Liberalism in the United States in the context of "Works Progress Administration"

Conservatism in the United States is one of two major political ideologies in the United States, with the other being liberalism (more specifically, modern social liberalism). Traditional American conservatism is characterized by a belief in individualism, traditionalism, capitalism, republicanism, and limited federal governmental power in relation to U.S. states, although 21st century developments have shifted it towards right-wing populist themes.

American conservatives maintain support from the Christian right and its interpretation of Christian values and moral absolutism, while generally opposing abortion, euthanasia, and some LGBT rights. They tend to favor economic liberalism, and are generally pro-business and pro-capitalism, while more strongly opposing communism and labor unions than liberals and social democrats. Recent shifts have moved it towards national conservatism, protectionism, cultural conservatism, and a more realist foreign policy.

Classical liberalism (sometimes called English liberalism) is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, economic freedom, political freedom and freedom of speech. Classical liberalism, contrary to liberal branches like social liberalism, looks more negatively on social policies, taxation and the state involvement in the lives of individuals, and it advocates deregulation.

Until the Great Depression and the rise of social liberalism, classical liberalism was called economic liberalism. Later, the term was applied as a retronym, to distinguish earlier 19th-century liberalism from social liberalism. By modern standards, in the United States, the bare term liberalism often means social or progressive liberalism, but in Europe and Australia, the bare term liberalism often means classical liberalism.

American political ideologies conventionally align with the left–right political spectrum, with most Americans identifying as conservative, liberal, or moderate. Contemporary American conservatism includes social conservatism and fiscal conservatism. The former ideology developed as a response to communism and then the civil rights movement, while the latter developed as a response to the New Deal. Modern American liberalism includes cultural liberalism, social liberalism and progressivism, developing during the Progressive Era and the Great Depression. Besides conservatism and liberalism, the United States has a notable libertarian movement, developing during the mid-20th century as a revival of classical liberalism. Historical political movements in the United States have been shaped by ideologies as varied as republicanism, populism, separatism, fascism, socialism, monarchism, and nationalism.

Political ideology in the United States began with the country's formation during the American Revolution, when republicanism challenged the preexisting monarchism that had defined the colonial governments. After the formation of an independent federal government, republicanism split into new ideologies, including classical republicanism, Jeffersonian democracy, and Jacksonian democracy. In the years preceding the American Civil War, abolitionism and secessionism became prominent. Progressivism developed at the beginning of the 20th century, evolving into modern liberalism over the following decades, while modern conservatism developed in response. The Cold War popularized anti-communism and neoconservatism among conservatives, while the civil rights movement popularized support for racial justice among liberals. Populist movements grew in the early-21st century, including progressivism and Trumpism.

Modern liberalism, often referred to simply as liberalism, is the dominant ideological variant of liberalism in the United States. It is most synonymous with the ideology of social liberalism, which is a variant of liberalism that moves beyond classical liberalism to account for poverty, seeking a balance between civil liberty and social equality via a social safety net. U.S. modern liberalism also takes inspiration from cultural liberalism and progressivism, and some (but not all) modern liberals explicitly identify with the contemporary U.S. progressive movement. Writing in 1993, American academic writer Ian Adams argued all major U.S. parties up to that point were "liberal and always have been. Essentially they espouse classical liberalism, that is a form of democratized Whig constitutionalism plus the free market. The point of difference comes with the influence of social liberalism."

Economically, modern liberalism accepts a role for government to protect against market failures, protect competition and prevent corporate monopolies, and supports labor rights. Its fiscal policy supports sufficient funding for a social safety net, while simultaneously promoting income-proportional tax reform policies to reduce deficits. It calls for active government involvement in other social and economic matters such as reducing economic inequality, expanding access to education and healthcare, and protection of the shared natural environment, in large part on the contention that advances in those areas create a thriving economy in the long run. Modern liberalism was formed in the 20th century in response to the Great Depression. Major examples of modern liberal policy programs include the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the New Frontier, the Great Society, the Affordable Care Act, and the Build Back Better Plan.

In American political theory, fiscal conservatism or economic conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, and laissez-faire economics. Fiscal conservatives advocate tax cuts, reduced government spending, free markets, deregulation, privatization, free trade, and minimal government debt. Fiscal conservatism follows the same philosophical outlook as classical liberalism. This concept is derived from economic liberalism and later neoliberalism.

The term has its origins in the era of the American New Deal during the 1930s as a result of the policies initiated by modern liberals, when many classical liberals started calling themselves conservatives as they did not wish to be identified with what was being called liberalism in the United States. In the United States, the term liberalism has become associated with the welfare state and expanded regulatory policies created as a result of the New Deal and its offshoots from the 1930s onwards.

The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed liberalism, republicanism, individual liberty, equal rights, separation of church and state, freedom of religion, anti-clericalism, emancipation of religious minorities, decentralization, free markets, free trade, and agrarianism. In foreign policy, it was hostile to Great Britain and in sympathy with the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. The party became increasingly dominant after the 1800 elections as the opposing Federalist Party collapsed.

Increasing dominance over American politics led to increasing factional splits within the party. Old Republicans, led by John Taylor of Caroline and John Randolph of Roanoke, believed that the administrations of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe—and the Congresses led by Henry Clay—had in some ways betrayed the republican "Principles of '98" by expanding the size and scope of the national government. The Republicans splintered during the 1824 presidential election. Those calling for a return to the older founding principles of the party were often referred to as "Democratic Republicans" (later Democrats) while those embracing the newer nationalist principles of "The American System" were often referred to as National Republicans (later Whigs).

The American Enlightenment was a period of intellectual and philosophical fervor in the British Thirteen Colonies in the 18th to 19th century, which led to the American Revolution and the creation of the United States. The American Enlightenment was influenced by the 17th-and 18th-century Age of Enlightenment movement and by American philosophy. According to James MacGregor Burns, the spirit of the American Enlightenment was to give Enlightenment ideals a practical, useful form in the life of the nation and its people.

A non-denominational moral philosophy replaced theology in many college curricula. Some colleges reformed their curricula to include natural philosophy (science), modern astronomy, and mathematics, and "new-model" American-style colleges were founded. Politically, the age is distinguished by an emphasis upon consent of the governed, equality under the law, liberty, republicanism and religious tolerance, as clearly expressed in the United States Declaration of Independence.