Modern liberalism in the United States emerged with Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s and is the prevailing version of liberalism in the country. It is most synonymous with the ideology known as social liberalism in much of the world, combining in the U.S. version elements of cultural liberalism, American progressivism, civil liberty and social equality with support for social justice and a mixed economy. Modern liberalism was historically one of two major political ideologies in the United States, with the other being conservatism. Writing in 1993, American academic writer Ian Adams argued all major U.S. parties up to that point were "liberal and always have been. Essentially they espouse classical liberalism, that is a form of democratized Whig constitutionalism plus the free market. The point of difference comes with the influence of social liberalism."
Economically, modern liberalism embraces a role for government to protect against market failures, ensure competition and prevent corporate monopolies, and supports labor rights through the strengthening of public- and private-sector labor unions, collective bargaining, unemployment insurance and minimum wage laws. Its fiscal policy supports broad expansions of the social safety net through the proposition of a government role in administering universal healthcare and controlling the costs of health services, paid leave, universal child care, tuition-free public or community college, workers compensation and social insurance, while simultaneously promoting income-proportional progressive income taxation and other tax reform policies to finance social programs, public works, and reduce government deficits. It calls for active government involvement in other social and economic matters such as reducing economic inequality, expanding access to public education and healthcare, and protection of the shared natural environment, in large part on the contention that advances in those areas create a thriving economy in the long run. Modern liberalism was formed in the 20th century in response to the Great Depression. Major examples of modern liberal policy programs include the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the New Frontier, the Great Society, the Affordable Care Act, and the Build Back Better Plan.
In the first half of the 20th century, both major American parties shared influential conservative and liberal wings. The conservative northern Republicans and Southern Democrats formed the conservative coalition, which mostly dominated the U.S. Congress from the late 1930s until the Johnson administration. Beginning in the Great Depression era, northern Democrats increasingly supported civil rights and organized labor, while voters and politicians in the formerly Solid South opposed them from within the Democratic Party. Following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, conservative Democrats began an exodus from the party, and supported Republican candidate Richard Nixon in 1968.
In the 21st century, urban areas have become more liberal, and rural areas have become conservative.
Overview
The modern liberal philosophy strongly endorses public spending on programs such as education, health care, and welfare. Important social issues during the 21st century include social justice, economic inequality (wealth and income),Krugman, Paul (2007). The Conscience of a Liberal. p. 244. voting rights for minorities,Krugman, Paul (2007). The Conscience of a Liberal. p. 13. affirmative action,Krugman, Paul (2007). The Conscience of a Liberal. p 181. reproductive and other women's rights,Krugman, Paul (2007). The Conscience of a Liberal. p. 211. support for LGBT rights,"Americans Split Over New LGBT Protections, Restroom Policies". Gallup. May 18. 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2019. and immigration reform.Helco, Hugo (2005). The Great Society and the High Tide of Liberalism. Milkis, Sidney M.; Meileur, Jerome M., eds. University of Massachusetts Press, p. 58. . "In [the 1970s], the American government began telling Americans what they could and could not do with regard to abortions, capital punishment, and bilingual education. The 1970s also brought new and more sweeping national regulations to deal with environmental challenges, consumer protection, workplace safety, gender discrimination, the rights of those with disabilities, and political spending".
Modern liberalism took shape during the 20th century, with roots in Theodore Roosevelt's Square Deal and New Nationalism, Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom, Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, Harry S. Truman's Fair Deal, John F. Kennedy's New Frontier and Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society. Modern liberals oppose conservatives on most but not all issues. Although historically related to social liberalism and progressivism, the current relationship between liberal and progressive viewpoints is debated. Modern liberalism is typically associated with the Democratic Party while modern conservatism is typically associated with the Republican Party.Pew Research Center, "More Now See GOP as Very Conservative", September 12, 2011.
