Beyond Red and Blue
How Twelve Political Philosophies Shape American Debates
Peter S. Wenz
- Why
- Americans
- do
- not
- divide
- neatly
- into
- red
- and
- blue
- or
- right
- and
- left
- but
- form
- coalitions
- across
- party
- lines
- on
- hot-button
- issues
- ranging
- from
- immigration
- to
- same-sex
- marriage.On
- any
- given
- night
- cable
- TV
- news
- will
- tell
- us
- how
- polarized
- American
- politics
- is:
- Republicans
- are
- from
- Mars,
- Democrats
- are
- from
- Canada.
- But
- in
- fact,
- writes
- Peter
- Wenz
- in
- Beyond
- Red
- and
- Blue,
- Americans
- do
- not
- divide
- neatly
- into
- two
- ideological
- camps
- of
- red/blue,
- Republican/Democrat,
- right/left.
- In
- real
- life,
- as
- Wenz
- shows,
- different
- ideologies
- can
- converge
- on
- certain
- issues;
- people
- from
- the
- right
- and
- left
- can
- support
- the
- same
- policy
- for
- different
- reasons.
- Thus,
- for
- example,
- libertarian-leaning
- Republicans
- can
- oppose
- the
- Patriot
- Act's
- encroachment
- on
- personal
- freedom
- and
- social
- conservatives
- can
- support
- gay
- marriage
- on
- the
- grounds
- that
- it
- strengthens
- the
- institution
- of
- marriage.Wenz
- maps
- out
- twelve
- political
- philosophies—ranging
- from
- theocracy
- and
- free-market
- conservatism
- to
- feminism
- and
- cosmopolitanism—on
- which
- Americans
- draw
- when
- taking
- political
- positions.
- He
- then
- turns
- his
- focus
- to
- some
- of
- America's
- most
- controversial
- issues
- and
- shows
- how
- ideologically
- diverse
- coalitions
- can
- emerge
- on
- such
- hot-button
- topics
- as
- extending
- life
- by
- artificial
- means,
- the
- war
- on
- drugs,
- the
- war
- on
- terrorism,
- affirmative
- action,
- abortion,
- same-sex
- marriage,
- health
- care,
- immigration,
- and
- globalization.Awareness
- of
- these
- twelve
- political
- philosophies,
- Wenz
- argues,
- can
- help
- activists
- enlist
- allies,
- citizens
- better
- understand
- politics
- and
- elections,
- and
- all
- of
- us
- define
- our
- own
- political identities.
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