ABSTRACT
Throughout much of the twentieth century, American scholars have depicted liberalism as the quintessential representation of American beliefs and as the only useful ideological source for public policy. Despite the historical importance of the New Deal, it is becoming increasingly evident to scholars that for only brief moments in the twentieth century has there been anything approaching a reform liberal ideological majority among the American people. The voice of the American electorate as expressed again and again in presidential elections has indicated that reform liberalism has no solid moral grounding in the cultural values of the nation. The success of scholars and public leaders in maintaining the facade of a liberal consensus in America has weakened reform liberalism as an effective ideology for activist government and the welfare state. The chapter examines the fallacy of claims of a prevailing reform liberal majority in the nation becomes even more apparent when the composition of the New Deal electoral coalition.
