The radicalization of the American population means that *everyone’s* political radar is scrambled.
People are not voting with their heads at all; they are responding to fears about domination by their out-group. That’s it, and those most radicalized are most likely to vote.
People are not voting with their heads at all; they are responding to fears about domination by their out-group. That’s it, and those most radicalized are most likely to vote.
https://twitter.com/john_sipher/status/1456592288558325771
Don’t take my word for it; look at work by @LilyMasonPhD and @NathanKalmoe that demonstrates this. Winners are paying attention to sociology and how to radicalize their constituents and invoke their in-group identity against the out-group. This has little to do with policy.
Rather, it’s about unifying in the face of threat, and catchy ways to galvanize against the out-group. “CRT” and COVID provided convenient tools for the right. Dems didn’t get the sociological dynamics, appealed to “brain.” But that fell flat in many places.
It’s not clear it’s a good idea to gin up in-group/out-group dynamics, but it is what the right is using to its advantage. Moving policy sliders around won’t address this. We need to think culturally about breaking the spell, which is why cult studies are so vital today.
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