How Radical Are Republican Voters?
Conventional wisdom holds that Republican voters are getting more extreme. But George Hawley’s book shows a fundamental moderation in their politics.
Conventional wisdom has held that the populist resentment that fueled the political ascendency of Donald Trump is evidence that the political right in America has grown more extreme, more reactionary, and more radicalized. Progressives have used this narrative to double down on identitarian politics, and the political right has used it to justify new types of political tactics and nationalist policy proposals.
Conventional wisdom among elites has had a patchy record over the past 15 years, and the radical-GOP-voter narrative is yet another example of how it has gone awry. Political scientist George Hawley’s book, The Moderate Majority: Real GOP Voters and the Myth of Mass Republican Radicalization, is the most comprehensive account to date showing how Republican voters are more mainstream than radical, more ordinary than extreme. At the outset, Hawley writes “claims about Republican extremism have been overstated” and that the “notion that the Republican Party in the electorate is dominated by crazed radicals has little empirical backing.” Instead, he aims “to provide a sober analysis of Republican voters, noting their demographic traits, geographic distribution, policy preferences, religious identities, ideological constraints, and cultural attitudes.”
Politics
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Liberal Democracy Reexamined: Leo Strauss on Alexis de Tocqueville
This article explores Leo Strauss’s thoughts on Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1954 “Natural Right” course transcript.
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Long Distance Migration as a Two-Step Sorting Process: The Resettlement of Californians in Texas
Here we press the question of whether the well-documented stream of migrants relocating from California to Texas has been sufficient to alter the political complexion of the destination state.
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Who's That Knocking? A Study of the Strategic Choices Facing Large-Scale Grassroots Canvassing Efforts
Although there is a consensus that personalized forms of campaign outreach are more likely to be effective at either mobilizing or even persuading voters, there remains uncertainty about how campaigns should implement get-out-the-vote (GOTV) programs, especially at a truly expansive scale.
Joel Kotkin: Trump aside, Canada and the U.S. need to co-operate
Our economies are linked; we more the same language and we're learning that mass, unregulated immigration is no solution to economic sloth
Prosecuting Maduro
Much has been said about the expedient capture of Nicolas Maduro by American forces. Prosecuting him will not be so straightforward.
Peru: Between Chinese and American Influence
The U.S. government recently announced that it will designate Peru as a non-NATO military partner.
