Dog Whistle Politics

Describes how conservatives in government are using race-baiting to coax the middle class with promises of curbing crime, stopping undocumented immigration and even halting Islamic infiltration into voting for right-wing policies that ultimately hurt them and favor the rich.

A sweeping account of how 'dog-whistle' racial politics contributed to increasing inequality in America since the 1960s

To the amusement of the pundits and the regret of the electorate, our modern political jargon has become even more brazenly two-faced and obfuscatory than ever. Where once we had Muckrakers, now we have Bed-Wetters. Where Blue Dogs once slept peaceably in the sun, Attack Dogs now roam the land. During election season--a near constant these days--the coded rhetoric of candidates and their spin doctors, and the deliberately meaningless but toxic semiotics of the wing nuts and backbenchers, reach near-Orwellian levels of self-satisfaction, vitriol, and deceit. The average NPR or talk radio listener, MSNBC or Fox News viewer, or blameless New York Times or Wall Street Journal reader is likely to be perplexed, nonplussed, and lulled into a state of apathetic resignation and civic somnolence by the rapid-fire incomprehensibility of political pronouncement and commentary--which is, frankly, putting us exactly where the pundits want us. Dog Whistles, Walk-Backs, and Washington Handshakes is a tonic and a corrective. It is a reference and field guide to the language of politics by two veteran observers that not only defines terms and phrases but also explains their history and etymology, describes who uses them against whom, and why, and reveals the most telling, infamous, amusing, and shocking examples of their recent use. It is a handbook of lexicography for the Wonkette and This Town generation, a sleeker, more modern Safire's Political Dictionary, and a concise, pointed, bipartisan guide to the lies, obfuscations, and helical constructions of modern American political language, as practiced by real-life versions of the characters on House of Cards.

Despite increasing prevalence over the past three decades and a clear impact on school education policy and practice, education’s connection to dog-whistle journalism and politics has not yet been fully explored. Addressing this gap, Politics and the Mediatization of School Educational Policy examines the emergence and current impact of dog-whistle politics and journalism on education in Australia, the US and the UK, questioning what is at stake when this political dog whistle is directed at school educational policy and practice. Exploring common targets for dog-whistling, such as teaching standards, teacher quality and specific curriculum areas, such as history, sex and health education, the book considers the broader social issues of xenophobia and racism, as well as the decline of print media and rise of digital news sources in its place, with each chapter including an in-depth discussion using peer-reviewed literature on the subject. Following the trail of dog whistles impacting in school educational policy and practice across these three countries, this book explores: To what extent is the dog-whistle dynamic embedded in school educational policy and practice? To what extent does the dog-whistle dynamic affect our understanding of school educational policy and practice? How might we explain the continued flurry of dog whistles impacting school educational policy and practice? As the phenomenon of the dog whistle intensifies both nationally and internationally, this timely and thought-provoking book is necessary reading for academics, postgraduate researchers and all members of school communities.

From the acclaimed author of Dog Whistle Politics, an essential road map to neutralizing the role of racism as a divide-and-conquer political weapon and to building a broad multiracial progressive future "Ian Haney López has broken the code on the racial politics of the last fifty years."—Bill Moyers In 2014, Ian Haney López in Dog Whistle Politics named and explained the coded racial appeals exploited by right-wing politicians over the last half century—and thereby anticipated the 2016 presidential election. Now the country is heading into what will surely be one of the most consequential elections ever, with the Right gearing up to exploit racial fear-mongering to divide and distract, and the Left splintered over the next step forward. Some want to focus on racial justice head-on; others insist that a race-silent focus on class avoids alienating white voters. Can either approach—race-forward or colorblind—build the progressive supermajorities necessary to break political gridlock and fundamentally change the country's direction? For the past two years, Haney López has been collaborating with a research team of union activists, racial justice leaders, communications specialists, and pollsters. Based on conversations, interviews, and surveys with thousands of people all over the country, the team found a way forward. By merging the fights for racial justice and for shared economic prosperity, they were able to build greater enthusiasm for both goals—and for the cross-racial solidarity needed to win elections. What does this mean? It means that neutralizing the Right's political strategy of racial division is possible, today. And that's the key to everything progressives want to achieve. A work of deep research, nuanced argument, and urgent insight, Merge Left: Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, and Saving America is an indispensable tool for the upcoming political season and in the larger fight to build racial justice and shared economic prosperity for all of us.

In the wake of the most abusive political season anyone can remember, leading feminists reflect on the state of affairs for women in the political arena, with an introduction by the bestselling author of The Beauty Myth

This volume provides a critical view of the nature and quality of political and civic communication on Twitter. The introduction lays out the current state of research, showing the continuum of views, from the more optimistic to more pessimistic, regarding the platform’s potential to facilitate civic conversations. The eleven empirical case studies in the book provide new insights, addressing a variety of topics through a diverse array of methodological approaches. Together, the chapters provide a counter position to recent studies that offer more celebratory assessments of Twitter’s potential. The book draws attention to the chaotic, insular, uncivil, and emotionally charged nature of debate and communication on Twitter.