… In a recent work, we explored the question “‘why did Republican lawmakers oppose Trump’s candidacy in the 2016 campaign?” There are diverse—and often contradictory—explanations of the #NeverTrump movement offered by politicians, pundits, and journalists in 2016. After cataloguing these explanations, we distilled them into four theoretical categories: (1) policy […] Read more »
Mad as Hell: How Anger Diminishes Trust in Government
From President Donald Trump’s tweets, to congressional gridlock, investigations about Russia’s potential meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and, yes, a comedian’s standup routine at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the political scene is inherently anger-inducing. Indeed, in an era defined by intense partisan divisions where the logic of negative […] Read more »
Surprised by the anger toward McCain? Party loyalists can hate apostates as much as opponents.
Last Thursday, White House aide Kelly Sadler started a political firestorm when she reportedly joked about Sen. John McCain’s impending death in a staff meeting. The White House declined to apologize. … Partisanship encourages intense animosity against partisan opponents, as a great deal of research shows. But partisan conflict can […] Read more »
Kathleen Hall Jamieson in Conversation with Marty Kaplan
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Professor of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of its Annenberg Public Policy Center, won the 2018 Ev Rogers Award. In this concise discussion, she and Norman Lear Center Director Marty Kaplan cover V.D. (viral deception), “fake” news, truth, comm theory, Trump, Putin, and much […] Read more »
Modern-day ‘Class Consciousness’ and ‘Class Resentment’
… There is, of course, tremendous resistance among social scientists and historians to the idea that American white workers can be said to have anything like a “class consciousness” at all. While it is considered acceptable to use the term to describe, for example, the attitudes of British working class […] Read more »
Liberals, You’re Not as Smart as You Think You Are
I know many liberals, and two of them really are my best friends. Liberals make good movies and television shows. Their idealism has been an inspiration for me and many others. Many liberals are very smart. But they are not as smart, or as persuasive, as they think. And a […] Read more »