To state a radical criticism often takes considerable courage, because there can be a powerful backlash to be reckoned with.

Nonetheless, many experts say, the political and practical consequences of rejecting the conventions could provoke a powerful anti-American backlash.

Church leadership was discredited by the witchcraft mania at Salem in 1692, and weakened by the powerful backlash of public remorse which followed it.

At stake could be a powerful backlash in next year's elections against legislators who voted for taxes.

The music industry's approach has contributed to a decline in downloading but has also produced a powerful public backlash, angering millions of its customers.

Often, instant fame is followed by a swift, powerful backlash.

He warned there would be a "powerful backlash" among voters in smaller EU countries if they did not.

But the government has also courted a powerful backlash by failing to fill the vacuum it created by rejecting international food aid.

It is also producing a powerful backlash from those brutalized or left behind.

Even so, the evidence is consistent with a short-lived, but still powerful, backlash of support for Hitler, especially but not only among the Party faithful.