ABSTRACT
After the fiscal crisis, New York City became the neoliberal city par excellence, though many of its politicians used neoconservative ideology in order to win elections and create policy. Neoliberalism and neoconservatism are two complicated and distinct late-twentieth-century political ideologies with many elements of convergence in the United States. Both neoliberalism and neoconservatism matured as social theories in the 1960s and became intellectual movements that by the late 1970s were able to influence public policy. Both were also used by politicians in order to advance their political careers, attack New Deal liberalism and its legacy, and propose solutions to festering social and economic conditions. Furthermore, both have sought to radically reorganize the political sphere, shape principles of governance, and redefine citizenship. Neoliberalism is a theory of political–economic practices that promotes the deregulation of capitalist markets, the reduction of international trade barriers, the privatization of state companies, the growth of private investment, and the withdrawal of the state from public provision. Neoconservatism as a theory embraces family values, promotes traditional gender roles, values conservative religious movements, and encourages patriotism. Neoconservatives view the alliance of the state with the business sector as the best way for the capitalist economy to grow, though they want the state and not the corporations to be in command. Neoconservatives view the Republican Party as a vehicle for their policies, though some Democratic politicians have also embraced these ideas. Since at least the 1970s, neoconservatism has profoundly influenced American conservatism; however, most conservatives continue to use the conservative label and avoid the term “neoconservative,” which is considered more of an intellectual position. 1
