American Resistance by Dana R. Fisher;

Author:Dana R. Fisher;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: POL043000, Political Science/Political Process/Political Advocacy, POL040000, Political Science/American Government/General
Publisher: Lightning Source Inc. (Tier 3)
Published: 2019-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

THE TOP SOLUTIONS GO LEFT

Across both waves of the follow-up survey, Resisters provided solutions for what they considered to be the top issues facing the United States. There were substantial differences between the solutions offered in May and November 2018.

BEFORE THE MIDTERMS

Six months before the midterm elections, there was clear consensus about how to solve the top issues facing America: no matter the issue, respondents overwhelmingly offered solutions that targeted institutional politics and specific changes from inside the political system. Of all the institutional political solutions, voting, the electoral process, and the midterm elections were mentioned the most. Respondents wrote in solutions that specifically addressed the electoral system and the need for citizens to participate in the 2018 midterm elections. Frequently, these political solutions were offered to solve issues identified with the U.S. political system. However, political solutions were also offered for other top issues mentioned by respondents. Many people mentioned changing the majority of the House of Representatives and the Senate from Republican rule, with a number of responses explicitly stating the need to “Elect Democrats” and “Flip the House of Representatives.” Others just wrote in the term that had become popular as a reference to the Democratic Party gaining the majority in the Congress: “blue wave.” Together these solutions represented 10 percent of all the responses to this question.

Political solutions did not focus only on the U.S. Congress and the election. Many Resisters also noted the need for a different administration. In fact, of the 602 individual solutions to the issues raised by respondents in May 2018, 3 percent specifically stated that the main avenue for addressing the top issues facing the United States was through the impeachment of President Trump. This solution was offered by some individuals surveyed at every single march in the Resistance.

In addition to focusing on the election and the administration, twelve political solutions (2 percent) referenced legislative options. Other solutions stressed the need to get dark money out of politics, with five solutions explicitly referencing the Citizens United decision handed down in January 2010—exactly seven years before the first Women’s March flooded the streets of cities and towns across the United States with demonstrators the day after the inauguration of Donald Trump.27 A small number of solutions called for more outsider political tactics, such as protest, activism, and the elimination of capitalism, but these less institutional solutions were a minority of all of the perspectives shared.

Solutions to environmental problems—considered to be the top issue facing America—covered a wide range of political options. Again, the focus was on institutional political solutions. Many people specifically stated that President Trump and his administration should be replaced, with a number of references to then administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt who stepped down in early July 2018 amid numerous ethics inquiries.28 As Elizabeth, a twenty-seven-year-old woman from Washington County, Pennsylvania, originally surveyed at the People’s Climate March in April 2017, put it, “Get Trump out of office, get Pruitt out of EPA, and keep pace with the rest of the world (ideally, we would lead) on sustainable energy.

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