Filosofia e politica nel conservatorismo statunitense del novecento. Eredità storico-concettuali

The U.S. Republican Party has always consisted of of different elements, which belong to deep and diverse historical and cultural tradition. Throughout the twentieth century, these currents within the Grand Old Party worked sometimes separately, albeit more often in mutual agreement, united by the need to oppose a federal overreach domestically, and the threat of totalitarianism abroad. This paper analyses the birth and evolution of the various strands of thought which constitute the conservative front today. Their philosophies came into being through the spread of a new, entrepreneurial middle class in the Thirties and grew stronger with the support of the common people from the East Coast during the economic boom in the early Fifties. Such process culminated in the nomination of Barry Goldwater as the GOP Presidential candidate in 1964. Goldwater embodied those features that still distinguish the American conservatism today: a limited government, the free market, individual freedom coupled with personal responsibility, a strong national defence and the appeal to traditional American values.