| | |  | Threats & Solutions | Home » » The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism | | | | | | | Description: | | On February 19, 2009, CNBC commentator Rick Santelli delivered a dramatic rant against Obama administration programs to shore up the plunging housing market. Invoking the Founding Fathers and ridiculing "losers" who could not pay their mortgages, Santelli called for "Tea Party" protests. Over the next two years, conservative activists took to the streets and airways, built hundreds of local Tea Party groups, and weighed in with votes and money to help right-wing Republicans win electoral victories in 2010.
In this penetrating new study, Harvard University's Theda Skocpol and Vanessa Williamson go beyond images of protesters in Colonial costumes to provide a nuanced portrait of the Tea Party. What they find is sometimes surprising. Drawing on grassroots interviews and visits to local meetings in several regions, they find that older, middle-class Tea Partiers mostly approve of Social Security, Medicare, and generous benefits for military veterans. Their opposition to "big government" entails reluctance to pay taxes to help people viewed as undeserving "freeloaders" - including immigrants, lower income earners, and the young. At the national level, Tea Party elites and funders leverage grassroots energy to further longstanding goals such as tax cuts for the wealthy, deregulation of business, and privatization of the very same Social Security and Medicare programs on which many grassroots Tea Partiers depend. Elites and grassroots are nevertheless united in hatred of Barack Obama and determination to push the Republican Party sharply to the right.
The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism combines fine-grained portraits of local Tea Party members and chapters with an overarching analysis of the movement's rise, impact, and likely fate. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Theda Skocpol | | Hardcover:
| 264 pages | | Publisher:
| Oxford University Press, USA | | Publication Date:
| January 02, 2012 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0199832633 | | Product Length:
| 0.0 inches | | Product Width:
| 0.0 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.0 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.0 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.3 inches | | Package Width:
| 6.1 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.8 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.05 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 21 reviews |
| | | | Used and New: | | | |
| All | |
| $11.00 | Used
- Mint | | | $11.21 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $12.22 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $12.22 | Used
- Good | | | $12.25 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $12.35 This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | Used
- Mint | | | $12.45 | New | | | $13.21 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $13.28 | Used
- Good | | | $13.28 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $14.00 | Used
- Good | | | $14.10 | New | | | $14.16 | New | | | $14.16 | Used
- Mint | | | $14.17 | New | | | $14.47 | Used
- Good | | | $15.80 | Used
- Mint | | | $15.81 | Used
- Mint | | | $15.92 | New | | | $15.93 | New | | | $15.95 | New | | | $15.95 | Used
- Mint | | | $16.15 | New | | | $16.30 | New | | | $16.47 This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | New | | | $16.73 | New | | | $17.61 | Used
- Mint | | | $17.66 | Used
- Mint | | | $17.66 | New | | | $17.77 | New | | | $18.10 | New | | | $18.29 | Used
- Mint | | | $18.38 | New | | | $18.53 | New | | | $18.62 | Used
- Mint | | | $18.66 | Used
- Mint | | | $18.68 | Used
- Mint | | | $18.80 | New | | | $18.86 | New | | | $19.04 | New | | | $19.13 | New | | | $19.32 | New | | | $19.39 | Used
- Mint | | | $19.39 | New | | | $19.54 | New | | | $19.65 | New | | | $20.13 | New | | | $20.32 | New | | | $20.33 | New | | | $20.49 | New | | | $20.72 | New | | | $21.55 | New | | | $21.94 | New | | | $22.45 | New | | | $22.49 | New | | | $22.55 | New | | | $23.45 | New | | | $23.48 | New | | | $23.64 | New | | | $23.74 | New | | | $24.16 | New | | | $24.72 | New | | | $24.95 | New | | | $24.95 | New | | | $24.95 | New | | | $24.95 | New | | | $24.95 | New | | | $25.17 | New | | | $25.95 | New | | | $26.03 | New | | | $26.06 | New | | | $29.45 | New | | | $36.53 | New | | | $39.63 | New | | | $42.32 | New | |
| New | |
