In the decades following the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement and a concomitant reaction against cultural liberalism, the Republican Party gained strength in the conservative suburbs of New Orleans and Baton Rouge and for a time in Caddo Parish. The GOP over a long period of time drew increasing support among rural voters elsewhere, including parts of North Louisiana and Southeast Louisiana. These patterns follow trends in other southern states as white control of state Democratic Party structures weakened and the region became more diverse and more prone to adopt the two-party behavior characteristic of most of the nation.