2020 Democratic presidential candidates are attacking charter schools, education vouchers, and test-score-based teacher accountability schemes, even backtracking on their past support. Following other issue debates, education positions are polarizing along partisan and ideological lines. But unlike other areas, education polarization follows a long national move rightward—as many states increased alternatives to traditional public schools and […]
Read MoreAs Americans gear up for the 2016 elections, Political Ideologies and Political Parties in America takes a close look at modern polarization, dominant ideologies, and what "liberalism" and "conservatism" mean today.
Read MoreRonald Reagan saw in former presidential candidate Barry Goldwater a friend and a mentor. They corresponded frequently. But Reagan’s 1976 challenge for the Republican presidential nomination caused a deep rift.
Read MoreGoldwater’s nomination to head the Republican presidential ticket in 1964 drew wild enthusiasm from the Hollywood Right and Republican celebrities. Yet, behind the scenes the California Republican Party was deeply divided between the hard-right and moderates.
Read MoreSunday’s New York Times ran a fascinating profile on Cambridge author Robert P. George, tracing his steady rise to leadership as the public face of the conservative Christian Right.
Read MoreIf one were to believe what they read, conservatives should talk to liberals “only if they must” because liberalism is a “mental disorder.” Liberals dismiss their Conservative opponents, since they are “lying liars” who use their “noise machine” to promote irrationality. Both views betray a commitment to the Simple Truth Thesis, the claim that Big Questions always admit of a simple, obvious, and easily-stated solution.
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