New Deal Dbq

When one defines party identification, strong party loyalty is central. However, a cursory glance over the previous one hundred years of American history shows that politics has changed, so too the public’s response. While multiple factors may contribute to changes in voting and public opinion, national identity and economic conditions play major roles when viewing the outcome in retrospect. The American voter has evolved from being party-oriented to candidate-centered.
This paper will show that a voter’s party identification does not always guarantee that the voter will vote for his party. Similarly, when a controversial bill is proposed in Congress, some legislators are willing to vote with the opposing party to pursue their own ideology

or constituency’s interests, thus splitting the party. The paper will also discuss the decline of partisanship and its relevance in critical situations given the increasingly individualistic nature of voting behavior. Focusing on working-class voters at the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) of 1932, the civil and voting rights movements leading to the 1968 election of Richard Nixon, and the recent 2016 election as examples, this paper argues that different attitudes toward national identity and economic conditions influence the decline of partisanship and provide incentives for voters to pursue their own political and social opinions.
FDR’s New Deal
Roosevelt’s presidential campaign strived to create change in American society by implementing the New Deal policies.

Besides functioning as a response to the Great Depression, the liberal New Deal attracted some conservatives, thereby splitting the Republican Party. Economic conditions and national identity issues contributed to the party conversion in 1932. The Great Depression had devastating effects on the nation. From 1929 to 1933, unemployment rose from 4% to 25% and manufacturing output decreased rapidly. In addition, the national debt incurred during the Hoover administration doubled from 20% to

40%.

U.S. Unemployment U.S. National Debt
During his campaign, Roosevelt frequently criticized Hoover on doing little to control the national economy and promised reform with increase in government intervention by establishing a bureaucracy focused on welfare and relief programs.

With promises for social reforms and introduction of work relief programs that tried to decrease the unemployment rate, Roosevelt garnered support from the large unemployed population. The economic implications of the Great Depression also impacted the issue of race especially for African-Americans. As the economy worsened, they experienced more hardship compared to whites since they were the first social group to be dismissed from their jobs in order to give way to unemployed whites, thus suffering from unemployment two to three times that of whites. Although they were Republicans, the party of emancipation, the plight of African-Americans were ignored during the 1920s. Additionally, President Hoover nominated John J. Parker to the U.S. Supreme Court, someone who had strong anti-black opinions. These actions by previous Republican administrations disillusioned black voters and forced them to drift towards the Democratic camp where they first voted significantly as Democrats in 1928. Roosevelt’s presidential election in 1932 was supported by Democratic black voters and saw Roosevelt’s New Deal programs as an opportunity for them to access public assistance programs that were denied to them previously. Thus, racial issues are significant in

party conversion. Seeing African-American’s as game changers, Roosevelt gathered support by connecting with African-American leaders and assigning them to important government positions, thereby creating an unofficial “black cabinet” of African-American advisers who helped him with economic relief programs.
Collapse of the New Deal coalition and Nixon’s 1968 Presidential election
After Roosevelt’s election in 1932, the 1934 Congressional elections saw significant shifts in voting behavior that led Democrats to win both houses of Congress. The shift also saw the alignment of interest groups and labor unions in support for the New Deal leading to the creation of the New Deal coalition or the “fifth party system”. This allowed Democrats to dominate U.S. politics until the late 1960s. However, factions within the Democratic party led to the collapse of the New Deal coalition in the 1968 presidential elections. There were people within the party, young Democrats and upper middle-class whites, who were opposed to the Vietnam War and supported Senator McCarthy. Minorities and Catholics supported Senator Kennedy. Southern Democrats, who remembered the positive effects of the New Deal in the 1930s, supported Vice-President Humphrey. Although these voters identified themselves as Democrats, the party was again split due to issues related to national identity concerning race and economic conditions. Different factions may have influenced the collapse of the New Deal coalition, but it seems that the precipitating cause was the popularity decline of Johnson’s presidency due to the Vietnam War. By 1968, the war had claimed many lives of American soldiers and the recent hard won Tet Offensive weighed heavily on the Johnson administration. While the war raged, the Civil Rights movement also increased its activity and tension unfolded at home and abroad. 1968 also marked an economic crisis due to increased spending for the war and finance attempts to control the spread of Communism. These factors led to the problems in balancing the national deficit and financing the war while fighting an increase in inflation.
National inflation from January 1, 1965 to January 1, 1970

In order to tame the economy and with pressure from a Democratic-controlled Congress, Johnson tried increasing individual and corporate income taxes in August 1967 despite the danger of spelling an end to his Great Society program since only domestic programs and non-Vietnam defense expenses could be reduced. At the onset of the March gold crisis in 1968, Johnson was forced to compromise with Congress and accept the tax increase bill in June, 1968. If internal conflict of ideas on how to fix the declining economy and the increasing pressure from the Civil Rights movement around the country contributed to the collapse of the New Deal coalition, these issues may explain the internal divisions within the Democratic party that led to Nixon’s Republican win and significant party conversion from Democrat to Republican in the electoral votes.
The 2016 election and divisions within the Republican Party
The election of 2016 showed that both Democrats and Republicans are split on national identity and economic issues. However, it seems that identity issues are more salient. Republicans are moving towards the liberal side on economic issues especially with “populists” who previously voted as Democrats and hold socially conservative and liberal economic views that have been won over by Trump. Could slight Republican support for liberal economics have persuaded some Democrats to shift? Although data shows only a small percentage, Democrats shifting over to Republicans over concerns on the economy can initiate a split with more conservative Republicans. Conversely, these socially conservative voters who have adopted Trump’s nativist outlook can also split with moderate Republicans who support immigration. Thus, liberal economics and support for racially conservative views in response to concerns over immigration and terrorist activity have strongly benefited Trump’s presidential campaign. Given that the Republican party is willing to move towards the left on economic issues, the small percentage of Democrats who voted Republican in 2016 may have been driven by racial incentives. Interestingly, echoes of the 1968 election can be heard in 2016. In 1968, race relations were severely strained between blacks and whites. 2016 also show these issues significantly. Similarly, attempts in curbing Communism in 1968 as a security measure can also be seen with voters worried about the spread of terrorism in 2016. Thus, national identity and economic issues largely dictate party conversion in America.