A white men’s agony: the rise and fall of the Reagan coalition through the perspective of american scholars (1940-2016) * A agonia do homem branco: a ascensão e queda da coalizão Reagan através da perspectiva dos intelectuais norte-americanos (1940-2016)

Abstract

The American Conservative movement saw a huge rise following Reagan’s ascent to the residency. The Reagan Coalition managed to make the Republican Party the dominating force for almost thirty years, empowering certain social groups that supported its rise since its beginning, during the New Deal era. Following deep economic and social changes seen in the early 21st century, Barack Obama managed to craft a new political coalition, one that managed to end the Republican dominance. As the Democrats were able to craft a new coalition, the answer came in the rise of an authoritarian/populist right embodied by Donald Trump and the Tea Party. The goal of this essay is to understand this political process through the lens of American scholars, focusing on their analysis of how the rise and fall of the Reagan Revolution shaped the troubled political scenario seen in America today.