Abstract
Since 2009, the Tea Party has played a prominent role in American politics, influencing both election outcomes and policymaking. Scholars and political pundits often argue about whether the movement constitutes an authentic economic populist movement within American conservatism or simply is a rebranding of classic conservative politics in the age of President Obama. Much can be discerned about the true nature of an organization by examining its public communications, particularly its online communications. This study analyzes the content of a stratified random sample of 50 local, regional, and state Tea Party websites to assess the true ideology of the political movement and the degree to which that ideology is consistent across the local nodes of this national political movement. The study finds that while economic issues are an important unifying principle among local Tea Party groups, that traditional conservative political causes such as opposition to President Obama, protecting Christian values, and cracking down on illegal immigrants also play a prominent role in Tea Party communications. Additionally, there is little cohesion that exists between the messaging of the local organizations due to the lack of centralized message control in the national Tea Party.
Highlights
Since 2009, the Tea Party has played a prominent role in American politics, influencing both election outcomes and policymaking
This study examines local and regional Tea Party websites from all 50 states in order determine what beliefs and ideologies are at the core of the movement
The study will evaluate the degree to which Tea Party websites, taken together, advocate for a coherent public policy platform and whether that platform is indicative of a populist economic movement or a rebranding of the same conservative policy platform that existed before the Tea Party came into being
Summary
Since 2009, the Tea Party has played a prominent role in American politics, influencing both election outcomes and policymaking. This study examines local and regional Tea Party websites from all 50 states in order determine what beliefs and ideologies are at the core of the movement. This type of analysis is important because the decentralized organizational structure, identified by Williamson, Skopol, & Coggin (2011), makes devising and distributing a uniform message all the more difficult. The study hopes to illuminate the extent to which the local Tea Party organizations coalesce around an economic message, suggested by some scholars, or other conservative political messages, primarily a dislike of President Obama, suggested by others. The study will evaluate the degree to which Tea Party websites, taken together, advocate for a coherent public policy platform and whether that platform is indicative of a populist economic movement or a rebranding of the same conservative policy platform that existed before the Tea Party came into being
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