4.0
The Paranoid Style in American Politics
ByPublisher Description
This timely reissue of Richard Hofstadter's classic work on the fringe groups that influence American electoral politics offers an invaluable perspective on contemporary domestic affairs.In The Paranoid Style in American Politics, acclaimed historian Richard Hofstadter examines the competing forces in American political discourse and how fringe groups can influence — and derail — the larger agendas of a political party. He investigates the politics of the irrational, shedding light on how the behavior of individuals can seem out of proportion with actual political issues, and how such behavior impacts larger groups. With such other classic essays as “Free Silver and the Mind of 'Coin' Harvey” and “What Happened to the Antitrust Movement?, ” The Paranoid Style in American Politics remains both a seminal text of political history and a vital analysis of the ways in which political groups function in the United States.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Paranoid Style in American Politics Reviews
4.0
““We are all sufferers from history, but the paranoid is a double sufferer, since he is afflicted not only by the real world, with the rest of us, but by his fantasies as well.”
I only read the eponymous essay, The Paranoid Style in American Politics, and it’s fantastic. It ought to be required reading. More relevant now, perhaps, than when it was written. Hofstadter identifies and describes the ‘paranoid style’ so clearly and brilliantly in such a short essay.
The ‘paranoid style’ is not, admittedly, strictly an American phenomenon. It’s an international one, and it stretches far back in time. But the ‘paranoid style’ is certainly integral to America’s DNA. Hofstadter provides historical examples, listing the early anti-Illuminism movement of the late 18th century/early 19th century, the anti-Masonic and anti-Catholicism of the 19th century, and 20th century McCarthyism and the Communist threat to the ‘American Way of Life’ as moments propelled by the paranoid style. He also mentions the John Birch Society and Barry Goldwater’s presidential campaign in 1964 as more contemporary examples. He’s definitely come with receipts. In these examples, Hofstadter identifies a number of common beliefs/worldviews that enable the paranoid to succumb to their delusions. I won’t list them here, since doing so would be reductionist—he’s articulated them quite clearly, so it’s best to just read or re-read the essay. And that’s the biggest surprise. Not once did I find myself wondering what Hofstadter meant. The guy knows how to write. I guess the two Pulitzers weren’t flukes.
Definitely a must-read.”
About Richard Hofstadter
Born in 1916, Richard Hofstadter was one of the leading American historians and public intellectuals of the 20th century. His works include The Age of Reform, Anti-intellectualism in American Life, Social Darwinism in American Thought, 1860-1915, The American Political Tradition, and others. He died in 1970.
Other books by Richard Hofstadter
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