ABSTRACT
The election results indicate that the American public has repudiated the liberalism that has been the dominant method of social reform since the New Deal. Periodically throughout United States (US) history, right-wing forces have thrived, promoting such themes as white supremacy, scapegoating of Jews, violent opposition to unions, and rabid anti-communism. The US economy, once based in industrial capital, is being structurally transformed by the declining significance of industrial production and the increasing role played by finance capital and the service and information sectors of the economy. Social, political, and economic discontent, no matter how strongly powered by mutually reinforcing causes, does not result in revolutionary change unless there is a political movement to capture the anger and direct it in a certain direction. The role of the federal government in promoting or squelching a growing social movement is fluid and opportunistic. The government can channel resources, confer legitimacy, and provide leadership for a social movement.