| $12.45 | New | | | $14.10 | New | | | $14.16 | New | | | $14.17 | New | | | $15.92 | New | | | $15.93 | New | | | $15.95 | New | | | $16.15 | New | | | $16.30 | New | | | $16.47 This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | New | | | $16.73 | New | | | $17.66 | New | | | $17.77 | New | | | $18.10 | New | | | $18.38 | New | | | $18.53 | New | | | $18.80 | New | | | $18.86 | New | | | $19.04 | New | | | $19.13 | New | | | $19.32 | New | | | $19.39 | New | | | $19.54 | New | | | $19.65 | New | | | $20.13 | New | | | $20.32 | New | | | $20.33 | New | | | $20.49 | New | | | $20.72 | New | | | $21.55 | New | | | $21.94 | New | | | $22.45 | New | | | $22.49 | New | | | $22.55 | New | | | $23.45 | New | | | $23.48 | New | | | $23.64 | New | | | $23.74 | New | | | $24.16 | New | | | $24.72 | New | | | $24.95 | New | | | $24.95 | New | | | $24.95 | New | | | $24.95 | New | | | $24.95 | New | | | $25.17 | New | | | $25.95 | New | | | $26.03 | New | | | $26.06 | New | | | $29.45 | New | | | $36.53 | New | | | $39.63 | New | | | $42.32 | New | |
| Used | |
| $11.00 | Used
- Mint | | | $11.21 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $12.22 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $12.22 | Used
- Good | | | $12.25 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $12.35 This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | Used
- Mint | | | $13.21 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $13.28 | Used
- Good | | | $13.28 | Used
- VeryGood | | | $14.00 | Used
- Good | | | $14.16 | Used
- Mint | | | $14.47 | Used
- Good | | | $15.80 | Used
- Mint | | | $15.81 | Used
- Mint | | | $15.95 | Used
- Mint | | | $17.61 | Used
- Mint | | | $17.66 | Used
- Mint | | | $18.29 | Used
- Mint | | | $18.62 | Used
- Mint | | | $18.66 | Used
- Mint | | | $18.68 | Used
- Mint | | | $19.39 | Used
- Mint | |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 21 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
50 of 64 found the following review helpful:
 outstanding and alarmingDec 23, 2011
By Michael A. Males
Though couched in cordial and scholarly tones, the authors present a carefully researched study of the Tea Party that is more alarming than the random fulminations of liberals and progressives. These authors don't hate Tea Partiers and go out of their way to present their views fully, fairly, and in the same friendly tone they feel Tea Partiers accorded them over their months-long observations. However, the picture their research paints is scary indeed. Again and again, the authors return to their startling findings that the Tea Party is a fairly large (20% of Americans, 40% of 2010 voters), influential (controlling, in fact, in GOP politics), and primarily a generational movement.
That is, Tea Partiers are heavily dominated by Americans averaging around 60 years old, overwhelmingly white, who feel--by reason of their age and generation--that they are superior citizens (perhaps the last "real Americans") who deserve huge, big-government, tax-funded benefits through Social Security and Medicare... but that younger Americans as a whole are leeches undeserving of ANY public benefits such as college grants and health care. By their own views in polls and statements, Tea Partiers express appalling racist, anti-immigrant, and anti-youth prejudices characteristic of the pre-civil-rights era they moslty grew up in. Unfortunately, polls and surveys (which YouthFacts details, [...]) show the Tea Party represents the views of a majority of senior citizens who are angry, hostile, and unwilling or unable to adapt to modern America's racial diversification.
Every older generation since Hesiod (700 BC), and probably long before, has bitterly criticized its young. But the Tea Party and most aged Americans represent something new: elders who support ultra-reactionary policies and GOP candidates aimed at disowning younger America--their grandchildren's generation. That a wealth of social statistics show today's more diverse younger Americans have among the lowest rates of crime, violence, suicide, violent death, early pregnancy, dropout, and other ills (and richly deserve more, not slashed, investment) is ignored by Tea Partiers who only trust information derived from inside their own heads--that is, their impressions, feelings, fears, and narrow media that reinforce them. This is a scary book, all the more so because they authors were not out to do a hatchet job on the Tea Party, but let their research and TP's own views speak for themelves.
