Liberal and conservative are labels that get thrown around a lot, especially in today’s America. Democrats are typically viewed as liberals while Republicans are seen as conservative. But what do these words even mean, and were the parties always this way? In order to answer the former question, the latter must be tackled first.
During the Roaring Twenties, America was dominated by the Republican Party. Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover were all Conservative Republicans, and generally supportive of free markets and limited regulation. They were contrasted by the Progressive Republicans who were supporters of former President Teddy Roosevelt and supported increased regulation and government safety nets. The great depression would eventually end republican dominance, leading to Progressive Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt winning four elections in a row. FDR created social security, regulated the economy, and created public works projects. Labor unions, religious and ethnic minorities, and urbanites all supported what was called the New Deal. FDR in his later years would call for an Economic Bill of Rights, calling for rights to income, food, water, shelter, education, and healthcare just to name a few. After his death these ideas would be forgotten.
In 1948, it seemed as if the Democrats would lose. Truman, a liberal was seen as too conservative by some Democrats leading progressives to split off during the election. Segregationist Democrats angered by the party’s platform including civil rights also broke away. Republicans were led by Thomas Dewey, a liberal who supported some government programs as long as debt was under control and was supportive of civil rights. This contrasted conservative Robert Taft, who fully opposed the new deal and was an anti-interventionist. Truman ended up winning to the shock of many.
The 1950s and ‘60s would be dominated by Civil Rights as both parties supported it in various forms, with the exception of Southern Democrats and the few Southern Republicans in congress. Under Eisenhower, the New Deal would largely be kept, and progress would be made on civil rights. By 1960, both parties had almost the exact same platform. Both supported civil rights, hawkishness towards the soviets, and roughly the same economic program.
JFK would end up winning over Nixon, and would, of course, be assassinated, with LBJ taking over and passing further civil rights and voting rights. In 1964, Republicans nominated Barry Goldwater, a member of the new right who opposed new deal programs and the civil rights act for regulating business. This was opposed to Nelson Rockefeller, a Liberal Republican who supported Civil Rights and many aspects of the New Deal. Goldwater would lose but do something no Republican had done in almost a century: Win in the deep south. Nixon would run again in 1968, this time winning in the face of a divided Democratic party, who again split over civil rights. Nixon then would resign in 1974, and in 1976, Jimmy Carter, a Moderate Democrat, would be elected.
Carter was the first president to begin deregulation, which would be continued and super charged under Ronald Reagan. Reagan was very much aligned with the new right, along with allying with social conservative who opposed abortion and gay rights, and supported traditional values and Warhawks, who sought a bigger defense budget. Republicans would dominate the ‘80s while Democrats would begin to abandon many New Deal ideals in favor of further deregulation. This would culminate in Bill Clinton, a Centrist “Third Way” Democrat winning in 1992. Third Way democrats were fiscally conservative and supported free trade and welfare reform, all while still wanting a social safety net and some regulation. Reagan and Clinton, and to a lesser extent, Carter, were all Neoliberals, which meant privatization, deregulation, and fiscal conservatism. The main difference between the parties increasingly came in the form of social issues with Republicans supporting traditional values like opposing abortion and gay marriage, while democrats supported expanded civil rights and gay rights.
Things largely stayed the same until the Great Recession, which has led to a populist revival of sorts in both parties. With the Democrats, this has led to the rise of Bernie Sanders, AOC, and more recently Zohran Mamdani, who all identify, at least in part, as a socialists. But actually, looking at their platforms, we see no more than the return of New Deal politics to the Democratic Party and the embracing of Progressivism.
Not all Democrats are turning to Progressive ideology, with most seeking a middle ground between Third Way ideology and Progressives in the party. Meanwhile, Republicans under Trump have embraced tariffs, limits on immigration, and a harder line on social issues. But Trump, like past Republicans, supports deregulation, lower taxes, and cuts to welfare.
It becomes clear that the parties have changed from a century ago and trying to ignore that is plain ignorance. Liberals in America are socially liberal, supporting abortion rights, gay rights, and the rights of immigrants, while some believe in expanding welfare, taxes on the rich, and universal healthcare. Others are more moderate on those issues. Conservatives in America are more socially conservative wanting a rollback of abortion rights, gay rights, and the rights of immigrants and cutting regulation and welfare.
These words are not just labels, but actual ideologies that have underpinnings in American history.