We start with a reflection on the results in Tuesday’s elections, and how they relate to polls that indicate Joe Biden is not just unpopular, but actually trailing Donald Trump in key swing states. What can and can’t we take away from such polling, one year out from the presidential election?
We then dive deep into a very different kind of polling and survey data: the 2023 American Values Survey – arguably the most in-depth attempt to capture the values, ideas, and attitudes that shape American society and politics. What do American think of democracy, political violence, authoritarianism, and all the many issues – from abortion and history education to trans rights and QAnon – that define the political conflict? On the basis of this major survey, we try to take the temperature on where things currently stand in America. The results is… mostly not very encouraging.
Show notes:
The complete 2023 American Values Survey can be found here: https://www.prri.org/research/threats-to-american-democracy-ahead-of-an-unprecedented-presidential-election/
“What Do Americans Think About the Health of Our Democracy and the Upcoming Presidential Election?” Panel discussion on the findings of the 2023 American Values Survey, with Lily Mason and others: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbeuG-lGiyU
“Trump Leads in 5 Critical States as Voters Blast Biden, Times/Siena Poll Finds,” New York Times, November 5, 2023 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/05/us/politics/biden-trump-2024-poll.html
Jeff Sharlet, The Undertow: Scenes From a Slow Civil War, W.W. Norton & Company 2023 https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324006497
36. From Reagan to Trump: A Conversation about “Landslide” and the Transformation of American Politics since the 1970s – with Ben Bradford and Seth Cotlar (Part II)
35. “Landslide”: How the Radical Right Took Over the Republican Party and Transformed American Politics in the 1970s – with Ben Bradford and Seth Cotlar (Part I)
34. What Today’s Republican Party Is Made Of – A GOP Primary Post-Mortem
33. The Many Blind Spots and Pitfalls of the “Biden Too Old” Discourse
32. “Project 2025”: What the Right Plans to Do Once Trumpism Returns to Power
31. Why the Reactionary Campaign Against Claudine Gay Is a Matter of Great Concern
30. Mad Poll Disease and the Folly of “Popularism” – with Michael Podhorzer
28. The New Speaker vs. Democracy, Threats of MAGA Violence as the New Normal, and the State of the 2024 Presidential Race
27. Reflections on the Israel-Hamas war – and what the latest Speaker drama can tell us about the dangerous state of Republican politics
26. Taking Stock: The State of American Democracy Heading into Summer
25. The Ideology of Silicon Valley vs the Idea of Democracy – with Adrian Daub
24. “Cancel Culture”: How a Moral Panic Is Capturing America and the World – with Adrian Daub
23. “Polarization” Is Not the Problem. It Obscures the Problem – with Shannon McGregor
22. Land of Unlimited Gun Violence
21. Trump Arraignment in Manhattan, Wisconsin Supreme Court, Tennessee Assembly: Many Different Battles – One Conflict
20. Walter Huss and the History of Republican Radicalization, From the 1950s to Today – with Seth Cotlar
19. The Legal Fate of Donald Trump – and What Republicans Really Mean When They Say “Law and Order”
18. The War on Public Education Is Escalating – with Jennifer Berkshire
17. There Is No “Free Speech Crisis” On Campus – and the Latest in Fox News vs Democracy
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