Pritzker Fellow Stephanie Murphy on "Class Inversion of American Politics"

(Current UChicago Students Only)

Monday, October 9

3:30-4:45 PM

Republicans are struggling with exurban, college educated and young voters while Democrats are losing rural, working class and older voters. The class inversion of American Politics is what New York Times writer David Leonhardt calls “one of the most consequential developments in American life” and one of the main reasons that the consensus in Washington is moving away from free-market economic policies and toward more populist policies. The Biden administration is promoting their worker-centered trade policies and key Republicans like Marco Rubio are breaking with Ronald Reagan-style policies and embracing anti-business policies to capture the votes of a key demographic. In 2022, Dems lost the two-party House vote by 10 points among working-class voters and Republicans regained control of the House by winning districts with below median incomes. So how precisely did we get here? How does each party’s base voter influence the policies of their political leaders?

Special Guest: Ruy Teixeira, Political Demographer & Commentator, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Author of the Upcoming Book “Where Have All the Democrats Gone? The Soul of the Party in the Age of Extremes”

Suggested Reading:

Five Reasons Why Democrats Should Focus Obsessively on Working-Class Voters

How Working-Class White Voters Became the GOP’s Foundation

How Democrats Can Win Workers

Pritzker Fellows seminars are off the record and open to current UChicago students only. Seating in the IOP Living Room is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

If you have any questions about accessibility, please contact Sarah Palmisciano (spalmisciano@uchicago.edu).