The Myth of Left and Right: How the Political Spectrum Misleads and Harms America

by Verlan Lewis, Hyrum Lewis

Overview

A groundbreaking argument that the political spectrum today is inadequate to twenty-first century America and a major source of the confusion and hostility that characterize contemporary political discourse.

As American politics descends into a battle of anger and hostility between two groups called "left" and "right," people increasingly ask: What is the essential difference between these two ideological groups? In The Myth of Left and Right, Hyrum Lewis and Verlan Lewis provide the surprising answer: nothing. As the authors argue, there is no enduring philosophy, disposition, or essence uniting the various positions associated with the liberal and conservative ideologies of today. Far from being an eternal dividing line of American politics, the political spectrum came to the United States in the 1920s and, since then, left and right have evolved in so many unpredictable and even contradictory ways that there is currently nothing other than tribal loyalty holding together the many disparate positions that fly under the banners of "liberal" and "conservative." Powerfully argued and cutting against the grain of most scholarship on polarization in America, this book shows why the idea that the political spectrum measures deeply held worldviews is the central political myth of our time and a major cause of the confusion and vitriol that characterize public discourse.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780197680629
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/06/2023
Series:	STUDIES IN POSTWAR AMERICAN POLITCAL
Pages:	168
Sales rank:	956,455
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Hyrum Lewis is an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University-Idaho. He received his PhD from the University of Southern California and was previously a visiting scholar at Stanford University.

Verlan Lewis is a visiting Scholar in the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and the Stirling Professor of Constitutional Studies at Utah Valley University. He received graduate degrees from Cambridge University and the University of Virginia and did postdoctoral work in the Stanford University Department of Political Science. He is also the author of Ideas of Power: The Politics of American Party Ideology Development (2019).

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1: The Myth of Left and Right
Chapter 2: The Origins of Left and Right
Chapter 3: The Development of Left and Right
Chapter 4: The "Authentic" Left and Right
Chapter 5: The Persistence of Left and Right
Chapter 6: The Consequences of Left and Right
Chapter 7: The Future of Left and Right
Conclusion
Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

"A short, tightly argued, question-provoking "attempt to give a more accurate conception of ideology in America and thereby correct common misunderstandings of ideology among the general public and among the intellectuals who promote these confusions," as they themselves put it in the book." — Michael E. Hartmann, Philanthropy Daily

"Finally, an antidote to political despair in America. Using the best data and social science, Hyrum Lewis and Verlan Lewis show us why our current polarization is not inevitable and how it can be resolved. If you ever wondered if our nation can ever unite again, read The Myth of Left and Right today." — Arthur C. Brooks, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, and #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Is there a timeless ideological dimension that US political life maps onto? No! This book offers a deft, spirited deconstruction of that idea. It is an enjoyable read." — David R. Mayhew, Sterling Professor of Political Science Emeritus, Yale University

"This timely book challenges entrenched ways of thinking about American politics. Even if readers do not agree with the authors on every point, they cannot ignore the powerful critiques lodged here. The authors rightfully demand that we transcend simplistic understandings of political alignments that conflate party and ideology and that fail to come to terms with how the definitions of 'right' and 'left' continually evolve over time." — Frances Lee, Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, Princeton University

"An insightful dissection of the misleading notion that it is possible-without severe distortion-to reduce voters and politicians to points along a one-dimensional left-right scale." — Philip E. Tetlock, Annenberg University Professor, University of Pennsylvania

"The Myth of Left and Right is a quirky but much needed book for today's conversation about how to push past our differences, disagreements, and political polarization. It is scholarly but accessible and something easily read in an afternoon. While it is short, its impact hopefully will be longer, for our Country demands such a book in a time when words like "left" and "right" are not only accusatory labels we paste onto people but, as Lewis and Lewis have shown, essentially meaningless." — Lee Trepanier, Russell Kirk Center

"The Myth of Left and Right is a quirky but much needed book for today's conversation about how to push past our differences, disagreements, and political polarization." — Lee Trepanier, Chair and Professor of Political Science at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama

"The book is a useful instrument for stimulating much-needed thought and debate about the ideological spectrum in the US." — Choice

From the Publisher