Between Promise and Policy: Ronald Reagan and Conservative Reformism

(Paperback)

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Description

This study compares the professed ideals and actual realities of conservative reformism leading up to and during the Reagan presidency. The author examines Ronald Reagan's defence programme, his policies to reduce the size of the federal government, regulatory reform and the re-prioritizing of government expenditures. Karaagac concludes that the Reagan administration effectively exployed ideology as a political tool: President Reagan could alternate between being pragmatic and flexible in order to score political victories, and making a stand as a staunch defender of conservative principals in order to rally his supporters.

Reviews

Karaagac develops his theme within an excellent presentation of the breakdown of the New Deal coalition and its foreign policy assumptions. * Choice Reviews *

Author Bio

John Karaagac is a consultant and editor who received his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University.