The liberal/conservative divide in the history of housing policy in the United States

The history of housing policy in the US is often presented as a progression shifting from liberal to conservative to liberal, depending on the political party in power. But a review of that history suggests very limited differences between the two approaches, on the five key issues of market vs. government, distribution of benefits, locus of decision-making, fundamental ideology, or source of support. Both approaches rule out more challenging alternatives to dealing with problems of housing. Key points in the US history are reviewed to illustrate the argument.