How did a conservative movement come to power in 1980, and how did Reagan reshape American politics and government?
Topic 9.2 Reagan and Conservatism: the rise of the New Right, the policies of the Reagan administration, and the conservative reshaping of American politics.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.2, covering Reagan and conservatism: the roots of the conservative resurgence and the New Right, Reaganomics and supply-side economics, deregulation and the military buildup, the role of the religious right, and the limits and legacy of the conservative movement.
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What this topic is asking
Topic 9.2 asks you to explain Reagan and conservatism: the roots of the conservative resurgence and the New Right, the policies of the Reagan administration (Reaganomics, deregulation, the military buildup), the role of the religious right, and the limits and legacy of the conservative movement. The exam wants why conservatism rose, what Reagan did, and how he reshaped American politics.
The roots of the resurgence
Reaganomics
The military buildup and the limits of the revolution
Alongside tax cuts, Reagan greatly increased military spending to confront the Soviet Union, part of a renewed Cold War assertiveness before the thaw of his second term. But the combination of tax cuts and a military buildup, without matching reductions in popular programs, sent the federal deficit and national debt soaring, an irony for a movement that promised smaller government. And despite conservative rhetoric, the core welfare state, above all Social Security and Medicare, proved politically untouchable and endured. The conservative revolution reshaped the terms of debate more than it shrank the government itself.
The legacy
Worked example: arguing Reagan reshaped government
Try this
Q1. Name the economic theory behind Reaganomics, which held that tax cuts would spur investment and growth. [Recall]
- Cue. Supply-side economics.
Q2. Explain why the conservative resurgence did not actually shrink the federal government. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Although Reagan cut taxes and regulation and attacked the welfare state in rhetoric, he greatly increased military spending and could not cut popular entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare, so federal spending and the deficit rose rather than fell; the conservative revolution reshaped the terms of political debate more than it reduced the size of government.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP USH (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE source of the conservative resurgence of the 1970s and 1980s. Briefly explain ONE Reagan economic policy. Briefly explain ONE limit of the conservative movement's achievements.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per bullet.
A. Describe: backlash against the liberalism of the 1960s, the economic troubles of the 1970s, and the rise of the religious right fed the conservative movement.
B. Policy: Reaganomics cut taxes and regulation on the theory that supply-side incentives would spur growth.
C. Limit: despite conservative goals, federal spending and deficits rose, and major programs such as Social Security and Medicare endured.
Markers want a real source, a concrete policy, and a genuine limit.
AP USH (style)6 marksEvaluate the extent to which the Reagan administration transformed the role of the federal government in the period 1981 to 1989.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point rubric.
Thesis (1): "The Reagan administration significantly reshaped government by cutting taxes and regulation and shifting the political center to the right, though it expanded the military and deficits and left the core welfare state intact."
Contextualization (1): the breakdown of the liberal consensus amid the upheavals and economic troubles of the 1970s.
Evidence (2): supply-side tax cuts and deregulation; the military buildup and rising deficits.
Analysis (2): explain HOW Reagan moved the political center, then add complexity by weighing the survival of major entitlements and the growth of the deficit.
Related dot points
- Topic 9.1 Contextualizing Period 9: the conservative resurgence, the end of the Cold War, globalization, and the technological and demographic changes that have shaped the United States since 1980.
Sets the scene for AP US History Period 9, covering the rise of conservatism under Reagan, the end of the Cold War, globalization and a changing economy, the digital revolution, demographic change, and how to write contextualization for a DBQ or LEQ on the contemporary era.
- Topic 9.3 The End of the Cold War: the renewed Cold War of the 1980s, the role of Gorbachev's reforms, the fall of communism in Europe, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.3, covering the end of the Cold War: the renewed superpower tensions of the early 1980s, the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the debate over why the Cold War ended.
- Topics 9.4 and 9.5 A Changing Economy, Migration, and Settlement: the forces of globalization, the digital revolution, and the new immigration that reshaped the United States since 1980.
A focused answer to AP US History Topics 9.4 and 9.5, covering a changing economy and globalization: the shift from manufacturing to services and technology, the digital revolution, free trade and globalization, growing inequality, and the new immigration from Latin America and Asia and its political debates.
- Topic 9.6 Challenges of the 21st Century: the post-Cold War world, the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the financial crisis, and growing political polarization.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.6, covering the challenges of the new century: the post-Cold War world and the Persian Gulf War, the September 11 attacks and the War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 2008 financial crisis, the election of Barack Obama, and rising political polarization.
- Topic 9.7 Causation in Period 9: using the historical reasoning skill of causation to analyze the developments of the contemporary era.
A focused answer to AP US History Topic 9.7, teaching the historical reasoning skill of causation through Period 9: explaining the causes of the conservative resurgence, the end of the Cold War, and the transformations of globalization and technology, and how to frame a causation essay for the DBQ or LEQ.
Sources & how we know this
- AP United States History Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)