The Pendulum of Great Awakenings
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- Опубліковано 19 жов 2024
- In this episode, we discuss the pendulum in American culture between pragmatic eras of stability and the eras of moral politics and social reform called Great Awakenings.
Awakenings are turbulent eras in which America turns away from the politics of compromise and building institutions for a moralistic culture dedicated to tearing down institutions it believes wrong or unjust to replace them with what it hopes will be something better. These eras trade the politics of "better or worse" for the politics of "right and wrong".
America has had three awakening eras before the modern political period. The original Great Awakening created an enormous religious revival before the American Revolution that carried a social leveling message and drew people into public debate. The Second Great Awakening created a religious revival centered around tent revival meetings that fueled powerful new issues like the abolition of slavery, temperance, and women’s suffrage. The Third Great Awakening created the progressive movement, which that launched countless reforms, as well as a new religious revival following the ideals of the Social Gospel.
Many people look at the shift in American politics during the 1960s and believe, given so much sudden change in how America conducted politics, there must have been a realignment. Yet the core arguments of the party system-liberalism and conservatism-never changed. Each party even maintained almost all their key issues, only adding added some new ones, the ones we call "social" liberalism and "social" conservatism. Since there was no significant change in party ideologies, this wasn’t a realignment. Yet something big did happen-it was the start of an awakening. Realignments and awakenings are completely different phenomenon on completely difference cycles, but each naturally effect the other.
If you want to understand American politics since the 1960s, you therefore have to understanding awakenings and how they work. Particularly, because we still live in an awakening era today.
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This series continues to be excellent
Thank you!
This episode gives context to some questions I've had. This is a great series
I really enjoy your take on politics and history. I love your energy and positive enthusiasm because it helps make the topic accessible. The one tweak you could make on-camera that would help would be to move your head a little less. Just my two cents.
Love the video. What do you think to change America into a prgamatic era/mood?
Honestly, the present crisis playing out. I suspect this next generation of kids growing up will crave prosperity, stability, order, and building. But it's going to take a few decades before they grow up and come into power.
We are definitely in a new Great Awakening. Just look at the Virginia Governor race: the school board debate is the biggest issue by far. 4 years ago it was about taxes
Also, how many people are jointing school boards and becoming Precinct Committeemen in the GOP is proof of this new Great Awakening. The Republican Party went from the two biggest issues are taxes and guns to the two biggest issues is immigration and schools
Or is that just like a normal realignment like the issues federalist/democratic republican to the Jackson issues
Loved the video, thank you!
Thanks!
Hi Frank,
Could it be said that we might live through both a pragmatic AND a messianic era happening simultaneously in the near future?
I only say this because ever since the Great Recession, it seems like we’ve been on the verge of a pragmatic turning point, but never turned.
The culture wars overshadowed everything yes, meanwhile the tensions from 2008 have been left simmering just beneath the surface.
So, do you think it’s possible for pragmatic change or *ahem* “A Realignment” to occur from both the underlying economic tension AND from the culture wars / the great “awokening?” Or would one fire just extinguish the other?
Why isn't this information talked about more?
I suspect a lot of people simply don't know enough about it--even those who should. Political historians and religious / social historians don't talk and exchange knowledge and ideas enough. When you go to an academic library, the books on politics and history and the books on religious revivals and society are usually on completely different floors. Sometimes different libraries. So the people teaching and explaining regular history simply don't know how much they don't know--and think they do.
@@FrankDiStefano Thats interesting and definitely relatable. I don't remember learning us history through this lens in high school. I wonder if its too meta for most people, including academics to place value in. I find a lot of people place great importance in their autonomy. Framing politics as a swaying pendulum might take their individuality out of it.
It definitely is confusing considering how much of a hot button topic the two party system currently is. But as you describe it, our system is not currently failing but following a natural cycle. It gives me hope for the future, and helps explain why my 25 years on earth have felt so tumultuous and divided. Ive felt for a while the us was on the precipice of something, but a revolution seemed too implausible. But perhaps this is the end of an awakening and a realignment is coming. That would be a better alternative than the latter.