In 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt defined a liberal party in the following terms:
In 1960, John F. Kennedy defined a liberal as follows:
Keynesian economic theory has played an important role in the economic philosophy of modern liberals.Kevin Boyle, The UAW and the Heyday of American Liberalism, 1945–1968 (1998) p. 152 Modern liberals generally believe that national prosperity requires government management of the macroeconomy to keep unemployment low, inflation in check and growth high. They also value institutions that defend against economic inequality. In The Conscience of a Liberal, Paul Krugman writes: "I believe in a relatively equal society, supported by institutions that limit extremes of wealth and poverty. I believe in democracy, civil liberties, and the rule of law. That makes me a liberal, and I'm proud of it". Modern liberals often point to the widespread prosperity enjoyed under a mixed economy in the years since World War II.Andrew Heywood, Political Ideologies: An Introduction (Houndmills: Macmillan Press, 1998), 93. They believe liberty exists when access to necessities like health care and economic opportunity are available to allLarry E. Sullivan. The SAGE glossary of the social and behavioral sciences (2009) p 291, "This liberalism favors a generous welfare state and a greater measure of social and economic equality. Liberty thus exists when all citizens have access to basic necessities such as education, health care, and economic opportunities." and they champion the protection of the environment.John McGowan, American Liberalism: An Interpretation for Our Time (2007)Starr P. (March 1, 2007). "War and Liberalism." The New Republic." "Liberalism wagers that a state ... can be strong but constrained – strong because constrained. ... Rights to education and other requirements for human development and security aim to advance the opportunity and personal dignity of minorities and to promote a creative and productive society. To guarantee those rights, liberals have supported a wider social and economic role for the state, counterbalanced by more robust guarantees of civil liberties and a wider social system of checks and balances anchored in an independent press and pluralistic society."
American versus European usage of liberalism
Colloquially, liberalism is used differently, in its primary use in different countries. In the United States the general term liberalism almost always refers to modern liberalism. There are some parties in Europe which nominally appeal to social liberalism, with the Beveridge Group faction within the Liberal Democrats, the Danish Social Liberal Party, the Democratic Movement, and the Italian Republican Party. One of the greatest contrasts is between the usage in the United States and usage in Europe and Latin America. According to Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (writing in 1956), "[l]iberalism in the American usage has little in common with the word as used in the politics of any European country, save possibly Britain.""Liberalism in America: A Note for Europeans" by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (1956) from: The Politics of Hope (Boston: Riverside Press, 1962). In Europe, liberalism usually means what is sometimes called economic liberalism or classical liberalism, a commitment to limited government, laissez-faire economics. This classical liberalism sometimes more closely corresponds to the American definition of libertarianism or, in an economic context, fiscal conservatism, although some distinguish between classical liberalism and libertarianism.Tomasi, John Free Market Fairness, PUP, 2012
Demographics of American liberals
A 2005 Pew Research Center study found that liberals were the most educated ideological demographic and were tied with the conservative sub-group of the enterprisers for the most affluent group. Of those who identified as liberal, 49% were college graduates and 41% had household incomes exceeding $75,000, compared to 27% and 28% as the national average, respectively. Liberalism has become the dominant political ideology in academia, with 44–62% identifying as liberal, depending on the exact wording of the survey. This compares with 40–46% liberal identification in surveys from 1969 to 1984. The social sciences and humanities were most liberal whereas business and engineering departments were the least liberal; even in the business departments, however, liberals outnumbered conservatives by two to one. This feeds the common question of whether liberals are on average more educated than conservatives, their political counterparts. Two Zogby surveys from 2008 and 2010 affirm that self-identified liberals tend to go to college more than self-identified conservatives. Polls have found that young Americans are considerably more liberal than the general population. As of 2009, 30% of the 18–29 cohort was liberal. In 2011, this had changed to 28%, with moderates picking up the two percent.
A 2015 Gallup poll found that socially liberal views have consistently been on the rise in the United States since 1999. As of 2015, there is a roughly equal number of socially liberal Americans and socially conservative Americans (31% each) and the socially liberal trend continues to rise. In early 2016, Gallup found that more Americans identified as ideologically conservative (37%) or moderate (35%) rather than liberal (24%), but that liberalism has slowly been gaining ground since 1992, standing at a 24-year high.
From 2016 to 2024 liberal identification remained around 25% in Gallup polling, though in 2025 liberal identification spiked to 28%, with 35% identifying as conservative and 33% identifying as moderate.
Geography The Northeast, Great Lakes region, parts of the Southwest, and the West Coast are the main liberal strongholds; the fraction of Massachusetts self-identified conservatives being as low as 21%. Voters in the urban cores of large metropolitan areas tend to be more liberal and Democratic. There is a clear urban–rural political divide within and among states.
History
Historian and advocate of liberalism Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. had explored in-depth the heritage of Jacksonian democracy in its influence on Franklin D. Roosevelt.Arthur Schlesinger Jr., The Age of Jackson (1945) Robert V. Remini, the biographer of Andrew Jackson, also said: Jacksonian Democracy, then, stretches the concept of democracy about as far as it can go and still remain workable. ... As such it has inspired much of the dynamic and dramatic events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in American history—Populism, Progressivism, the New and Fair Deals, and the programs of the New Frontier and Great Society to mention the most obvious.