Dangerously Divided: How Race and Class Shape Winning and Losing in American Politics

As America has become more racially diverse and economic inequality has increased, American politics has also become more clearly divided by race and less clearly divided by class. In this landmark book, Zoltan L. Hajnal draws on sweeping data to assess the political impact of the two most significant demographic trends of last fifty years. Examining federal and local elections over many decades, as well as policy, Hajnal shows that race more than class or any other demographic factor shapes not only how Americans vote but also who wins and who loses when the votes are counted and policies are enacted. America has become a racial democracy, with non-Whites and especially African Americans regularly on the losing side. A close look at trends over time shows that these divisions are worsening, yet also reveals that electing Democrats to office can make democracy more even and ultimately reduce inequality in well-being.

Zoltan L. Hajnal is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of the award-winning books White Backlash (with Marisa Abrajano, 2015), Why Americans Don't Join the Party (with Taeku Lee, 2011), and America's Uneven Democracy (Cambridge, 2009), and has published op-eds in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. He is actively involved in voting rights litigation and local election law reform.