The Republican phase transition

John Quiggin has initiated an interesting conversation over at Crooked Timber. He begins:

I’ve been reading the latest (excellent as usual) book from Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, Let Them Eat Tweets: How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality . The opening paras read

This is not a book about Donald Trump. Instead it is about an immense shift that preceded Trump’s rise, has profoundly shaped his political party and its priorities, and poses a threat to our democracy that is certain to outlast his presidency. That shift is the rise of plutocracy – government of, by, and for the rich

This passage reflects the conflict between two propositions that I (and lots of others, I think) have been grappling with
(1) The rise of Donald Trump represents a radical transformation of the Republican party and American conservatism
(2) Everything Trump has done is a continuation of long-established Republican policy and practices.

Here at CT, Corey has argued for a long time that (2) is correct, and that conservatives or, more properly, reactionaries have always been about preserving hierarchy and power. I find Corey’s argument convincing, but not enough to persuade me that (1) is wrong. Hacker and Pierson also broadly endorse (2). But much of their book is a comparison of the trajectory of the Republican Party with that of the German nationalists in the dying days of the Weimar Republic. The fact that such a comparison, until recently regarded as an automatic disqualification from serious argument (Godwin’s law) now seems entirely plausible, suggests that something really has changed.

He then goes on to discuss the difference between the Eisenhower-era of the party and the present era. Commenter Basilisc picks up on that:

A key distinction that’s not made enough is between Big Business and Plutocracy. Eisenhower Republicanism was all about big, listed companies – GM and the like. They were focused on low taxes, loose regulation, free trade. But beyond that they were indifferent to, or even supportive of, other kinds of social progress: civil rights, environmentalism, education. Think of GHW Bush and the ADA, or Henry Paulson and the Nature Conservancy. Or all the corporations making a nod to LGBT rights or BLM. There was, and to an extent still is, a concept of “corporate citizenship”, constraining actions by entities employing thousands of people across dozens of national markets..

But Big Business Republicanism has been steadily eclipsed in Republican circles by Plutocracy: rich guys (almost all men) who are acting for themselves rather than for their corporate structures. Think of (unlisted) Koch Industries, or the Mercer family, or Sheldon Adelson. Free trade might matter for the specific markets they’re active in, but otherwise not a big deal. Low taxes, yes, but also weak tax enforcement. No regulation, ever, least of all environmental. Corporate citizenship, a joke. And if racist dog whistor airhorns expand and energize the coalition and keep them in power, bring ‘em on please.