Political Volatility in the United States: How Racial and Religious Groups Win and Lose (Voting, Elections, and the Political Process)

The unexpected shift from the election of Barack Obama and the post-racial hope to the racial confrontations in the Trump era begs the question: Why did such a big volatile swing happen in such a short period of time? Uncertainty reigns in volatile political times. This book aims to provide a systemic model for understanding how political volatility throughout the U.S. history has had its root in two competing racial and religious groupings. Moreover, the groupings grounded in white supremacy and egalitarianism have collided, contested, and facilitated the configuration and reconfiguration of the atomic political structure. As demonstrated in this book, the antagonism between the two competing identity groupings led to a history of political volatility in the United States. Contrary to the endless “political deadlocks” suggested by the scholars of American political development, this book explains how and why the two orders persist, reach peaks of volatility, and why one temporarily achieves prominence over the other. Going beyond the simplistic view of racial and religious hierarchy, this book provides an account rooted in structural tensions, strategic imperatives, opportunities, and threats on collective actions. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of Figures and Tables 10 List of Figures and Tables 10 Figures 10 Tables 10 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction 14 Political Volatility 16 Chapter Outline 20 The Importance of Differences between Groups and Within One Group 24 I: Introducing the Theory and Principles of the Atomic Structure 28 Chapter 1: Political Volatility and Social Groups: A Puzzle 30 The Chosen One 31 Chapter 2: An Overview of the Atomic Structure 36 ADVICE: The Atomic Structure and its Operating Principles 37 A Deeper Look at Romney’s Religion 39 Political Volatility beyond the Racial and Religious Minorities 43 Chapter 3: Rationality and Perceptions: Political Habits and Responses 46 Rationality and its Limits 49 Political Decision Based on Perception and Habit 51 Voting and Information Search 53 Threat and Information Search 54 Perception of Threat and Biology 57 Conclusion 58 Chapter 4: The Origins of Multiple Threats 60 Otherness as the Source of Multiple Threats 61 In-group Favoritism 63 Out-group Hostility 64 Chapter 5: Concrete and Abstract Threats: Group Perceptions and Responses 70 WASPs and the Problem of Multiple Groups 72 Group Similarities and WASP Perceptions of Multiple Threats 74 Conclusion 79 Chapter 6: Hostility and Group Experiences: The ADVICE Principles (I) 82 German Protestant Experience 86 Black Experience 87 White Catholic Experience 89 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 92 Chapter 7: Volatility: The ADVICE Principles (II) 96 Response Range and Measures of Aggression 98 Aggression: Measures on Seven Levels 99 Conclusion 104 Chapter 8: Internal Threat, Competition, and the Atomic Structure: The ADVICE Principles (III) 108 Trail of Tears 109 Abstract Threat and Concrete Threat Revisited 114 Dualism in U.S. Politics 120 The Atomic Structure in American Politics 122 II: Applying the Atomic Structure Theory to American Political Developments 128 Chapter 9: The Shift Away from WASP Domination 130 Dominant Core in a Political System 131 Competing Views on the End of WASP Domination 132 Chapter 10: Atomic Structure and the WASP Decline 140 The Relationship between the Core and Peripheries 141 The Relationship between the Two Political Coalitions 142 The Relationship between the Peripheries 145 Assimilation of White Catholics to the Core 147 Conclusion 150 Chapter 11: The Core of the New Atomic Structure 152 Whites as a Group 156 Race and Political Parties in Contemporary Elections 159 Migration, Demographic Change, and Minority Political Power 166 White Group Influence in American Electoral Politics 168 Group Influences in the Legislative Arena 172 Conclusion 173 Chapter 12: Racial Minority versus Religious Minority: The 2012 Presidential Election 176 The Minority Candidates 178 Theories and Hypotheses: Solving the Chapter 1 Puzzle 178 Data and Method 183 Findings on the 2012 GOP Primaries 184 The 2012 General Election 186 Conclusion 190 Chapter 13: The Surge of White Nationalism in the Trump Era 194 Finding the “Right” Strategy to Win the White Vote 195 The Threat Environment behind the Rise of Trump 197 The Reordering of Multiple Threats in the Trump Era 198 Anti-Immigration Public Opinion and Public Policy 202 A Statistical Analysis of Anti-Immigration Public Opinion 205 The Effect of the Atomic Structure on the 2016 Presidential Election 207 Conclusion 209 Conclusion 212 Solving the Political Puzzles 216 The Atomic Structure Is Not a Hierarchical /Caste System 218 Volatility and Political Progress 220 Bibliography 222 Index 236 About the Author 244 "Uncertainty reigns in volatile political times. This book aims to provide a systemic model for understanding how political volatility throughout the U.S. history has had its root in the rise and fall of two competing racial and religious groupings"-- Provided by publisher