The Mobilization of the New Right

A Test of Various Explanations

Bibliographic Data

ID3329472
AuthorsPamela Johnston Conover (University of Kentucky, corresponding author)
Year1983
Volume36
Issue4
Pages632
Publication date1983-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Western Political Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0043-4078 • E-ISSN: 2325-8675
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/448590
OpenAlexW4230860844
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited12

A TTHE BEGINNING of the 1970s, feminism seemed to be on the rise. In 1972, Congress passsed the Equal Rights Amendment, and in 1973, the Supreme Court asserted that a woman's right to have an abortion was constitutionally protected. Yet, by the 1980s, this picture had changed considerably as the fortunes of the women's liberation movement took a downward turn. On June 30, 1982, the deadline for ratification of the E.R.A. passed without it gaining the requisite number of state votes. Similarly, federal financing of abortions was severely curtailed in the late 1970s, and there appears to be a possibility that a Human Life Amendment will be passed sometime before 1984. To a large extent, this turn of events can be explained by the rise in the mid-1970s of a number of right-wing, single-issue interest groups (i.e., STOP E.R.A., to Life) which focused on the issues of abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment. Gradually, over the latter part of the decade, these single-issue groups combined with other right-wing groups to form a broad, amorphous movement which dubbed itself the Right (Crawford 1980). Structurally, the New can be divided into three major sectors: a secular right that is most concerned with economic freedom; a right that focuses on assaults on religious freedom and traditional values; and a right that opposes abortion, the E.R.A., and more generally the feminist movement and the issues it represents (Crawford 1980; Falwell 1980; Viguerie 1980). In more general terms, the New promotes what has been called backlash politics which are, for example, not only anti-E.R.A. and anti-abortion, but also anti-busing, anti-gay, and anti-big government. Furthermore, the New Right's goals are extremist in the sense that radical social and political changes are sought (Crawford 1980). Finally, in contrast to previous right-wing movements, the New has built a powerful network of organizations through which to pursue its goals, as evidenced by the 1980 elections in which six liberal senators targeted by the New fell to defeat

Mobilization · Political science · Test (biology) · American Political and Social Dynamics · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Elite Sociology and Global Capitalism · Gender Politics and Representation · Geology · Law · Paleontology · Psychology · Social Policy and Reform Studies

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub