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Asymmetric Politics: Ideological Republicans and Group Interest Democrats 1st Edition

by Matt Grossmann (Author), David A. Hopkins (Author)

4.1 42 ratings

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Why do Republican politicians promise to rein in government, only to face repeated rebellions from Republican voters and media critics for betraying their principles? Why do Democratic politicians propose an array of different policies to match the diversity of their supporters, only to become mired in stark demographic divisions over issue priorities? In short, why do the two parties act so differently-whether in the electorate, on the campaign trail, or in public office?

Asymmetric Politics offers a comprehensive explanation: The Republican Party is the vehicle of an ideological movement while the Democratic Party is a coalition of social groups. Republican leaders prize conservatism and attract support by pledging loyalty to broad values. Democratic leaders instead seek concrete government action, appealing to voters' group identities and interests by endorsing specific policies.

This fresh and comprehensive investigation reveals how Democrats and Republicans think differently about politics, rely on distinct sources of information, argue past one another, and pursue divergent goals in government. It provides a rigorous new understanding of contemporary polarization and governing dysfunction while demonstrating how longstanding features of American politics and public policy reflect our asymmetric party system.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Not many books change how you think about American politics. This one will. Grossmann and Hopkins' research decisively shows that the two parties are not the same-and once you understand the ways in which they're different, American politics begins to make a lot more sense." --Ezra Klein, Editor-in-Chief, Vox

"In this detailed and well-argued book, Grossmann and Hopkins present formidable evidence against a still-too-common depiction of American parties, which views their 'polarization' as a consequence of their equivalent march away from some imagined middle. Asymmetric Politics encourages a badly-needed re-examination of the very distinctive internal workings and strategic choices of Democrats and Republicans." --Paul Pierson, John Gross Professor of Political Science, University of California at Berkeley, and co-author of Winner-Take-All Politics

"This deeply clarifying book not only helps us gain a better grasp of our polarized politics, it also helps to show how the methods of political science can help bridge the gap between the theory and practice of American political life-bringing the former down to earth and lifting the latter toward a more coherent understanding of itself. It is required reading in this confusing time." --Yuval Levin, editor, National Affairs

Book Description

Asymmetric Politics investigates the most consequential differences in the organization and style of the two major parties.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (September 7, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0190626607
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0190626600
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.28 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.1 x 0.6 x 6.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #117,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #53 in Political Parties (Books)
- #136 in Democracy (Books)
- #307 in Political Conservatism & Liberalism

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4.1 42 ratings

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Matt Grossmann
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Matt Grossmann is Director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University and Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center. A regular contributor to FiveThirtyEight, he has published analysis in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Politico and hosts the Science of Politics podcast. He is the author of Red State Blues (2019), Asymmetric Politics (with David A. Hopkins, 2016), Artists of the Possible (2014), and The Not-So-Special Interests (2012).
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David A. Hopkins
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David A. Hopkins is an associate professor of political science at Boston College, where he has taught since 2010. His research focuses on American political parties, elections, and voters.
Professor Hopkins is the author of Red Fighting Blue: How Geography and Electoral Rules Polarize American Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2017); Asymmetric Politics: Ideological Republicans and Group Interest Democrats (with Matt Grossmann; Oxford University Press, 2016); and Presidential Elections: Strategies and Structures of American Politics, 16th edition (with Nelson W. Polsby, Aaron Wildavsky, and Steven E. Schier; Rowman & Littlefield, 2024).
Professor Hopkins writes frequently about American politics for popular audiences. His analysis has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Vox, and other publications, and he blogs regularly about current events at his website Honest Graft. He received his A.B. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
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Excellent book on American politics
Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2016
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This is one of the most interesting books on politics I have read in awhile. Its central thesis that the Republican party is primarily characterized by ideology (e.g., small/limited government, emphasis on individual freedom, robust national defense, traditional moral values, etc) whereas the Democrat party is better characterized as a collection of special interest groups (e.g., organized labor, environmentalists, feminists, minority group interests, etc.) is documented with a significant amount of data. The authors also make the case that many Americans are symbolically in favor of small/limited government while at the same time supportive of many government programs advocated by liberals. Although a non-ideological Republican Donald Trump was just elected president (thanks to our antiquated and unfair electoral college system) he clearly appealed to the conservative ideological concerns held by traditional Republicans as well as many white blue collar Americans. I believe that this book deserves much broader reading than is suggested by the limited number of reviews. It especially provides important food for thought for Democrats as their party now struggles to to find meaning in the face of significant electoral defeats.

