To sum it up shortly, typically American liberals are associated with social change, while American conservatives are associated with economic change.
For example, the conservative Reagan administration is famous for good foreign policy and economic change but has faced criticism for their handling of the AIDs epidemic. The liberal Obama administration added various new social policies regarding welfare, pension, and, most notably, gay rights. However, they faced criticism for both the left and the right over the handling of foreign policy and the national debt.
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