American Backlash [Hardcover]

Michael Adams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 27, 2005

In his insightful, award-winning work Fire and Ice, Environics president Michael Adams explored the growing divergence between American and Canadian values. Using the same mixture of polling and analysis in American Backlash, Adams fixes his penetrating gaze on contemporary America—the exceptional society. Exploding the accepted wisdom of an America divided bitterly into camps of red and blue, Adams's data show that the values rift between Republicans and Democrats is negligible when compared with the gulf between politically engaged citizens (of either party) and the nearly half of Americans who are politically disaffected. American Backlash goes beyond the red and blue dichotomy, beyond the litany of divisive political issues that receive so much attention in American public discourse: abortion, stem-cell research, euthanasia, same sex marriage, Darwin versus Genesis, and prayer in schools. Widening the lens to examine the psychology of American society as a whole, Adams's research suggests that it is neither Red nor Blue America that represents the overall trajectory of social change in the United States. Rather, it is politically disengaged Americans, people who increasingly embrace values of brash individualism and hedonism, who are the greatest barometer of where American society is headed.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Adams is president of the Environics group of marketing research and communications consulting companies with offices in the United States and Canada. He has written three bestselling books, including Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values, which won the prestigious 2004 Donner Prize for the best book on public policy in Canada.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 230 pages
• Publisher: Viking Canada (November 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670063703
• ISBN-13: 978-0670063703
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,600,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Will change the way you view America, for the better, October 31, 2008

By 

Timothy J. Kropp "toxicologist/carpenter/cook" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Backlash (Hardcover)

Written by respected pollster Adams, this book is one of the most facinating I've ever read. Among the interesting findings is that Republicans and Democrats have much more in common values-wise than with non-voters. In fact, much of the things we 'hate' about the other side turn out to be values of non-voters, not of members of the other party. The best part of the book is the description of the different areas of the country and how their values are different and changing. Can't recommend enough.