New Deal Coalition

Starting around 1929, the Great Depression was an economic breakdown that showed some economic statistics that has never been seen before. There was no single particular cause as to why the Great Depression occurred, however, the Democrats especially Franklin Roosevelt had an answer to the mess. The 'New Deal' of the democrats was one policy which was supported by several people including some of the Republicans who believed that it could indeed pull out the United States out of the Depression. The New Deal was essentially an alignment, which supported the New Deal and this Coalition gave the democratic party, seven victories out of nine presidential elections from 1932 to 1964.

What was the New Deal Coalition?

In the United States, the 1932 elections, which were quite gloomy, were won by the Democrats led by Roosevelt with a land slide victory which started off what is known as a New Deal and the Fifth party system. In very common, harsh and simple words, the worst affected people in the Depression era, were the common man, hardworking, honest and committed people. Roosevelt initiated a set of changes which were known as the New Deal aimed at relieving, recovering and reforming the economy. In the process, Roosevelt from the time period between 1933 to 1936, realigned several voting blocs, minorities and also several groups of voters.

The big city machines, labor unions, liberals, ethnic and racial minorities formed the principle part of the informal coalition and several other people including several small time businessmen, farmers and well, almost all people who had faced the turmoil of the Depression joined in the coalition. There were also several republican loyalists, who supported the New Deal. Wagner Act (labor unions), Works Progress Administration (relief program), Social Security Act (for the betterment of the society), United States Housing Authority, Farm Security Administration and Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, where some of the biggest reforms that set things into motion and gave the U.S. Economy a considerable boost. Whether or not the New Deal was a success is something that few of us can debate about, simply due to the fact that we did not experience it. The recovery was harsh.

The Fragmentation

The difficult conditions during the Depression and World War II did cost the Coalition and Democrats a lot. By 1937-38, the Works Progress Administration proved to be a life saver and the Deal was sustained with Roosevelt retaining the Coalition's trust.

The 1980s Regan economics, slowly ended the New Deal as under the Reagan administration, the Republican led administration initiated the highly successful Reaganomics. Several Reagan Democrats also sided with the newer and more modern policies of Regan. Some exceptions such as the Southern states and some minorities still supported the New Deal policies. Thus, the Coalition was broken up by the sheer fact that it was time to change and evolve to a great stage for a greater good.

The chapter of New Deal is quite a prestigious one as it was not only a successful one but in many ways it shaped several factions of the United States economy, as we see it today.