American Democrats and Republicans are growing increasingly divided on questions of social equality. In the last 40 years, Democrats (and the country as a whole) have become significantly more progressive in their views of women’s rights, civil rights for Black Americans, and LGBTQ rights. On the contrary, the average Republican has maintained the same attitudes that they held in the 1980s. But looking only at average Republicans obscures an important process occurring within the Republican Party. Republicans are becoming internally divided on these questions of social equality.

Set against the backdrop of the recent U.S. elections, Lilliana Mason will delve into the growing American political rift, focusing on how debates over social pluralism and political equality are at its core. She will examine the insurgent movement within the Republican Party that increasingly rejects the principles of a pluralistic society, and discuss the profound consequences this shift holds for the future of democratic governance in the U.S.