Walking the Line

Monica Prasad, Steve G. Hoffman and Kieran Bezila
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Monica Prasad: Northwestern University
Steve G. Hoffman: University of Toronto
Kieran Bezila: Beloit College

Politics & Society, 2016, vol. 44, issue 2, 281-304

Abstract: Over one-third of the white working class in America vote for Republicans. Some scholars argue that these voters support Republican economic policies, while others argue that these voters’ preferences on cultural and moral issues override their economic preferences. We draw on in-depth interviews with 120 white working-class voters to defend a broadly “economic†interpretation: for this segment of voters, moral and cultural appeals have an economic dimension, because these voters believe certain moral behaviors will help them prosper economically. Even the very word “conservative†is understood as referencing not respect for tradition generally, but avoidance of debt and excessive consumption specifically. For many respondents, the need to focus on morality and personal responsibility as a means of prospering economically—what we call “walking the line†—accords with the rhetoric they associate with Republicans. Deindustrialization may have heightened the appeal of this rhetoric.

Keywords: white working class; voting behavior; political sociology; working-class Republicanism; class and voting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:polsoc:v:44:y:2016:i:2:p:281-304

DOI: 10.1177/0032329216638062

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