Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers (1787–1790s), the Bill of Rights (1791), and Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" (1863). Among the core tenets were: Consent of the governed: the authority and legitimacy of the government is dependent upon the assent of the people as expressed in free and fair elections Civic duty/"Positive liberty"/"republican virtue": the responsibility to understand and support the government, participate in elections, pay taxes, oppose political corruption, and perform military service. Democracy: government answerable to citizens, who may change who represents them through elections. Equality before the law: laws that attach no special privilege to any citizen and hold government officials subject just as any other person. Freedom of religion: government that neither supports nor suppresses any or all religion. Freedom of speech: government that restricts neither through law nor action the non-violent speech of a citizen; a marketplace of ideas. Post–World War II At the time of the United States' founding, the economy was predominantly one of agriculture and small private businesses, and state governments left welfare issues to private or local initiative. As in the UK and other industrialized countries, laissez-faire ideology was largely discredited during the Great Depression. Between the 1930s and 1970s, fiscal policy was characterized by the Keynesian consensus. After the "Reagan revolution" in the early 1980s, however, laissez-faire ideology once more became a powerful force in American politics. While the American welfare state expanded more than threefold after WWII, it held at 20% of GDP from the late 1970s to late 1980s. In the 21st century, modern American liberalism, and modern American conservatism are engaged in a continuous political battle, characterized by what The Economist describes as "greater divisiveness [and] close, but bitterly fought elections." Since 2016, the United States has been recognized as a flawed democracy in the Democracy Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit, partially due to increased political polarization. In foreign affairs, the United States generally pursued a noninterventionist policy of "avoiding foreign entanglements" before World War II. After the war, when America became a superpower, for many decades the country embraced internationalism, seeking allies to contain Communism and foster economic cooperation. Development and evolution of political parties Background The United States Constitution never formally addressed the issue of political parties, primarily because the Founding Fathers—Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, George Washington—opposed them as domestic political factions leading to domestic conflict and stagnation. Nevertheless, the beginnings of the American two-party system emerged from