Recent reads

The Rise of the Counter-Establishment : from conservative ideology fo political power, by Sidney Blumenthal. In this 1986 book, political analyst Blumenthal argues that the post-Goldwater conservative movement defines itself, not, like most historical conservative political parties, as the defender of an existing status quo, but as a persecuted, outsider movement which exists in order to oppose a perceived "liberal" establishment.

This may seem self-evident to a good many political observers, but even so it remains a useful frame for understanding the dynamics of politics today. Unfortunately, the conservative movement has remained stuck in this attitude of defensive counter-establishmentatianism, even after gaining political ascendancy in all three branches of the government. The same old defensive self-definition as persecuted victim can be seen in a good many present-day antics of the conservative "counter-establishment", most notably Fox News' absurdly hyperbolic screeching about such things as a nonexistent "war on Christmas".

Blumenthal analyzes in detail how the conservatives of the 1970s and 1980s went about creating a counter-establishment movement. Think tanks and networking organizations like the American Enterprise Institute figure prominently in his account, and indeed they have continued to be significant parts of conservative politics since the book appeared.

Republicans, as the chosen standard-bearers for the conservative movement, have been successful at using the counter-establishment frame to motivate voters and gain political power. Unfortunately, as this insightful article from The Economist points out, their movement has proven less competent at wielding the power of the political establishment effectively than at railing against it from the position of a self-defined outsider.