First published 2020
Political scientists Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson examine how the Republican Party transformed itself over four decades. They argue that the GOP found a solution to democracy's central puzzle: how can a party win elections while serving only the wealthy? The authors trace this evolution from the early 1980s, when economic inequality began its sharp rise. They show how Republicans paired an increasingly radical economic agenda of tax cuts, union breaking, and deregulation with inflammatory appeals based on race and culture. This strategy allowed the party to maintain an almost entirely white voting base while advancing policies that primarily benefit plutocrats. Hacker and Pierson present Trump not as an aberration but as the natural culmination of this forty-year trajectory. The book demonstrates how extreme wealth concentration has proceeded alongside extreme polarization tactics, creating an unprecedented form of conservative politics that serves elite interests to a degree unmatched in modern democratic history.
Genres: political-science, politics, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: political-intrigue, social-commentary
Period: 1980s, 2010s
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