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Matthew Kucera
Helpful and valuable neutral perspective but only goes so far
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2024
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The book is thorough in reviewing evidence to make a basic case that the Democratic party is focused on policy while the Republican party is ideological in nature. It sheds light on why each party orients itself the way it does, and establishes this asymmetry as an important root cause for the polarization afflicting the country today. As a Democrat this let me see the Republican party in a helpful appreciative light. It also helped me see that the Democratic party could stand to be more overtly ideological in its communication of values, defending its beliefs and policies as part of a unified whole. This might make it easier for Republicans to understand where Democrats stand on issues Republicans care about.

I also appreciate that the book taught me about kludgeocracy - I hadn't heard of that concept before but it seems to be a pretty good explainer for why the gears of Congress grind to a halt so often.

Where the book falls flat for me is in not better anticipating or foreseeing how much the Republican party has changed under Trump's influence (in the years since the book was written) - looking back now the history feels a bit stale and quaint - like reading a computer manual for Windows 95. The authors had picked up on the pattern of evolution in the Republican party (which is still recognizable thru Trump until today). But they seem to balk at acknowledging the weightiness of its impact on American democracy.

Coming to the last chapter I was briefly hopeful the authors might offer some insight for a way out of this mess we all feel as American citizens. But it was a bit of a letdown. While I think their analysis helped them be clear-eyed about the dim prospects of a cure at that time, and prescriptions they could reasonably offer, it also felt at the end they tried to be both-sided in assigning blame for the situation. This undercuts the book's message though - I wish they instead dug deeper to understand the driving forces for the acceleration aspect of the polarization - why it keeps getting increasingly worse. It feels like trying to understand a tornado - what is the energy the vortex is feeding off of and how can we as a people intervene to break the cycle, given the asymmetric nature of each political party? In the end I'm thankful for what insight the authors did offer still - it's pretty solidly grounded.

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Chris Prussing
Ow! Truth really does hurt!
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2016
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Holy cow, was this an agonizing read. I felt as if I was re-living the political tempests of the past 50 years in all their disappointment and ugliness. And now here we are, with a minority of voters having elected Donald Trump to office. If you want insights as to how this could have happened, Asymmetric Politics gives you a container load - if you can take it without grinding your back teeth to powder. Anyone wondering, "Well, now what do we do?" could very likely benefit from Asymmetric Politics to gain a clearer understanding of the situation ... daunting as that understanding might be. Like being handed a flashlight and discovering the path that has lead you to the brink of a 10-story hole in the floor, and you can't go backward.

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Gregory Thomas Bogosian
Good insights. But conclusion is overly pessimistic.
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2019
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Summary: The two major political parties in the United States, the Democrats and the Republicans, are not mirror images. The democrats are a coalition of discreet social groups that each demand specific domestic policies. The republicans are a vehicle for the Conservative movement. So, they face different incentives. Americans favor liberal policies, but conservative principles. So the incentive for the Democrats is to play up their specific policies, and downplay the principles behind those polices. The Republicans, as the conservative party, face the opposite incentive, the incentive to play up their principles, but downplay what those principles imply in practice. The result is that the Democrats meet broad support for each of their policies, but face a backlash when they try to implement too many of them. The Republicans meet broad support for their rhetoric, but face a backlash when they try to translate that rhetoric into actual legislation.
Pros: The evidence is extensively documented. This thesis explains how the Democrats and Republicans have both survived. It shows that those who argue that the Democrats are too far left to survive and those who argue that the Republicans are too far right to survive are both wrong.
Cons: The conclusion is pretty weak. Grossman argues that there is an aporia in American public opinion that makes any attempt at resolving political polarization through institutional change futile. This way of thinking only makes sense if you ignore the research that public opinion shifts in response to the elites (See Democracy for Realists). I personally suspect that changing the electoral system would lead to different elites taking power in America, and therefore lead to different public opinion in America. In short, good insights, good documentation of data and evidence. But this book is too pessimistic.

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