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White rural rage : the threat to American democracy / Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Random House, [2024]Edition: First editionDescription: 299 pages ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780593729144
  • 0593729145
Subject(s):
Contents:
Prologue: Small towns, big trouble -- Essential minority, existential threat -- Rural ruin -- The greatest political hand ever dealt -- Cultures at war -- The unlikely king of rural America -- Conditional patriots -- Race and rurality -- Despair, distraction, disillusionment, and democratic decline.
Summary: "It's an open secret that voters in smaller, less populous states have more electoral power than their urban counterparts, so why are these same voters the most eager to leave behind democratic principles? In Held Hostage, political scientists Thomas Schaller and Paul Waldman explore why, with all of this extra influence, these same voters fail to see real benefits, for instance suffering worse health and education outcomes than larger states, and why they are the most likely to rage against the democratic project the moment elections stop going their way. This is the patriotic paradox of rural America: The rural citizens who take such pride in their patriotism are least likely to defend core American principles, even when the system itself is set up in their favor. If the commitment to American democracy of this exalted minority crumbles, can the US itself survive? Thanks to the extra weight smaller states enjoy, the past two Republican presidents entered the White House despite losing the popular vote. Senate malapportionment is even worse. By 2040, just 30 percent of the population, concentrated in smaller and more rural states, will elect 70 senators. This skewed dynamic is already changing policy outcomes--scuttling nationally popular bills in the Senate and distorting the balance of the courts--but there's a puzzling contradiction inherent in this rural privilege. Voters there believe the nation has failed them, and to some degree, they're right. With on-the-ground reporting from five very different rural counties spread across the country, Held Hostage offers unique insights into how the struggles and resentments of rural people ripple out to determine the kind of country we all live in. Schaller and Waldman critique the structures in place that have led to this imbalance, but they also provocatively criticize rural voters and states themselves for the choices they've made on behalf of themselves and the country. And, they point the way toward a political reimagining that would not only offer a better future for rural people, but make it possible for rural America to stop dragging the rest of the country down"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library NonFiction New 320.973 S298 Available 33111011116015
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction New 320.973 S298 Checked out 06/24/2024 33111011246556
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . A searing portrait and damning takedown of America's proudest citizens-who are also the least likely to defend its core principles

"This is an important book that ought to be read by anyone who wants to understand politics in the perilous Age of Trump."-David Corn, New York Times bestselling author of American Psychosis

White rural voters hold the greatest electoral sway of any demographic group in the United States, yet rural communities suffer from poor healthcare access, failing infrastructure, and severe manufacturing and farming job losses. Rural voters believe our nation has betrayed them, and to some degree, they're right. In White Rural Rage, Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman explore why rural Whites have failed to reap the benefits from their outsize political power and why, as a result, they are the most likely group to abandon democratic norms and traditions. Their rage-stoked daily by Republican politicians and the conservative media-now poses an existential threat to the United States.

Schaller and Waldman show how vulnerable U.S. democracy has become to rural Whites who, despite legitimate grievances, are increasingly inclined to hold racist and xenophobic beliefs, to believe in conspiracy theories, to accept violence as a legitimate course of political action, and to exhibit antidemocratic tendencies. Rural White Americans' attitude might best be described as "I love my country, but not our country," Schaller and Waldman argue. This phenomenon is the patriot paradox of rural America- The citizens who take such pride in their patriotism are also the least likely to defend core American principles. And by stoking rural Whites' anger rather than addressing the hard problems they face, conservative politicians and talking heads create a feedback loop of resentments that are undermining American democracy.

Schaller and Waldman provocatively critique both the structures that permit rural Whites' disproportionate influence over American governance and the prospects for creating a pluralist, inclusive democracy that delivers policy solutions that benefit rural communities. They conclude with a political reimagining that offers a better future for both rural people and the rest of America.

"It's an open secret that voters in smaller, less populous states have more electoral power than their urban counterparts, so why are these same voters the most eager to leave behind democratic principles? In Held Hostage, political scientists Thomas Schaller and Paul Waldman explore why, with all of this extra influence, these same voters fail to see real benefits, for instance suffering worse health and education outcomes than larger states, and why they are the most likely to rage against the democratic project the moment elections stop going their way. This is the patriotic paradox of rural America: The rural citizens who take such pride in their patriotism are least likely to defend core American principles, even when the system itself is set up in their favor. If the commitment to American democracy of this exalted minority crumbles, can the US itself survive? Thanks to the extra weight smaller states enjoy, the past two Republican presidents entered the White House despite losing the popular vote. Senate malapportionment is even worse. By 2040, just 30 percent of the population, concentrated in smaller and more rural states, will elect 70 senators. This skewed dynamic is already changing policy outcomes--scuttling nationally popular bills in the Senate and distorting the balance of the courts--but there's a puzzling contradiction inherent in this rural privilege. Voters there believe the nation has failed them, and to some degree, they're right. With on-the-ground reporting from five very different rural counties spread across the country, Held Hostage offers unique insights into how the struggles and resentments of rural people ripple out to determine the kind of country we all live in. Schaller and Waldman critique the structures in place that have led to this imbalance, but they also provocatively criticize rural voters and states themselves for the choices they've made on behalf of themselves and the country. And, they point the way toward a political reimagining that would not only offer a better future for rural people, but make it possible for rural America to stop dragging the rest of the country down"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Prologue: Small towns, big trouble -- Essential minority, existential threat -- Rural ruin -- The greatest political hand ever dealt -- Cultures at war -- The unlikely king of rural America -- Conditional patriots -- Race and rurality -- Despair, distraction, disillusionment, and democratic decline.

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