Party insisted that the organization take a strong stand in favor of gun control, despite the fact that it was a losing issue outside of most major cities. The Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion provided a third hot-button issue for conserva- tives. Polls consistently show that most Americans favor abortion rights, but that at the same time they are uncom- fortable with the actual practice. In response to conserva- tive and religious opposition to abortion, liberals, pushed by feminist activists within their own camp, took an un- compromising position that called for ‘‘abortion on de- mand.’’ The issue galvanized millions of single-issue voters who made ending abortion their only cause. This issue brought millions of evangelical Christians into active politics and also peeled off a considerable number of Catholic voters from the Democratic Party. Not all Demo- crats were liberals, but abortion rights became a litmus test for getting a nomination within the party, just as opposition to abortion rights became a litmus test for Republicans. The emergence of gay rights and especially the demand for same-sex marriage further harmed liberalism. Once again, the liberal coalition was forced by activists to push for a cause that many Americans opposed. In the 2004 election, conservatives brilliantly managed to put antigay marriage propositions on the ballots in a number of states, and then galvanized voters to turn out to make sure these propositions passed. The end result was a sweep of Congress and the White House by Republicans. Redefining the Liberal Agenda. The hot-button social issues that threatened liberalismÀ integration, abortion rights, gun control, and gay rights Àdistracted liberal thinkers and politicians from what had been the great success of liberalism. The liberal successes of the New Deal and the Great Society had been based on pro- viding real benefits to the majority of Americans. They had also been accompanied Àat liberalism’s zenith À by a strong support for the military and a wise use of military power. The main success of liberalism had been in temper- ing the harshness of the marketplace to achieve economic security for most Americans, at the same time providing social services that were universally popular Àsuch as Social Security, Medicare, the GI Bill, student loans Àand following fiscal policies that allowed most Americans to become home owners. When accomplishing their goals on these issues, liberals were also able to secure greater rights for minorities and women. The conservative resurgence of 2004 was short lived, and in the 2006 elections Democrats carried both houses of Congress. By this time most Americans had come to oppose the Iraq War. Learning from past mistakes, liber- als wrapped themselves in the flag, reiterating that they supported the troops and the soldiers, while opposing the policies of the Republican administration. Polls show that most Americans do not define themselves as liberals, but in fact a majority of Americans support most of the historical positions of liberalism and many of the modern ones as well. The majority of Americans support abortion rights, moderate gun control, and even basic equality for gays, but not same-sex marriage. The great domestic issues of the new century center on health care and eco- nomic security in an age of vast economic change and deindustrialization. In the past, liberals have had the most successful answers to similar problems. The question for the twenty-first century will be whether liberalism will redefine itself and reconceptualize its role in American politics and society, and in doing so place the nation on the road to achieving equality, liberty, and prosperity for all Americans. [See also Civil Rights, subentry The Civil Rights Movement in the United States; and Progressivism.] BIBLIOGRAPHY Brinkley, Alan. The End of Reform: New Deal Liberalism in Recession and War. New York: Knopf, 1995. Edsall, Thomas Byrne, with Mary D. Edsall. Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American Politics. New York: Norton, 1991. Hartz, Louis. The Liberal Tradition in America: An Interpretation of American Political Thought since the Revolution. 2d ed. San Diego, Calif.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991. The first edition was published in 1956. Kloppenberg, James T. ‘‘In Retrospect: Louis Hartz’s Liberal Tradition in America.’’ Reviews in American History 29, no. 3 (September 2001): 460–476. Kloppenberg, James T. Uncertain Victory: Social Democracy and Progressivism in European and American Thought, 1870– 1920. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. Matusow, Allen J. The Unraveling of America: A History of Liberalism in the 1960s. New York: Harper & Row, 1984. P AUL F INKELMAN LIBERATION MOVEMENTS. Liberation movements are associated with cross-class, ideologically plural alli- ances for collective mobilization aimed at producing cul- tural or national recognition, political independence, or social gains. Historically, liberation movements have been engines for the construction of new communities and identities, and thus they should be understood as creating new national, ethnic, racial, cultural, and terri- torial meanings and allegiances. Liberation movements 514 LIBERALISM: The United States