Neoliberalism is often associated with Ronald Reagan, but its influence eventually extended far beyond the Republican Party. By the 1990s, Bill Clinton and the Third Way were offering Democrats a path back to political power by accepting many of the assumptions that had reshaped Washington: greater faith in markets, free trade and deregulation, a smaller social safety net, and a much more comfortable relationship with corporate power. Clinton also presided over strong economic growth and pursued policies that materially helped millions of Americans, which is precisely why his legacy is more complicated than simply labeling him the Democratic version of Reagan.
But that neoliberal consensus was never universal. Bernie Sanders spent decades challenging free-trade agreements, corporate concentration, and the influence of money in politics, while Elizabeth Warren emerged as one of the party’s strongest advocates for financial regulation and consumer protection. Their rise helps explain a struggle that continues inside the Democratic Party today: whether government should primarily work within markets as they exist, or use public power much more aggressively to reshape them.
