… As the Democrats’ regional fortunes have waned and Republicans have taken over statehouses and congressional delegations, the cultural and ideological divisions of the so-called Dixiecrats are now found under a different party banner. With the Republican nomination tantamount to victory in the general election, incumbents are increasingly facing primaries, […] Read more »
Southern Whites’ Loyalty to G.O.P. Nearing That of Blacks to Democrats
President Obama’s landslide victory in 2008 was supposed to herald the beginning of a new Democratic era. And yet, six years later, there is not even a clear Democratic majority in the country, let alone one poised for 30 years of dominance. It’s not because Mr. Obama’s so-called new coalition […] Read more »
The two key factors behind our polarized politics
The political parties in Congress are deeply polarized. Voters are also. Evaluation of presidential job performance is increasingly driven by party identification. The percentage of voters choosing to identify with a party is increasing, and those who identify with a party are consistently voting for the candidates of their party. […] Read more »
Three Senators Try to Hold Off G.O.P. in South
Things traditionally get started a little late down here, an inclination that runs from mealtimes to political races. But with nearly a year to go before the 2014 election, it is already open season on Senator Mary L. Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana. … Republicans are so giddy about the prospect […] Read more »
Keeping Black Voters in Their Place
The Republicans who now control the legislatures and governorships in the deep South are using the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 to create a system of political apartheid. No state demonstrates this better than Alabama, where in 2010 Republicans took over the State Senate and House for the first […] Read more »
Tea Party Yankees
… In the jargon of mainstream political science, citizens have preferences, and the political system aggregates those preferences according to its particular rules and structures. Undoubtedly, Americans’ political attitudes have shifted to the right in many ways over the past few decades. Still, if the shutdown and debt ceiling standoff represent […] Read more »