The United States has intermittently experienced left- and right-wing populist movements that challenge established forms of corrupt political authority and promise to return America to the ideals of its founders and people. For those who might have hoped that the new century would bring an end to ideology or even to familiar ideological conflicts of the Left and the Right, the Tea Party movement and other forms of right-wing populism, in the U.S. and abroad, offer little hope of such a resolution. Most eruptions of populist anger are directed against elites and elite values; however, the most recent manifestations of populism are also characterized by the omnipresence of corporate media and the important role that popular media personalities play in actively promoting right-wing populism. Together, these insightful scholarly articles provide new understandings of contemporary right-wing populism, including the ways in which the media either have actively promoted such populism or, more passively, failed to challenge its ideas and political consequences. This collection will be useful for students of American politics as well as students of contemporary right-wing politics.This book was published as a special issue of New Political Science: A Journal of Politics and Culture.

The United States has intermittently experienced left- and right-wing populist movements that challenge established forms of corrupt political authority and promise to return America to the ideals of its founders and people. For those who might have hoped that the new century would bring an end to ideology or even to familiar ideological conflicts of the Left and the Right, the Tea Party movement and other forms of right-wing populism, in the U.S. and abroad, offer little hope of such a resolution. Most eruptions of populist anger are directed against elites and elite values; however, the most recent manifestations of populism are also characterized by the omnipresence of corporate media and the important role that popular media personalities play in actively promoting right-wing populism. Together, these insightful scholarly articles provide new understandings of contemporary right-wing populism, including the ways in which the media either have actively promoted such populism or, more passively, failed to challenge its ideas and political consequences. This collection will be useful for students of American politics as well as students of contemporary right-wing politics.This book was published as a special issue of New Political Science: A Journal of Politics and Culture.

This political memoir exposes the weaknesses of democratic culture in the United States and suggests ways to strengthen it in the face of rising authoritarianism.What happens when a democratic theory professor gets involved with the Democratic Party? In this political memoir, Claire Snyder-Hall shares lessons learned from eight years in party politics. She tells the story of organizing a grassroots campaign for state senate in a district dominated by good ole boys, of a political milieu in which a letter to the editor results in a smear campaign and broken friendships, and of battling a party establishment more concerned about shoring up its own power than engaging everyday people or fighting for their needs. Using an intersectional understanding of identity, Snyder-Hall unpacks the ways in which gender, class, and sexuality affect political campaigns, and offers advice for progressives. She also draws on insights from Machiavelli, Rousseau, Marx, and Gramsci to argue that a democratic republic requires a politically engaged populace, a democratic culture, and economic justice, and this can only be achieved when people defend democratic values in the face of rising authoritarianism, stand up to bullies, transform their political consciousness, and create a party willing to fight for the 99%.

The United States has intermittently experienced left- and right-wing populist movements that challenge established forms of corrupt political authority and promise to return America to the ideals of its founders and people. For those who might have hoped that the new century would bring an end to ideology or even to familiar ideological conflicts of the Left and the Right, the Tea Party movement and other forms of right-wing populism, in the U.S. and abroad, offer little hope of such a resolution. Most eruptions of populist anger are directed against elites and elite values; however, the most recent manifestations of populism are also characterized by the omnipresence of corporate media and the important role that popular media personalities play in actively promoting right-wing populism. Together, these insightful scholarly articles provide new understandings of contemporary right-wing populism, including the ways in which the media either have actively promoted such populism or, more passively, failed to challenge its ideas and political consequences. This collection will be useful for students of American politics as well as students of contemporary right-wing politics.This book was published as a special issue of New Political Science: A Journal of Politics and Culture.

The United States has intermittently experienced left- and right-wing populist movements that challenge established forms of corrupt political authority and promise to return America to the ideals of its founders and people. For those who might have hoped that the new century would bring an end to ideology or even to familiar ideological conflicts of the Left and the Right, the Tea Party movement and other forms of right-wing populism, in the U.S. and abroad, offer little hope of such a resolution. Most eruptions of populist anger are directed against elites and elite values; however, the most recent manifestations of populism are also characterized by the omnipresence of corporate media and the important role that popular media personalities play in actively promoting right-wing populism. Together, these insightful scholarly articles provide new understandings of contemporary right-wing populism, including the ways in which the media either have actively promoted such populism or, more passively, failed to challenge its ideas and political consequences. This collection will be useful for students of American politics as well as students of contemporary right-wing politics.This book was published as a special issue of New Political Science: A Journal of Politics and Culture.

This political memoir exposes the weaknesses of democratic culture in the United States and suggests ways to strengthen it in the face of rising authoritarianism.What happens when a democratic theory professor gets involved with the Democratic Party? In this political memoir, Claire Snyder-Hall shares lessons learned from eight years in party politics. She tells the story of organizing a grassroots campaign for state senate in a district dominated by good ole boys, of a political milieu in which a letter to the editor results in a smear campaign and broken friendships, and of battling a party establishment more concerned about shoring up its own power than engaging everyday people or fighting for their needs. Using an intersectional understanding of identity, Snyder-Hall unpacks the ways in which gender, class, and sexuality affect political campaigns, and offers advice for progressives. She also draws on insights from Machiavelli, Rousseau, Marx, and Gramsci to argue that a democratic republic requires a politically engaged populace, a democratic culture, and economic justice, and this can only be achieved when people defend democratic values in the face of rising authoritarianism, stand up to bullies, transform their political consciousness, and create a party willing to fight for the 99%.