taxed to provide help to the poor and weak in society
(through funding public education, public housing,
health care, unemployment compensation, etc.). One
side benefit of this social-welfare system for Rawls is
that the wealthy can truly enjoy their riches (or high
positions) without guilt because they have both
“earned” them and have helped their weaker
brethren. A CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC, like the United
States, that guarantees individual RIGHTS, combined
with a liberal social-welfare state that redistributes
wealth, is probably the best possible system, in
Rawls’s view.
Critics on the LEFT(SOCIALISM) of Rawls attack his
acceptance of free-market capitalism and the need for
material incentives. Critics on the CONSERVATIVE RIGHT
(Robert NOZICK) fault him for giving the state too
much power and for excessive taxation. But Rawls’s
Theory of Justiceremains one of the most influential,
original political theories of the 20th century and an
exemplary philosophical treatment of the U.S. politi-
cal/economic/social system.
John Rawls was educated at Princeton University.
Further Reading
Daniels, N., ed. Reading Rawls.Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univer-
sity Press, 1975.
Reagan, Ronald (1911– ) U.S. politician, pres-
ident of the United States, and Conservative Republi-
can
Reagan is noteworthy in political thought for his force-
ful advocacy of CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN PARTYpolitics
and their implementation during his presidential terms
(1980–88). His Conservative LAISSEZ-FAIREpolicies of
reducing government taxes and regulation of business
came to be known as “Reaganomics.” He combined
this anti-Liberal WELFARE-STATEideology with a fierce
antiCOMMUNISM and resistance to the SOVIET UNION.
Reagan’s Conservative Republican policies in the
United States in the 1980s led to widespread deregula-
tion of business (communications, airlines, etc.) along
free-market lines, reductions of federal income taxes,
cuts in social-welfare programs, and increases in mili-
tary spending. These programs led to an increased fed-
eral deficit, revived economic growth and prosperity,
and contributed to the eventual defeat of the Soviet
Union in the cold war and the decline of communism
throughout the world. This, along with Reagan’s win-
ning personality, made him one of the most popular
presidents in Modern history.
Raised in Illinois, Ronald Reagan imbibed the tradi-
tional middle-class U.S. values of that time (EVANGELI-
CALChristianity, strong family loyalty, PATRIOTISM, and a
belief in hard work). His mother was a devout Protes-
tant CHRISTIAN, raising her children in the church with
a deep religious faith. Ronald Reagan accepted this
Evangelical Christianity early in life, and it influenced
his attitudes toward politics throughout his political
career. This explains the support he received from the
CHRISTIAN RIGHT.
Reagan attended Eureka College and worked in
radio, films, and television before entering politics in- After serving two terms as governor of Califor-
nia, he campaigned for president, finally being elected
in 1980.
The enormous impact of Reagan’s presidency on
both domestic U.S. and international politics led to a
whole ideological branch of the U.S. Republican Party
(“Reagan Republican”). This “Reaganesque” political
philosophy combines moral and fiscal conservatism,
uncompromising anticommunism, and fervent patriot-
ism. Reagan’s personality and politics were seen to
reflect and reinforce basic U.S. cultural attitudes, CIVIL
254 Reagan, Ronald
Ronald Reagan, 1981.(LIBRARY OFCONGRESS)