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“This is an important book that ought to be read by anyone who wants to understand politics in the perilous Age of Trump.”—David Corn,
White rural voters hold the greatest electoral sway of any demographic group in the United States, yet rural communities suffer from poor healthcare access, failing infrastructure, and severe manufacturing and farming job losses. Rural voters believe our nation has betrayed them, and to some degree, they’re right. In
Schaller and Waldman show how vulnerable U.S. democracy has become to rural Whites who, despite legitimate grievances, are increasingly inclined to hold racist and xenophobic beliefs, to believe in conspiracy theories, to accept violence as a legitimate course of political action, and to exhibit antidemocratic tendencies. Rural White Americans’ attitude might best be described as “I love
Schaller and Waldman provocatively critique both the structures that permit rural Whites’ disproportionate influence over American governance and the prospects for creating a pluralist, inclusive democracy that delivers policy solutions that benefit rural communities. They conclude with a political reimagining that offers a better future for both rural people and the rest of America....
About the author
Tom Schaller is a professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. A former columnist for
The Baltimore Sun, he has written for
The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the
Los Angeles Times. A regular analyst of U.S. politics, he has appeared on ABC, CBS, MSNBC, and
The Colbert Report. He is the author or co-author of five other books, including
Common Enemies, The Stronghold, and
Whistling Past Dixie.
Paul Waldman is a journalist and opinion writer whose work has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and digital outlets, including the
Los Angeles Times,
The Boston Globe,
Chicago Tribune,
The Week, MSNBC, and CNN. He is a former columnist at
The Washington Post and the author or co-author of four previous books on media and politics, including
Being Right Is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn from Conservative Success and
The Press Effect: Politicians, Journalists, and the Stories that Shape the Political World.
