Beyond the Tea Party: Dismal Democrats,Radical Republicans,Debt Ceiling Drama,and the Long Right Tilt in the Age of Obama

Abstract

We examine and criticize inaccurate stereotypes of the Tea Party as a revolutionary, insurgent, populist force. We demonstrate the Tea Party’s role in furthering the longstanding and polarizing rightward drift of the Republican Party. We trace the pro-establishment voting biases of the Tea Party in a variety of policy areas and the capitulation of the Democratic Party to the Tea Party–Republican political and economic agenda. The role of the mass media in amplifying the message of the Tea Party (largely neglected in the dominant political discourse) is also examined.

Keywords

debt ceiling polarization populism recession social movement Tea Party

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