I read this book in 2023, so my impressions are through that prism.
'The Right Nation', published in 2004, in the middle of the George W.Bush presidency, concludes by suggesting that the Republican Party will be in control for the foreseeable future, as the American left has capitulated to the better organised right. Remembering when this was published (so, excuses), none of the following are mentioned in this book: Obama, Biden, Trump, Palin, Pence. Nor of course is there any discussion of QAnon, or insurrections, or the power of Twitter (X). Curiously, post Bush, Democrats have been in the White House for 12 of the next 16 years.
As an outsider who has only become interested in US politics in recent years, it was interesting to learn that the distrust, and at times hatred, between the two major parties has been around for a long time; political rhetoric has been toxic for ever - it's not a modern phenomenon.
The book made for interesting reading, as it provides an excellent discussion of post-Cold War politics in the USA.
It does reinforce the fact that for all the surface similarities, the USA is definitely different to the rest of the "western" world. ( )

An interesting study of the power of conservatism in America. The book tries to explain why America has swung to the Right but I think it is more to do with how Republicans have become ascendant over the once powerful Democrats. Did you know that the entire South was staunchly Democratic. It is only when they started leaning to the left and become more liberal that they started losing ground to the GOP. So in a sense, the country at large has always been a right leaning nation. The left and liberals were always a minority or confined to minorities like the minorities, intellectuals and urban elite.

The American definition of the Right and for that matter Liberalism is different from how one would view the same from an European standpoint. For this you have to read this snippet from pg 314 The US was designed from ground up to be a true democracy with the values of liberty and freedom enshrined in the constitution. Not like the parliamentary system of Europe which were retrofitted and re jiggered to into some sort of quasi democratic, socialistic humbug.

Here I quote "The rebels didn't just kick out the british; they kicked out the legal trappings of the feudal social order - primo-geniture, entail, titles of nobility, the established church and the rest of it".

An interesting study of the power of conservatism in America. The book tries to explain why America has swung to the Right but I think it is more to do with how Republicans have become ascendant over the once powerful Democrats. Did you know that the entire South was staunchly Democratic. It is only when they started leaning to the left and become more liberal that they started losing ground to the GOP. So in a sense, the country at large has always been a right leaning nation. The left and liberals were always a minority or confined to minorities like the minorities, intellectuals and urban elite.

The American definition of the Right and for that matter Liberalism is different from how one would view the same from an European standpoint. For this you have to read this snippet from pg 314 The US was designed from ground up to be a true democracy with the values of liberty and freedom enshrined in the constitution. Not like the parliamentary system of Europe which were retrofitted and re jiggered to into some sort of quasi democratic, socialistic humbug.

Here I quote "The rebels didn't just kick out the british; they kicked out the legal trappings of the feudal social order - primo-geniture, entail, titles of nobility, the established church and the rest of it".

People sometimes ask me for one or two books to help them understand American politics. And when they do, I always recommend The Right Nation. It’s essential reading for any student of this republic. ( )

A history of the Republican party in the USA in the 1960s onwards. A fairly objective account of the conservative/liberal tugs-of-war which explained my whole childhood to me. Perhaps only for diehard American political enthusiasts, but fascinating. ( )