15 of 18 found the following review helpful:
JudiciousJan 07, 2012
By PoliticalJunkie
This judicious study of the Tea Party moves beyond their self aggrandizement and their harshest critics. It seeks to unravel who makes up the Tea Party, what it is they claim to want, and what they REALLY want. Skocpol and Williamson are thoughtful and tempered throughout, drawing on ample evidence garnered in the field. An excellent book that illuminates the dynamics of contemporary American politics in a measured way.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 New Look at The Tea PartyMar 21, 2012
By rzwallace
Many questions have been asked about the Tea Party explosion in the last few years such as who are the these people, what do they want, what effect will they have on the Republican party and is this truly a grassroots movement? These are some of the questions that Theda Skocpol, the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University, and Vanessa Williamson, PhD candidate in Government and Social Policy at Harvard University, hope to answer in their 2012 study of the Tea Party movement. After researching the past work and credentials of the authors I was sure that this would be a very heady social science view of the Tea Party. I was pleasantly surprised when this became a very easy and enjoyable read backed up with end notes for those looking for additional information or clarification on the Tea Party movement. Some of the issues covered by the authors includes a discussion of the catalyst of the movement ( dissatisfied voters, the election of Barack Obama, the center-ward shift of the Grand Old Party), a profile of the average movement member (old, white, conservative, Republican, educated, misinformed, birthers, Birchers, militant...but generally nice people), the infighting between social conservatives and younger libertarians, and the role of the media in the Tea Party explosion. While the authors are careful not to slant their view to far to the left they do let their own views shine through when discussing the role of the media, for example in this description of Fox News "make viewers both more conservative and less informed" while characterizing MSNBC and NPR as non biased news sources. Also the authors took on the air of an anthropologists field notes describing a uncivilized people when speaking of the Tea Party members, a sort of "White man's Liberal burden". Overall this was a good read, only 204 pages long, for those wanting to know more about the Tea Party movement and can be bought on Amazon for $14.
Review can be read at [...] a free blog for book reviews
7 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Honest Insight into Political MovementFeb 19, 2012
By L Harrison
Skocpol and Williamson offer a direct insight into the viewpoints and perspectives of the new Tea Party movement, offering direct interviews with members and activists across the country in Tea Party groups. Instead of depending on media biases and how they try to mediate the Tea Party, Skocpol and Williamson meet one on one with individuals and allow them to speak for themselves. This almost ethnographic approach isn't always pretty and some conservatives may feel angry that the book presents the Tea Party members in full, rough edges and all, but it is a far more honest and fleshed out approach.
17 of 22 found the following review helpful:
Interesting description, but with little anlaysis,Jan 13, 2012
By JOHN A. BROUSSARD
The combination of considerable research of published materials, plus personal visits to Tea Party members and their meetings, provides an intriguing portrait of what that organization amounts to: A combination of grassroots populism, conservative, wealthy elitists and a cheering gallery consisting of the right-wing media. That the authors are confessed liberals has not prevented them from presenting a broad and compelling portrait of the Tea Party movement. What's lacking is the answer to the question, "Why has the Tea Party been so influential, unlike simmilar movements in like times in America's past?" I can remember the Roosevelt Era, when conservative figures regarded the then President much as individulas with similar political leanings look upon President Obama, and yet there was no effective attack on his political programs. Yes, he was called a socialist. With antisemitism then the fad rather than the current anti-Islamist movement, it's interesting to recall that Roosevelt's enemies referred to "that man" as Rosenfeld, just as Obama is rumored in conservative circles as being a Muslim. And, of course, the then right-wing was constantly fuming over "pump priming" and an "enormous" national debt that would be a crushing burden on future generations. Oh, yes, there were also contemporary Becks and Limbaughs, with Father Coughlin heading the charge. So, why has the Tea Party done so well with essentially the same materials and politcal atmosphere that the right-wing experienced back in the Thirties and yet accomplished so little? This otherwise excellent book barely ventures into these waters to answer that question, and that is a disappointment.
See all 21 customer reviews on Amazon.com
| | |
|
