In the 2016 presidential race, we hear a lot about anger. Voters are angry about the economy, about race, about the “establishment.” But knowing what voters are angry about doesn’t necessarily tell us why they are angry. There may be logical reasons, but there may also be a more basic, primal force.
My recent research focuses on one such force: the enduring power of group identity. In particular, the growing “sorting” of the American electorate along partisan, religious and racial lines has created the conditions for the anger and intolerance that have been so obvious this year. CONT.
Lilliana Mason (U. of Maryland), The Monkey Cage