mic growth. While the liberal consensus focused on government control to make the economy run smoothly, conservatives saw deregulation and the removal of as much government control as possible from the economy as key in making it grow. The high costs of the Vietnam War coupled with the economic crises of the 1970's caused the American populace to look for a new form of economic policy to create economic growth. The conservatives provided this in the 1980 election.Of secondary importance the civil rights issue played an important role in bringing about the triumph of conservatism. The fractionalization of the Civil Rights Movement, caused a large portion of the American populace to fear continued expansion of civil rights in the direction of splinter groups such as the Black Panthers. Furthermore portions of the American populace saw the development of civil rights as a threat to their jobs, which in a time of recession created an opening for the conservatives to jump on.And finally, the issue of distrust of government due to the failures of the liberal consensus to stimulate economic growth and the Watergate scandal played into the hands of the conservatives who preached the reduction of government presence in almost all aspects of Americans' lives. This must have been a strong motivating factor in many "Reagan Democrats" who sided with conservatives in the 1980 election....