I will agree with Frank here on why many people do not talk about this issue and concepts. But it should be said that many will disagree with Frank on 6th realignment having already occurred. And that we are on the 7th now.
Most political scholars do not disagree that the 6th realignment has already occurred some time ago, but they disagree on when and how.
Throughout this series I can agree with Frank on everything up to this one point. The Civil Rights era was a political awakening, but it was also a political realignment made by the positions adopted by the two parties. And huge selections of the population shifted parties to suit those positions from the Dixiecrats through to the assassination of Kennedy (s) and resolved finally by Watergate. As well as the 68 DNC, and the 71 McGovern-Fraser Commission.
Others will argue that the sixth happened in the 80’s with Reagan and solidified in Gingrich vs Clinton rift in the early 90’s
But most consensus is that the 6th already occurred (although when it occurred up for debate) - and that we are heading for the 7th currently.
The GOP is no longer the Party of Lincoln. And someplace in between it either became the party of Strom Thurmond, or the Party of Reagan. And now becoming the party of MAGA. Which may or may not be the party of Trump…
@@NoName-OG1 interesting take, I appreciate the alternative perspective
@@josephjoestar9269 the topic is broad. And not much disagreement in that a shift is occurring currently.
But lots of disagreements on when and how the Sixth occurred. And with Frank here IF the sixth occurred…
IMO the shifts occurring now in what I believe to be the Seventh, are informed by what I believe to be the Sixth.
Unfortunately, I believe most will agree that the shift currently occurring, is unlikely to occur without some elements of violence. Already evidence in 2020. And likely to expand in 2022.
Thanks Frank. This is fascinating and now I am on board 100% with your idea that 1968-1980 was not a realignment into a 6th 2 party system, meaning that we are transitioning to the 6th just now. But yikes...does this explain why the very pragmatic infrastructure bill keeps getting shoved as aside in the House? Is this new awakening going to cause bridges to fall? Also, it doesn’t seem that people are taking one of two sides on a moral awakening issue, but rather that the two pre-existing sides of the political divide each are taking on ideology on a different issue -the Trump “Republicans” demanding the right not to get protected against deadly diseases, the “progressive” Democrats demanding things like that everyone must know the preferred genders of strangers, so that they wont misgender them if they ever have to talk about them in the 3rd person.
nah. transitioning to the 7th.
Do you think the polarization of America is partially about the messianic and practical sides of America fighting for supremacy? And that's being fueled by the ability to sustain separate information bubbles?
I do hope to hear how liberalism/populism took over the modern Democratic party to be what we see today.
That started back with the populist party in the 1890's onward. That's where some of them went because of William Jennings Bryan
Pragmatic? Perhaps. What about reactionary backlashes? That seems to be what is occurring today.
Surprised you didn’t mention the Great Awokening as Wokeism is a weird mix of a political social movement and a new religious movement
In this video, I stuck to the broad framework and history of awakenings to explain what they are and how they work. But you can bet as things go on that I'll start drawing parallels between awakenings as a concept and what's going on in politics today.
how does this have
Right???
So Frank this is point in which you and I will disagree. And where quite a few will disagree with you on the shifts and alignments that occurred in the mid 60’s.
A political “awakening” did occur in the late 60’s and 70’s. (When you and I were children it had already occurred) But a political party realignment had also occurred just prior. Starting with the Dixiecrats - And capped with the Kennedy assassination. And wholly evident by Watergate.
The issues of race and other inequalities that both parties had similar positions on came to the forefront. Issues that were ignored since the previous alignments of liberal and conservative economics and limited social issues - if looking at those alone, one might not see the change. And this is where I believe you are making a mistake. And that mistake of not seeing this realignment is do to this. Due to the addition of the racial disparities and later other issues of the war in Vietnam - huge numbers of people switched parties based solely upon positions taken on those few issues.
Due to the issues of race and positions in international politics - huge swaths of PEOPLE changed parties - and due to the positions those parties took and changed upon those few issues.
