to the nature of conservative ideas improves our understanding of social policy development in the United States. As argued, the old liberal and the traditionalist sides of American conservatism have inspired distinct yet related blueprints and reform proposals that both promote a scaling-down of existing federal social programmes and a return to traditional forms of economic security (i.e. charity and personal savings). The article underlines the relationship between these blueprints and policy drift.

Growing C-D-R (Cedar): working the intersections of interest convergence and whiteness as property in the affirmative action legal debate

“…Such actions were perchance in furtherance of neoconservative and cultural imperialist movements of the George W. Bush Administration, which advanced social and political conservative values and tried to maintain racial and cultural domination state by state (Glassman 2005). The Bush Administration's public endorsement of the abolishment of race-based affirmative action in higher education, as mentioned in the Gratz and Grutter analysis below, was no surprise given that the administration's political platform was a continuation of what Ronald Reagan began in the 1980s with regard to federal social policy reform (Béland and Waddan 2007). George W. Bush and his administration touted a neoconservative agenda of minimizing federal government interference and maximizing protection of certain social and corporate groups who thought they were facing downward mobility as a result of globalization and social and economic policies put in place by liberals (Bové 2013;Glassman 2005).…”

“…This action reinforced the Southern strategy and President Reagan's new political, social, and economic framework for the United States, one which rejected federal social and economic programs initially established under Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal to help the masses after the Great Depression and continued with Lyndon Johnson's Great Society to help alleviate poverty and racial injustice Race Ethnicity and Education 69 after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Instead, President Reagan pushed to revitalize a more right-wing American conservatism of federal social policy reform that supported state power and radical individualism (Béland and Waddan 2007). A Supreme Court comprised of more legally and socially conservative justices than the justices on the bench in the 1960s and early 1970s, were largely appointed by Presidents Reagan and later George H.W.…”

Vieillissement, discours politique et réforme des retraites aux États-Unis1

“…Finalement, face à tant de résistance politique, à la fin juin 2005, le pré-sident suspendit sa campagne en faveur de la « †privatisation partielle †» tout en disant vouloir la reprendre à la rentrée. Mais, à la fin de l'été 2005, la catastrophe politique et médiatique provoquée par l'ouragan Katrina détruisit tout espoir pour le prési-dent de réformer les retraites (Béland et Waddan, 2007). En plus d'orienter l'agenda politique fédé-ral dans une nouvelle direction, un tel événement, combiné au débat entourant la guerre en Irak, favorisa un déclin de la popularité du président, qui commença à chuter rapidement à partir de septembre 2005 pour ne jamais vraiment remonter par la suite (Edwards III, 2007).…”

“…Théoriquement, l'article est centré sur une analyse du rôle du discours, des idées et des « †réfé-rentiels †» dans le développement des politiques publiques (par exemple †: Béland et Waddan, 2007 †;Blyth, 2001 †;Campbell, 2004 †;Jenson, 1989 †;Palier et Surel, 2005 †;Merrien, 1997 †;Muller, 2005 †;Schmidt, 2002). Plus particulière-ment, l'article emprunte à Robert H. Cox (2001) le concept de « †construction sociale de la néces-sité de réformer †» (social construction of the need to reform).…”

Whatever happened to compassionate Conservatism under the Coalition government?

“…For some, it also had resonance with arguments about compassionate conservatism in the United States (for example, Béland and Wadden, 2007;Olafsky, 2000). As the focus of this article is on the presentation by the Conservative Party of an apparently more 'compassionate' face on social issues, that is the umbrella term used here.…”