Word: restorationist
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...before their eyes. This anxiety is the root of a "radical centrism" among Middle Americans--a revolutionary mood that makes Main Street susceptible to populistic appeals for "decency" and to promises of a mythical good old days restored. Ronald Reagan's skillful campaign rhetoric articulated and capitalized upon the "restorationist" sentiment...
Phillips maintains, however, that the Reagan coalition is inherently unstable. The Sun Belt salesmen, Bible-thumping moralists, Wall Street bankers, neo-conservatives, and disgruntled industrial workers who voted for Reagan in 1980 did so for radically different reasons. To each, Reagan symbolized a different restorationist vision. Because the Reagan romp mobilized so many diverse constituencies--but will fail to satisfy and of them--Phillips foresees its eventual splintering, and a subsequent "dealignment" of American politics and political parties. His only hope for a way out of such a deadlock is for reforms in the political system itself. He believes that...
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