The Great Alignment (Hardcover)

Alan I. Abramowitz

ISBN 10: 0300207131 / ISBN 13: 9780300207132

Published by Yale University Press, New Haven, 2018

About this Item

Hardcover. Alan I. Abramowitz has emerged as a leading spokesman for the view that our current political divide is not confined to a small group of elites and activists but a key feature of the American social and cultural landscape. The polarization of the political and media elites, he argues, arose and persists because it accurately reflects the state of American society. Here, he goes further: the polarization is unique in modern U.S. history. Todays party divide reflects an unprecedented alignment of many different divides: racial and ethnic, religious, ideological, and geographic. Abramowitz shows how the partisan alignment arose out of the breakup of the old New Deal coalition; introduces the most important difference between our current era and past eras, the rise of negative partisanship; explains how this phenomenon paved the way for the Trump presidency; and examines why our polarization could even grow deeper. This statistically based analysis shows that racial anxiety is by far a better predictor of support for Donald Trump than any other factor, including economic discontent. The most in-depth analysis to date of America's current political polarization and the forces that led to a Trump presidency Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780300207132

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Great Alignment (Hardcover)
• Publisher: Yale University Press, New Haven
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300207131
• ISBN 13: 9780300207132
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Alan I. Abramowitz has emerged as a leading spokesman for the view that our current political divide is not confined to a small group of elites and activists but a key feature of the American social and cultural landscape. The polarization of the political and media elites, he argues, arose and persists because it accurately reflects the state of American society. Here, he goes further: the polarization is unique in modern U.S. history. Today’s party divide reflects an unprecedented alignment of many different divides: racial and ethnic, religious, ideological, and geographic. Abramowitz shows how the partisan alignment arose out of the breakup of the old New Deal coalition; introduces the most important difference between our current era and past eras, the rise of “negative partisanship”; explains how this phenomenon paved the way for the Trump presidency; and examines why our polarization could even grow deeper. This statistically based analysis shows that racial anxiety is by far a better predictor of support for Donald Trump than any other factor, including economic discontent.

About the Author

Alan I. Abramowitz is Alben W. Barkley Professor of Political Science at Emory University.