Polarized By Degrees
Polarized by Degrees: How the Diploma Divide and the Culture War Transformed American Politics
Cambridge University Press, 2024
Links to Inspiration and Introduction. Book Launch Event.
Media
Overview
Over the past several decades, American society has experienced fundamental changes – from shifting relations between social groups and evolving language and behavior norms to the increasing value of a college degree. These transformations have polarized the nation’s political climate and ignited a perpetual culture war. In a sequel to their award-winning collaboration Asymmetric Politics, Grossmann and Hopkins draw on an extensive variety of evidence to explore how these changes have affected both major parties. They show that the Democrats have become the home of highly-educated citizens with progressive social views who prefer credentialed experts to make policy decisions, while Republicans have become the populist champions of white voters without college degrees who increasingly distrust teachers, scientists, journalists, universities, non-profit organizations, and even corporations. The result of this new “diploma divide” between the parties is an increasingly complex world in which everything is about politics – and politics is about everything.
Reviews
‘Polarized by Degrees, illuminates in detail the most consequential transformation of American politics since the New Deal realignment: The conversion of the working class Democratic party into the party of educated elites and the Republican transition from the party of business to a populist party of whites without college degrees. Written by two of the nation’s foremost political scientists, Matt Grossmann and David A. Hopkins, this book provides crucial understanding of contemporary elections that is both accessible to laymen and revealing for scholars. Polarized by Degrees is essential reading for everyone trying to figure out what the hell is going on in American politics.’
Thomas B. Edsall - Columnist, The New York Times
‘In Polarized by Degrees, two astute analysts of American party politics examine how a culture war has transformed society and politics in recent decades. In their riveting account, as college-educated Americans adopted cultural liberalism on social issues, they turned away from their long-standing support of the Republican Party and embraced the Democratic Party; meanwhile, those with less education took the reverse course, and in the process remade the Republican Party into a populist vehicle fueled by distrust of experts. A deeply insightful journey through a tumultuous period that shows how, once the dust settles, the United States will have become a different place than it was in the late twentieth century.’
Suzanne Mettler - author of Four Threats: The Recurring Crises of American Democracy
‘If you don’t understand the role that educational attainment plays in American politics, you can’t understand American politics. Nowhere have I seen this phenomenon better analyzed, explained and deconstructed than Polarized by Degrees.’
Amy Walter - Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, The Cook Political Report
Table of Contents
Inspiration and Acknowledgments
1. Introduction: Changing Parties in a Changing World
2. How Educated Liberals are Winning the Culture War
3. ‘Hope and Chang'” Meets ‘Make America Great Again’
4. The Rise of the Diploma Divide in American Elections
5. Trust the Institutions, or Burn Them Down?
6. Fighting ‘Woke Capitalism’: The Republican Rebellion Against Corporate America
7. Are Policymakers Solving Problems or Imposing Values?
8. Conclusion: Why Everything’s About Politics Now, and Politics Is About Everything.
About the Authors
Matt Grossmann, Michigan State University
Matt Grossmann is Director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University. He serves as Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center and Contributor to FiveThirtyEight. He is author of six books, including How Social Science Got Better (2021) and Asymmetric Politics (2021).
David A. Hopkins, Boston College, Massachusetts
David A. Hopkins is Associate Professor of Political Science at Boston College. He is the author of Red Fighting Blue (2017) and the co-author of Asymmetric Politics (2021) and Presidential Elections. His political analysis has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vox, and Bloomberg Opinion.