Putnam on the Teaparty

 








Jack called my attention to this NYT's piece that is rather like Robert Putnam's response to an assignment from AmCon 101 last fall.  Here he reports on research that calls into question the assertion that the TeaParty movement is a manifestation of 'grass roots' democracy and a call for a return to government "by, of, and for" the people.  Rather, he asserts that the power of the movement is in its particular way of drawing upon certain streams of American evangelical Christianity.  I'd love to read a response by Nathan Hatch because I think he would give us some insight into the similarities (and differences) between this linking of religious commitments and political/social agendas and the linking of these in earlier eras, particularly in the early 19th century.