Steep The Precipitous Rise of the Tea Party [Hardcover]

In the Spring of 2009, the Tea Party emerged onto the American political scene. In the wake of Obamas election, as commentators proclaimed the death of conservatism, Tax Day rallies and Tea Party showdowns at congressional town hall meetings marked a new and unexpected chapter in American conservatism. Accessible to students and general readers,Steep: The Precipitous Rise of the Tea Partybrings together leading scholars and experts on the American Right to examine a political movement that electrified American society. Topics addressed by the volumes contributors include the Tea Partys roots in earlier mass movements of the Right and in distinctive forms of American populism and conservatism, the significance of class, race and gender to the rise and successes of the Tea Party, the effect of the Tea Party on the Republican Party, the relationship between the Tea Party and the Religious Right, and the contradiction between the grass-roots nature of the Tea Party and the established political financing behind it. Throughout the volume, authors provide detailed and often surprising accounts of the movements development at local and national levels. In an Epilogue, the Editors address the relationship between the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Dr. Lawrence Rosenthal is Executive Director and Lead Researcher of the Center for the Comparative Study of Right-Wing Movements.
Dr. Christine Trost is Program Director of the Center for the Comparative Study of Right-Wing Movements at UC Berkeley. She also serves as Assistant Director of the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues (ISSI).

List of Illustrations

Introduction: The Rise of the Tea Party
Christine Trost and Lawrence Rosenthal

Part I: What Manner of Movement?
1: The Tea Parties in Historical Perspective: A Conservative Response to a Crisis of Political Economy
Charles Postel

2: Reframing Populist Resentments ilãÂ