How Identity Politics Took Over the Republican Party
About this episode
Klein interviews political scientist Lilliana Mason, author of Uncivil Agreement, about the role of identity in American polarization. Drawing on her research, Mason argues that voters experience politics primarily through group identity rather than policy, and that the Republican Party has sorted around white, Christian, rural and male identities while Democrats push toward a multiracial democracy — a conflict with little room for compromise. She presents research showing that animosity toward marginalized groups uniquely predicted support for Donald Trump rather than for the Republican Party itself. The conversation covers the parties' divergent radicalization, education polarization, the politicization of Covid vaccination, and her forthcoming research on partisan support for political violence.