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He talks about the history of [[American conservatism]], both, in Chapter 2, pre-[[New Deal]] conservatism—dominating the period between the [[American Civil War]] and the [[Great Depression]] (which he calls the "Long [[Gilded Age]]")—and, in Chapter 6, modern-day "[[movement conservatism]]". He argues—particularly in Chapters 5, 6, and 9—that the subtle exploitation by movement conservatives of racial and cultural resentments through small-government rhetoric (see "[[dog-whistle politics]]") and of national-security fears were key in the movement's ability to win national elections—even though its policies concentrating wealth at the top should be deeply unpopular. He talks extensively, in Chapter 6, about [[William F. Buckley, Jr.]]'s, [[Irving Kristol]]'s and [[Ronald Reagan]]'s role in building the movement—and, in Chapters 7 and 8, about the role of "institutions [particularly [[labor unions]]] and norms [particularly corporate policy]"—vis-à-vis government policy—in increasing or decreasing economic inequality. He rebukes the [[George W. Bush]] administration for policies that were currently widening the gap between the rich and poor.
Nevertheless, Krugman expresses optimism in Chapter 10 that demographic trends—particularly on race and culture—and what he sees as conservative overreach during the Bush years—are creating a new [[liberalism|center-left]] political environment and are slowly undermining the conservative movement
Finally, in Chapter 13, he talks about what it means to be a "[[liberal (politics)|liberal]]", about the rise in new progressive organizations—which, unlike conservative [[think tanks]], publications and other organizations, are actually more ''de-''centralized and independent-thinking—and how many more people appear to support "liberal" ''policies'' than are prepared to use that word to describe themselves. The book concludes with advice that, for the time being, liberals must be [[Partisan (political)|partisans]] until both major political parties accept the rationality of [[the New Deal]].<ref>Krugman, ''The Conscience of a Liberal'', 272-273</ref>
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