Stone Inequality & Social Policy Seminar: Paul Pierson

Stronger Together: Investigating the Democratic Party's "Long Coalition"

Paul Pierson, John Gross Distinguished Professor of Political Science, UC Berkeley

Abstract: The Democratic Party has come to dominate the nation’s metropolitan centers (cities and, increasingly, their suburbs) – “blue” places that have grown not just richer but also more diverse. Much scholarship has focused on the GOP’s growing strength in rural and exurban America. Much less has centered on the Democrats’ response to these shifts, despite the party's crucial role in navigating the country’s perilous attempt to transition to a stable multi-racial democracy. This research tracks the transformation of the Democratic Party’s “long coalition” as it has come to rely on a more heterogenous set of metro voters and an evolving constellation of interest groups. I examine how party leaders have managed a changing mass and elite coalition, particularly the often distinctive and not infrequently conflicting concerns of affluent white suburban voters and (often less affluent and more urban) voters of color.

Paul Pierson is the John Gross Distinguished Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley, where he also directs the newly established Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative (BESI). Pierson is the author or co-author of six books and numerous journal articles, along with a wide range of popular writings on American politics and public policy. Four of his books have been co-authored by Jacob Hacker. Their latest book is Let Them Eat Tweets: How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality. Previously, the two wrote American Amnesia: How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper—a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice, and Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class. Prior to this Pierson wrote Politics in Time: History, Institutions and Social Analysis (2004) and Dismantling the Welfare State? Reagan, Thatcher and the Politics of Retrenchment (1994). Material from each of these books received major prizes from the American Political Science Association. A former Guggenheim Fellow and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, his recent honors include election to the American Academy of Political and Social Science as the 2022 Robert A. Dahl Fellow.

Due to building access restrictions, if you do not have a Harvard ID and wish to attend, you must email inequality@hks.harvard.edu to receive permission.