What Ever Happened to Neoliberalism?

George Bush’s decisive trouncing of Michael Dukakis meant more than the defeat of a mousy, arrogant technocrat from Massachusetts. It signaled the collapse of the philosophy that Dukakis represented, the so-called neoliberal approach, which only a few years earlier had been heralded as “the most exciting intellectual movement in America,” as Newsweek put it. Randall Rothenberg, in his book The Neoliberals, confidently predicted that “The future belongs to the neoliberals.”

Not so long ago, these appraisals seemed plausible. After four years of tussling within the Democratic Party, the neoliberal wing won out over the radical and establishment wings when the Democrats handed Dukakis their 1988 presidential nomination. Dukakis was part of the “Class of ’74,” the new-age Democrats who ascended to power in the aftermath of Watergate: Gary Hart, Richard Lamm, Stephen Solarz, Tom Downey, Paul Tsongas, Tim Wirth, and Christopher Dodd, to name a few.

About the Author

Dinesh D'Souza

Dinesh D’Souza is a writer, scholar, and public intellectual. He is the author of America: Imagine A World Without Her, in which he explores the landscape of a world in which America had lost the Revolutionary War.

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Presidential Election

George Bush’s decisive trouncing of Michael Dukakis meant more than the defeat of a mousy, arrogant technocrat from Massachusetts. It signaled the collapse of the philosophy that Dukakis represented, the so-called neoliberal approach, which only a few years earlier had been heralded as “the most exciting intellectual movement in America,” as Newsweek put it. Randall Rothenberg, in his book The Neoliberals, confidently predicted that “The future belongs to the neoliberals.”

Not so long ago, these appraisals seemed plausible. After four years of tussling within the Democratic Party, the neoliberal wing won out over the radical and establishment wings when the Democrats handed Dukakis their 1988 presidential nomination. Dukakis was part of the “Class of ’74,” the new-age Democrats who ascended to power in the aftermath of Watergate: Gary Hart, Richard Lamm, Stephen Solarz, Tom Downey, Paul Tsongas, Tim Wirth, and Christopher Dodd, to name a few.

About the Author

Dinesh D'Souza

Dinesh D’Souza is a writer, scholar, and public intellectual. He is the author of America: Imagine A World Without Her, in which he explores the landscape of a world in which America had lost the Revolutionary War.