The New Class War: Saving Democracy from the Managerial Elite

by Michael Lind

Drutman calculated that in the United States, “populists”—defined as those who favored maintaining or increasing Social Security spending, while maintaining or decreasing immigration—made up 40.3 percent of the electorate, while “moderate leftists” (American “liberals” or “progressives”), who supported maintaining or increasing both Social Security and immigration, made up 32.9 percent, with “moderates” (who wanted no changes in either Social Security or immigration) at 20.5 percent. The two groups that wanted to cut Social Security and increase immigration, “business conservatives” (3.8 percent), who are better described as “neoliberals,” and “political conservatives” (2.4 percent), who might also be described as “libertarians,” made up only 6.2 percent of voters.