America's Forgotten Majority : Why the White Working Class Still Matters

by Teixeira, Ruy A.; Rogers, Joel

• ISBN13: 9780465083985
• ISBN10: 0465083986
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-06-01
• Publisher: Perseus Books Group

Summary

Ruy Teixeira and Joel Rogers tackle a central mystery of twentieth-century electoral politicshow did the Democratic party lose the vote of the white working class, which today constitutes roughly 55 percent of the electorate? And why do both parties continue to ignore the wants and needs of this critical mass of American voters?This "forgotten majority" has played a decisive role in federal elections and policy over the past thirty years, but its experience of declining prosperity and party neglect over the last several decades has left its loyalties unstable. Teixeira and Rogers argue that it is time for politicians to realize that this group will shape the nation's political fortunes in 2000 and beyond.

Author Biography

Joel Rogers is Professor of Law, Political Science, and Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introducing America's Forgotten Majority---And Why It Is the Key to Our Political Future	1	(22)
How the Forgotten Majority Enriches the Conventional Wisdom on U.S. Politics	23	(44)
Did the Forgotten Majority Matter in the 1990s? Part 1: The Elections of 1992 and 1994	67	(28)
Did the Forgotten Majority Matter in the 1990s? Part 2: The Elections of 1996 and 1998	95	(34)
Does the Forgotten Majority Still Matter?	129	(18)
Mobilizing the Forgotten Majority	147	(28)
Appendix	175	(6)
Notes	181	(24)
Acknowledgments	205	(2)
Index	207