The Democrats Loss of the White Working Class: Another Look at the Evidence

For decades a narrative has dominated interpretations of American politics. Democrats formed the New Deal coalition by attracting northern white working-class voters in the 1930s. Then beginning in the 1960s the party became too liberal, lost the support of the white working class, and they began moving to the Republican Party. The purpose of this analysis is to assess and question the accuracy of this narrative. Just how much support did Democrats have from white working-class voters by the 1950s. Was there a decline in the 1960s or 1980 with Ronald Reagan? The evidence suggests there are significant problems with the narrative, and we need to reconsider what shapes white working-class political support.