"The disaster was, in fact, no greater than several oil tanker spills the world had suffered but, with the scenic beauty of the Californian coast as a backdrop, it still made for great television. Birds covered with sticky oil struggled for life; dead seals floated ashore; enraged Santa Barbara housewives cried for the cameras. The oil spill's cost to the environment was immense, but in a sense the tragedy served a purpose, for as the oil spread, so did national outrage."-Source: J. Brooks Flippen, historian, Nixon and the Environment, 2000The rise of what the excerpt describes as "national outrage" most directly contributed to which of the following characteristics of United States politics during the period?

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