Throughout history, bipartisanship has repeatedly played an important role. However, one of the most notable moments in a bipartisan coalition that lasted over fifty years would be that of the conservative coalition. From the 1930s to the 1990s, the conservative coalition played a major role in determining the policies of Congress and the nation. It formed, in part, in reaction to the progressive policies of then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and other progressive members of the government (Patterson 1966:757). After his prolonged reign in Congress, he eventually faded from history during the Congress revolutions of the 1980s and 1990s (Consequently, the Congress rose to power for a number of different reasons which led to a flat -form issues, but ultimately morphed into the Republican Party of the mid-1990s. Although some reasons may have been very important in the emergence of the conservative coalition, researchers have noted a wide variety of issues that may have contributed Democratic congressman from Missouri, Richard Bolling, believes that issues such as "civil rights, welfare, labor, education and tax affairs" led to the founding of this bipartisan voting bloc. to the separation of part of the Democratic Party to be combined with the conservative coalition (Shelley 1983: 12). education, social protection and work” (Shelley, 1983: 13). better understanding of the foundations of the conservative coalition. This can be best summed up when stated...... middle of paper ......e to Congress. The American Political Science Review 95 (September): 673-687. Patterson, James T. 1966. “A Conservative Coalition Forms in Congress, 1933-1939.” The Journal of American History 52 (March): 757-772. Paulson, Arthur. 2007. Electoral realignment and prospects for American democracy. Boston: Northeastern University Press. Rohde, David W., Norman J. Ornstein, and Robert L. Peabody. 1984. “Political Change and Legislative Norms in the U.S. Senate, 1957-1974.” In Congressional Studies, ed. Glenn R. Parker. Washington, DC: CQ Press. Shelley II, Mack C. 1983. The Permanent Majority: The Conservative Coalition in the United States Congress. Tuscaloosa, Ala.: University of Alabama Press. Sundquist, James L. 1983. Party System Dynamics: Alignment and Realignment of Political Parties in the United States. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.