Analysts have been debating the politics of America’s white working-class for years with little net increase in knowledge.
The whole discussion assumes a fact not fully in evidence — that membership in the “white working-class” is a politically relevant identity; that it is causally related to voting behavior. Maybe, but far from clearly proven.
Indeed, most discussions of the topic abjure, or at least ignore, causal analysis in favor of description.
Description of course requires definition and defining membership in the working-class remains a subject on which there’s little consensus. CONTINUED
Mark Mellman (Mellman Group), The Hill