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The Republican and Democratic parties are not the same: power flows differently within them. The two big political news items of this week—the happenings of the Republican National Convention and the desperate attempts of many Democrats to replace their candidate before their own convention next month—reflect these asymmetries. Nevertheless, many discussions of American politics assume that that the structures and operational norms of the two parties are the same. If these party differences were more widely recognized, I suspect we would see fewer evangelicals frustrated with their limited influence over the GOP party platform, fewer journalists shocked with J.D. Vance’s journey from never-Trump land to MAGA-maximalism, and greater alarm among centrist Democrats about the longer-term influence that the Palestine protests will have on the contours of their coalition.
a year ago

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More from The Scholar's Stage

The Eight Tribes of Trump and China

LAST OCTOBER I published a short breakdown of four geopolitical ‘schools’ that might shape China strategy under Trump. That piece was a pre-election preview of a much larger report I was writing for the Foreign Policy Research Institute. I published the preview as security: Trump might not win. If so I had better publish something before election day while interest in Trumpworld was guaranteed. Trump won. Interest in GOP debates did not abate. I continued to work on the report. As of this week the full thing is out. You can read it, in all its twenty-page glory, over at the FPRI website. What follows are some of its key points:

4 months ago 46 votes
The Euro-American Split (I): Dread Possibility

THERE ARE DECADES WHEN possibility is constrained in a narrow frame. The terrain has been surveyed, boundaries have been laid, and rules have been established. In such an age there is still room for high drama: The decisive round of a boxing match draws the eye despite the fact—or perhaps because—the boxers play an antique game. In such times and climes, victory means mastery of existing modes, not the invention of new ones. But nothing human is everlasting. Always there comes a day when spectators search for better games and settlers seek out fresher pastures. That day of change arrives with much confusion and fanfare. Sons dishonor their fathers. Daughters rise against their mothers. Ancestral ideals are cast aside, and possibility staggers forth from its long captivity, ready to wreak vengeance on mankind.

5 months ago 51 votes
Observations From India

In November 2024, I traveled to India as part of a delegation hosted by the India Foundation. The foundation is a part of the new nationalist establishment steering Indian society. As they see things, India’s relationship with America has been mediated by hostile parties for too long. On the Indian side you have Congress-sympathizing functionaries; on the American side, a set of intellectuals and diplomats who can neither speak for nor to the American right. Direct links between Indian and American nationalists are needed. So I was invited India.

7 months ago 57 votes
Science Proceeds One Question at a Time

MIDWAY through his 900 page history of biology, zoologist Ernst Mayr considers the problem posed by Alfred Wallace. Wallace was a contemporary of Charles Darwin who independently developed a theory of speciation by means of natural selection. By the time Wallace came on the scene Darwin had been sitting on his evolutionary theory for two decades. Reading Wallace’s 1858 paper “On the Tendency of Species to Form Varities”  spooked Darwin. He did not want to be scooped. Within a year Darwin had rushed his material into an “abstract which… must necessarily be imperfect” as it only gave “the general conclusions” of his theory, and offered only a “few facts in illustration” to support them. We know this abstract well: it was published as The Origin of Species.

7 months ago 48 votes
Republican Debates on China: A Political Compass

MANY HAVE TRIED to pin Trump to Heritage’s “Project 2025.” The Trump campaign has not only refused to endorse Project 2025—they have refused to endorse any detailed policy plan whatsoever. Trump prefers to keep his options open. One unanticipated benefit of this approach is that Republicans have spent much of the last year engaged in intensive but open debates over policy.  Ambitious politicians, congressional offices, and think tanks have laid out their preferred plans on almost every issue of importance. These plans often differ from each other in striking ways. Absent endorsement from Trump or his campaign, no one quite knows which of these policy packages will eventually be adopted as the Republican standard. The Republicans involved have thus been free to debate the merits and costs of each. Take China policy.

9 months ago 43 votes

More in history

The Merrie Tales of Jacques Tournebroche, 1923

The Merrie Tales of Jacques Tournebroche And Child Life in Town and Country (1909) is a collection of short stories set in the 1400s by French writer and Noel Laureate Anatole France (1844 – 1924). The 1923 edition contains illustrations from woodcuts by the British artist Marcia Lane Foster (1897-1983) and endpapers by Aubrey Beardsley. … Continue reading "The Merrie Tales of Jacques Tournebroche, 1923" The post The Merrie Tales of Jacques Tournebroche, 1923 appeared first on Flashbak.

18 hours ago 3 votes
How Do Hestia and Vesta Differ in Greek and Roman Mythology?

Almost every famous Greek God or Goddess has a Roman counterpart, many of whom were used to name the planets in our solar system, like Jupiter (Zeus) and Neptune (Poseidon). The Romans adopted much of Ancient Greek religion, renaming deities while retaining their core attributes and characteristics. Hestia and Vesta are two such goddesses, residing […]

yesterday 3 votes
How Important was the French Revolution?

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yesterday 3 votes
Taoism, the Philosophy of Flow & Embracing Effortlessness

The struggle for control over every aspect of life is common in modern Western society. However, this approach can be juxtaposed with the ancient Chinese religious and philosophical ideas of Taoism. Taoism offers a guide for living a free-flowing life that is guided by the harmonious state of the universe. It perpetuates the belief […]

yesterday 3 votes
Logan Airport Versus Neptune Road, Photographing Boston’s ‘War’ of 1973

“I look at these photographs and feel the overwhelming sensation of the noise of these low-flying aircraft. Yet I could leave what seemed like a war zone. And it was a kind of war, long-time residents trying for normalcy and the powers that be wanting them out.” – Michael Philip Manheim on Logan Airport, Boston, … Continue reading "Logan Airport Versus Neptune Road, Photographing Boston’s ‘War’ of 1973" The post Logan Airport Versus Neptune Road, Photographing Boston’s ‘War’ of 1973 appeared first on Flashbak.

2 days ago 4 votes