Heather Cox Richardson

History Professor Richardson tells a history of American democracy—a belief that all people should have equal rights and have a government by their consent—from a pluralistic viewpoint, which stands in stark contrast to the America of late that seems to be leaning toward authoritarianism. Richardson traces the rise of the modern right wing back the New Deal as backlash against government intervention through the Reagan-era rise of White Christianity and trickle-down economics and right up through the authoritarian excesses of recent years. It is a very lucid explanation for the horrifying ascendency of anti-democratic Donald Trump. While Richardson seems to have faith that there is a liberal consensus in this country, the obvious bias detracts a bit from the potential value of her analysis; i.e., the faithful will remain faithful, but she is unlikely to convince anyone else that “our common good is our common interest and our individual responsibility.”… (mehr)

I never really understood the great effort that went into Conservative polarization of the United States population following the civil war. I see now that it was much more than simply two parties which disagreed, and the division in our country has always been more pronounced than I ever believed.

I don’t particularly like reading about politics, but I have always felt reassured by Heather Cox Richardson’s method of framing current events in a historical context. For that reason alone, I was eager to read this book. Most of the information was what I already knew to some degree, but she did have a way of teaching me details that I did not already know. I find her to be a credible source of information.

What I’m realizing is that things that happen in politics which enrage me now are really old tropes which previous generations also had to deal with. It definitely helps to clarify democracy in the United States for me by seeing its progress and its regression through the lens of history.… (mehr)