The right talk : how conservatives transformed the Great Society into the economic society / Mark A. Smith.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-251) and index.

1. Introduction -- 2. The role of rhetoric in the formation of policy -- 3. Economic insecurity and its rhetorical consequences -- 4. The building of conservatives' intellectual capacity -- 5. The move to economic arguments by conservative intellectuals -- 6. The rhetorical adaptations of the Republican Party -- 7. Democrats and the long shadow of deficit politics -- 8. The Republicans' electoral edge on the economy -- 9. The broad reach and future prospects of economic rhetoric -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index.

Print version record.

Political analyst Mark Smith offers the most original and compelling explanation yet of why America has swung to the right in recent decades. How did the GOP transform itself from a party outgunned and outmaneuvered into one that defines the nation's most important policy choices?Conventional wisdom attributes the Republican resurgence to a political bait and switch--the notion that conservatives win elections on social issues like abortion and religious expression, but once in office implement far-reaching policies on the economic issues downplayed during campaigns. Smith illuminates instead.

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