Pathways Out of the Republican Party

This volume reflects nearly two years of Zoom interviews conducted leading up to and following the 2020 US election. In contrast to the abundance of literature on Trump and the far-right/left, the stories within highlight the struggle of the anti-Trump conservative voters who consider themselves caught between two increasingly polarized parties. Left behind by their party, and unwilling or unable to join the opposition, these individuals find themselves abandoned by the system dictated by a series of choiceless decisions. Grounded in anthropological and political theory and field methods, the interviews housed within this book reflect the advantages of the qualitative and holistic approach ethnography brings to the understanding of political identity.

The book begins with a brief but comprehensive overview on the history of the Republican Party from Eisenhower to Trump. The following chapter then unpacks the complex and subjective label of ‘American conservatism’. Chapter Three ends with a breakdown of the dominant principles within conservative thought identified in the literature cited and each interview. The next few chapters analyze the party exits through a combination of Albert Hirschman’s (1970) Exit, Voice, Loyalty model and social identity theory. The final chapter of this book presents the reader with an opportunity to consider their positionality as it impacts the future of American democracy.

Providing an interdisciplinary analysis of political identity in the American electorate, this volume will be of interest to researchers and students of US politics, electoral politics, identity politics, political parties, public anthropology, and social science in general.