Due to the positions that the Democrats took on race - huge amounts of southern Democrats left the Democratic Party and became Republican. And likewise many Republicans became Democrats. And when those people changed parties the issues of economic and foreign policy positions were softened so that the new party members could assimilate. And as such the positions on race and domestic issues were softened too.
But the party of Lincoln very clearly became the chosen party of the KKK and the southern racists - so long as they toned it down. And those previously southern Democrats (Dixiecrats) adopted the Republican political policies of those new party when the did so. And the quiet promises of the republicans to maintain their views on segregation. And black republicans of the 50’s became democrats, so long as the democrats promised to expand labor policies to include them.
(Pay special note to the use of the word promises above.)
And the same occurred in the Democratic Party as they welcomed in former Republicans. Welcoming in ethnic minorities. And those on the socialist and communist sympathizer spectrum.
This tidal shift and realignment of the political parties occurred just before we were born. And fully entrenched by our adolescence of the 80’s. And much of our adult lives we have only been witnessing the power struggles between those parties that changed already prior. And the huge political shift of people in those parties based on the wedge issues adopted by those parties.
The economic liberal became the expanded social liberal. The fiscal conservative became the social and later moral conservatives.
There are people that likely you and I both disagree with - that the Reagan era marked a political realignment. Since neither you or I acknowledge it. I see that era as a power struggle and hardening of issues and positions that already occurred.
At the moment I’m not sure where am or how you may be defining what you call the Sixth realignment? (What I and many other would call the Seventh) But for the sake of conversation let’s call it the realignment happening currently…
My position on it is that the current shift of both parties broadening gap of incompatibility starts just prior to 2012, and the Tea Party Caucus. Then capped by a campaign of “Promises” to keep by Trump, followed by a takeover of the GOP by MAGA. And a significant shift to the right that the Republicans had resisted for a long time by lip service “promises” that they had made over the course of time since the 50’s. The promises of continued and expanded McCarthyism. The promises of continued and expanded policies on race. And the promises of continued and expanded nationalism tied to both above. “Promises” was a dog whistle of the Trump campaign.
Let’s be clear that Trump has never had an ideology of his own, and his lust for power of the presidency of his namesake include the periods of time when he pretended to be a democrat and when he pretended to be a republican prior to 2012. And Trump was also not smart enough to see the opportunity that 2012 presented. Nor could he have done it on his own. Steven Bannon and Stephen Miller looked over Trumps shoulder to tell him which cards to play, when and how. They had to teach him to be “Alt-right” and tell him what “promises” they needed to hear him say that he would keep. And this marked the shift of the moderate right of the GOP, to the extreme right of MAGA that exploited the rift caused by the Tea Party Caucus. Caused by the anger of extremists in the Republican Party over allowing a black president… And failed “promises” that the GOP paid lip service to since the Dixiecrats.
This significant shift to the right authoritarian spectrum of the Overton window exasperated by the shift of the Democratic Party acceptance of Bernie Sanders and shifting left of the Democratic Party. And that is currently continuing.
Both the shifts of the 6th and 7th party realignments are marked by race riots in 1965, and 2020. The 6th marked by an assassination, the 7th marked by an insurrection, and attack on congress. And both shifts marked by periods of incompatibility and periods of civil unrest - akin the periods of the civil war. And unfortunately, I believe that this 7th realignment may result in one…
You and I will likely disagree on what is happening currently. For likely the same reasons we disagree that 6th realignment already occurred. But if you examine the reasons why you might think there is a realignment happening currently, you likely find the parallels of the one I believe happened in 68, and fully solidified in Watergate. And I believe you should re-examine your position on what other people call the 6th realignment, to better inform what most would call the 7th.
On the latter, I would say the 7th party system started around 2006/2008. Since socially it started with Humphrey's speech in 1948 on the Civil Rights plank.
The American pendulum may be a product of Republicanism. Unlike Monarchies or older nations, America has no central cultural tradition that unites the nation. America is an experiment that's less than 300 years old. The pendulum motif is a function of finding its core values as a nation. Unfortunately, the obsession with individualism negates the effort to create consensus, particularly as no central cultural and historical value is shared by all, and there never will be.