Three years ago, Pew Research Center found that the 2016 presidential campaign was “unfolding against a backdrop of intense partisan division and animosity.” Today, the level of division and animosity – including negative sentiments among partisans toward the members of the opposing party – has only deepened. … The survey […] Read more »
Do the Poor Suffer From Elite Ideas?
… Starting a half-century ago or so ago, conservatives began to indict liberals not just for their social policies but for their ideas about things like happiness and freedom. James Q. Wilson, for example, attributed the 1960s increase in crime in part to the ideology of self-expression and “do your […] Read more »
Patriotism, Religion, Having Children: Polls Finds American Values Are Changing
Patriotism. Religion. Having children. American values are changing, reports a new NBC-Wall Street Journal poll. We explore national character in 2019. On Point, WBUR Read more »
‘A deep and boiling anger’: NBC/WSJ poll finds a pessimistic America despite current economic satisfaction
The political and cultural upheaval of the last four years has divided the country on ever-hardening partisan and generational lines, but one feeling unites Americans as much as it did before the 2016 election. They’re still angry. And still unsettled about the future. The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll […] Read more »
Donald Trump is Doubling Down on the Culture Wars. Here’s Why.
“Culture wars” politicking, which uses values-driven arguments to take advantage of polarization between religious groups, has always been an important part of Donald Trump’s political playbook. Nevertheless, Trump seems to have doubled down on the culture wars in spring and summer 2019, using executive action to move policy in a […] Read more »
Democrats Shouldn’t Be So Certain About Abortion
President Trump’s best chance for re-election lies in getting Democrats to approach complicated, tender issues with a tone-deaf, incoherent stridency that approaches his own. Unfortunately, he may be well on his way to doing just that. According to some progressives, Democrats need to learn from Mr. Trump’s style of politics […] Read more »