Reviews

The Great Alignment: Race, Party Transformation, and the Rise of Donald Trump by Alan I. Abramowitz

jrboyne's review

3.0

This was a very interesting book analyzing a wide range of political and economic data linked to the past seven decades of national elections in the United States. Any fan of statistical and polling data in politics would enjoy this read as the author, for the most part, sticks to the data as a means of telling the story. However, I found it difficult at times not to clearly see the author's own political biases coming out in terms of the analysis of the data and to which data was emphasized. The last couple of chapters highlighting the 2016 election highlighted a line of thinking as to why Trump won to a very liberal and biased few of the racial stereotypes of white working class individuals who didn't complete a college education. I found that most unfortunate and was certainly limited by the timing of the book in terms of judging Trump's early policies in office. Still a good read to those interested.

charlottejones952's review

3.0

This was an unusual read for me. I am fascinated by American politics and particular how it has gotten to the point it is at now. This seemed like the perfect read to learn more about how the political parties have changed over time.

I think that Alan Abramowitz had a brilliant concept and, mostly, it was executed well. However, it was very statistics heavy and listening to it on audiobook meant that I feel I didn't retain any specific numbers. Despite this, I understood the trends in the statistics and this book provided me with a great overview of how race and political parties intersect in the US.

Overall I think this would have been better to read in a physical copy. If I ever need to write an essay on the topic, this would be a great source and I would recommend it for specific readers.

jmkoni's review

3.0

This is great analysis, but I like a bit more of a story mixed in with my nonfiction. This book was about 75% statistics.

kaldwin's review

4.0

Very interesting and unassailably argued but would have preferred a bit more subjective analysis although I understand that was not the point

libra17's review

5.0

The Great Alignment is a detailed review of patterns of ideology, party affiliation, and voting patterns over about the last 75 years. There is a lot of information documenting the changes in all three pieces of the USA's political scene since the rise of the voting coalition that passed the New Deal. Throughout this, the tone of the book is neutral and mostly ignores the 2016 presidential election in the interest of laying out the facts about historical alterations in the patterns that had extreme influence on the 2016 election. The Great Alignment doesn't start examining the 2016 election in any substantial way until the last three chapters of the book, but those last three chapters use the information provided over the previous seven chapter to coherently and thoroughly explain the influence of a variety of factors on the election (negative partisanship, economic discontent, racial/ethnic discontent. etc). The only complaint I have with The Great Alignment was that - perhaps in an effort to maintain a neutral tone, it was considered too tangential, there was little data, or something else - some issues are only mentioned in passing, such as the influence of the Civil Rights Movement on party platforms (and, thus, voter affiliation), voting barriers, and the demise of the Fairness Doctrine. Overall, though, The Great Alignment is a great book for understanding how the modern electorate has come to be so polarized and the actual history of how that polarization has come to pass.

nietzschesghost's review against another edition

4.0

After finishing this book this morning, I had a long think about how I felt about Alan I. Abramowitz's interpretation of America and recent events that have happened there, and although some of the commentary is still very much relevant today, some is not. This makes me believe that this book was written a while ago and is not as up-to-date as it may seem. That said, this is a world that is changing rapidly, it would be an impossiblity to keep on top of everything - especially with Trump who changes his mind, and ideas on a daily basis but I would expect some recent events to take precedence over those that occurred longer ago.

This is a great read for people wanting to learn how America got to the point it is now at but if you wish to read about more recent events this is probably not the book for you.

I would like to thank Alan I. Abramowitz, Yale University Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.