What are neoconservatives?
A group of conservatives most of whom were liberals until left-wing radicalism went mass-market in the sixties. Their positions continue to evolve; some still have positions consistent with New Deal liberalism, while others have moved on to a more full-blown conservatism. Many of them have been associated with the magazines Commentary_ and _The Public Interest_, and a neopapalist contingent (now at odds with many other neoconservatives over the relation between religion and politics) is associated with the magazine _First Things_. Their influence has been out of proportion to their numbers, in part because they include a number of well- known Northeastern and West Coast journalists and academics and in part because having once been liberals they still can speak the language and retain a certain credibility in Establishment circles.
