Tag Archives: tea party

Claiming victory gracelessly

Posted on August 4, 2011 by David S. Meyer

A win is a problem for a social movement.  Activists never get all they want, and smaller reforms can make it hard to get supported riled up and active.  At the same time, movement organizers need to show that they … Continue reading →

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What the Tea Party won; what it cost

Posted on August 1, 2011 by David S. Meyer

As we discussed last week, professional politicians sell out movements.  Speaker John Boehner has worked hard throughout the negotiations to play to the most committed elements of the Tea Party in the House of Representatives, advocating positions that he would … Continue reading →

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Is there still a Tea Party movement?

Posted on July 25, 2011 by David S. Meyer

If a political movement doesn’t mobilize, is it still a movement?  Although the term “Tea Party” is thrown about a lot these days, particularly in reference to the hard-line anti-debt faction of Republicans in the House, it’s not clear that … Continue reading →

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The debt debate: Can the Republican Party sell out the Tea Party?

Posted on July 21, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Political parties have to sell out the movements that support them.  First, they exploit the energy, incorporate new activists and ideas, and then find some watered down way to soften the rough edges. Parties that can’t tame the movements that … Continue reading →

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Breaking up the Tea Party: Raising the debt ceiling.

Posted on July 5, 2011 by David S. Meyer

The unfolding debt ceiling standoff is exacerbating divisions within the Tea Party movement that have been visible from the outset.  (Confession: I started writing about this end of the Tea Party on election day, 2010.) The United States has to … Continue reading →

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The Tea Party and the Bachmann challenge

Posted on June 30, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Representative Michele Bachmann (Minnesota) embraced the Tea Party enthusiastically as it first arrived, seeing it as the expression of the conservative populist sentiments she means to embody.  After the Republican victories of 2010, she started the Tea Party Caucus in … Continue reading →

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The Tea Party’s electoral dilemma

Posted on June 29, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Our Constitution presents a recurring dilemma for social movements: routine elections.  Right after the Republicans won massive gains in the 2010 elections–and the Tea Party claimed a great deal of credit for those victories–conservative activists shifted their attention to the … Continue reading →

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A movement is a market

Posted on June 24, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Every year when I do my taxes I go through my credit card receipts looking for deductions for work and charitable contributions.  In the past few years, I’ve found a disturbing number of payments for “Justice.”  The payments are disturbing … Continue reading →

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More on the Tepid TEA (Party)

Posted on May 29, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Every time I log on to the world, there’s more evidence that the Tea Party movement’s moment is passing. We see the strength of American social movements in their organizations, their ideas, and their activities.  (We’ve covered much of this … Continue reading →

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Rapturous Provocation

Posted on May 19, 2011 by David S. Meyer

People protest in opposition to something.  When those opponents promise something particularly egregious, it’s easier to convince your supporters of a real threat and the necessity of taking to the streets. That’s why social movements activate their opponents.  Every potential … Continue reading →

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