- Liberal - Public Purpose - Increase democracy - Improve status quo
- Conservative - Private interest - Contain democracy - Maintain status quo
- 1776-1788 - Lib - Liberal Movement to Create Constitution
- 1788-1800 - Con - Hamiltonian Federalism
- 1800-1812 - Lib - Liberal Period of Jeffersonianism
- 1812-1829 - Con - Conservative Retreat After War of 1812
- 1829-1841 - Lib - Jacksonian Democracy
- 1841-1861 - Con - Domination of National Government by Slaveowners
- 1861-1869 - Lib - Abolition of Slavery and Reconstruction
- 1869-1901 - Con - The Gilded Age
- 1901-1919 - Lib - Progressive Era
- 1919-1931 - Con - Republican Restoration
- 1931-1947 - Lib - The New Deal
- 1947-1962 - Con - The Eisenhower Era
- 1962-1978 - Lib - Sixties Radicalism
- 1978- .... - Con - Gilded Age II
Each phase of the cycle is self-limiting, and generates the other kind of phase.
Conservative phases accumulate social problems, problems which society's elites are reluctant to accept the existence of, let alone try to solve. For instance, slavery had been a festering sore in the body politic for a long time before the Civil War, but the arrival of hordes of immigrants in the northern states made it worse. Many northerners decried the "slaveocracy" or "slave power", what they considered the excessive political power of Southern slaveowners. The slaveowners, in turn, feared that these immigrants would deprive them of political clout by making the northern states much more populous.
Liberal phases end because reform efforts require a lot of effort to sustain, and society may want to take a break from such exhausting efforts. Related to this is such phases becoming victims of their successes. For instance, there was a big feminist movement over a century ago, but after it got women the vote in 1920, it fizzled out, and it did not revive until the 1960's. These second-generation feminists had to do a lot of work to recover the history of their suffragette predecessors. Likewise, the ending of slavery in the 1860's and the civil-rights efforts of the 1960's were big successes with inadequate followup.
Where are we now? In my mind, in Gilded Age II, with its strong resemblance to the first Gilded Age. It has lasted longer than the previous Gilded Age, and both Gilded Ages have likely lasted long because of their following of times of race-relations upheaval. I had high hopes for Bill Clinton, but he wimped out VERY fast, and he was anything other than the left-wing ogre that the right wing considered him. I have much the same feeling about Barack Obama. I remember the Wisconsin Revolt and how Obama let it hang out to dry. Also the Occupy movement and how it failed to find meeting places other than city parks. But gerrymandering has now gotten some attention and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become a big celebrity.