Achievement

IGERT STUDENT CO-AUTHORS BOOK: Adviser Theda Skocpol and student Vanessa Williamson have co-authored a book, The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism (Oxford University Press, Dec 2011). The book is the first to present a three-dimensional picture of the Tea Party: their beliefs, the operation of local chapters, and how their activities are changing American politics. Drawing from hundreds of original interviews, the authors find that while Tea Partiers profess to hate government, they are generally supportive of programs that working people pay into, like Social Security and Medicare, while resenting illegal immigration more than any other social or economic phenomenon—even in places like Massachusetts, which is not a gateway for undocumented aliens. Much of what the Tea Party supports cuts against other GOP commitments, suggesting that its successes will generate new fissures, though playing an important role in conservatism for the foreseeable future.