New Right - Definition and Overview

New Right is used in several countries as a descriptive term for various forms of conservatism that emerged in the mid- to late twentieth century.

• In the United States, the New Right refers to a political movement that coalesced through grassroots organizing in the years preceding the 1964 presidential campaign of conservative icon Barry Goldwater. The Goldwater campaign, though failing to unseat incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson, galvanized the formation of a new political movement. In elite think-tanks and local community organizations alike, new policies, marketing strategies, and electoral strategies were crafted over the succeeding decades. The New Right succeeded in building a policy approach and electoral apparatus that propelled Ronald Reagan into the White House in the 1980 presidential election. The American New Right is distinct from and opposed to the more moderate tradition of the so-called Rockefeller Republicans. Though mostly ignored by scholars until the late 1980s, the formation of the New Right is now one of the fastest-growing areas of historical research.

• In the United Kingdom, New Right refers to a form of conservatism that carried on from the Old Right through the likes of Margaret Thatcher. They are ideologically committed to neo-liberalism as well as being socially neo-conservative.

• In France, the New Right (or La Nouvelle Droite) has been used as a term to describe a modern think-tank of French political philosophers and intellectuals led by Alain de Benoist. Although accused by some critics as being far-right in their beliefs, they are nonetheless adamant that their ideas transcend the traditional Left/Right divide and actively encourage free debate.

• The New Right is also the name of a political party in the Netherlands.

Example Usage of Right