Nate Cohn

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@DLEG101 @ParkerMolloy stipulating that sectarianism applies to 1850s America, then slavery is the cause and sectarianism is a framework for interpreting the resulting, hostile attitudes that led to war — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@DLEG101 @ParkerMolloy you can, at once, say that 1850s exhibited signs of growing sectarianization and say that the South was evil — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@DLEG101 @ParkerMolloy the piece offers a framework for interpreting political conflict. it does not offer a framework for evaluating the morality of the two sides in that conflict. — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@ParkerMolloy the equivalency posited by the piece, very clearly, is in the belief that the other side is alien, immoral and hostile. it does not posit moral equivalency, only equivalent perception of immorality — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@ParkerMolloy the equivalency posited by the piece, very clearly, is in the belief that the other side is alien, immoral and hostile. it does not posit moral equivalency, only equivalent perception of moral stakes — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@ParkerMolloy uh, no you can refute the premise by saying: "hey that's a false equivalence, i don't think republicans are immoral and evil; only republicans think that about dems!" you prove the premise by saying 'hey, that's false equivalence: you're ignoring just how evil republicans are!" — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@NathanKalmoe and if sectarianism got worse than it is today, i think it's entirely possible that other measures considered by sectarian lower-case 'd' democrats in pursuit of majoritarian democracy, like adding new states, could have destabilizing effects as it did in the nineteenth century — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@NathanKalmoe i am reminded of this unrealized possibility, for instance https://t.co/EaodQ44hnU — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@NathanKalmoe you'd certainly be right that small-d democrats should remain opposed to authoritarianism and ethnonationalism, but i'm not sure whether it follows that they should be sectarian. i'd read a defense of that, but i can think of counterarguments too — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@NathanKalmoe @LilyMasonPhD looking forward to it ! — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@connorjwills It may not make them the same, but it probably does make them both sectarian. Again, the archetypal example of sectarian conflict is... Ireland. Sectarianism requires two sides to dislike the other; it does not require the source of animosity to be 'equivalent.' — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

RT @BeckRyooan: @Nate_Cohn I'm very liberal but all the replies here are completely vindicating your point. "Look at how evil and subhuman… — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

The Irish are the more relevant example. I'm not an expert, but I would sure think English colonization of Ireland is plainly at fault. But as a result *both sides* hate each other, and eventually that can become the salient political feature https://t.co/JyZaaD2kfq — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

But the fact that Democrats *also* feel Republicans are an immoral, alien enemy (so strongly that my replies are full of people offended by allegations of both-sides-ism) does have consequences with risks of its own, even if for now they're badly overshadowed by the right — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

But the fact that Democrats *also* think Republicans are an immoral, alien enemy (they feel that way so strongly that calling it sectarianism would be offensive both-sides-ism) does have consequences with risks of its own, even if for now they're badly overshadowed by the right — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

But the fact that Democrats *also* think Republicans are immoral, alien enemy (so justifiably that calling it sectarianism could be offensive both-sides-ism) does have consequences with risks of its own, even if for now they're badly overshadowed by the right — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

Mass sectarianism is bipartisan--your tweet is an example, oddly! But so far, elite sectarianization--the mobilization of sectarian attitudes for political purposes--is mainly on the right. That's in part, I'd posit, because they fear minority status https://t.co/ZsxeMxHUwb — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

Finally, sectarianism usefully reframes the threat to democracy. We usually think about the risk to democracy in terms of authoritarianism. Sectarianism re-centers the threat on the varying dangers of a deeply divided citizenry. Many of those dangers appear in America today. — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

Even the 2016 primary is another example. If you thought about the conservative movement in terms of ideology, Trump didn't make so much sense. But he makes quite a bit of sense as a sectarian candidate who mobilized intergroup hostility and the sense of in-group threat — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

Joe Biden's unity pledge is another example. His actions don't necessarily jive if 'unity' means 'bipartisan policy initiatives' under a policy-focused vision of America political conflict. His actions might make perfect sense if it means deescalating intergroup hostility — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

In recent news, I think sectarianism helps make sense of the declining role of policy debate in sustaining partisan conflict. It's hard to make sense of, say, Dr. Seuss or Rubio on Amazon unionization unless you put intergroup hostility at the center of politics — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

I'm a little surprised this concept hasn't already taken off! There was a paper in Science by a lot of prominent political scientists last fall. It deserves a book--it's a clarifying lens for thinking about America today--so I'm giving it an article https://t.co/zst3UNieP4 — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

The rise of political sectarianism is a growing threat to American democracy https://t.co/lDfXb6ZpUE — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

It is certainly an indication of a healthier political balance than was struck by Obama, who liberals insisted was pushing Republican ideas on health care, while conservatives argued it was Stalinism — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

It is certainly an indication of a healthier political balance than Obama, who liberals insisted was pushing Republican ideas on health care, while conservatives argued it was Stalin — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

Wherever you come down on this, I'm not sure there would be a better indication that Biden is striking a successful political balance than a debate between progressives arguing he's FDR while conservatives argue he's barely different than Trump https://t.co/L9PKye1nQE — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@Libnex2 @PoliticsWolf it's pretty competitive fwiw. i think it's an obama-->trump-->biden CD — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@Libnex2 @im_sorry_wtf @PoliticsWolf (context though was that i had been drawing around choices by wolf, without recalling that he was on the 2010 map) — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@Libnex2 @im_sorry_wtf @PoliticsWolf yup these districts are 2019 pop, 44% black — PolitiTweet.org

Nate Cohn @Nate_Cohn

@im_sorry_wtf @Libnex2 @PoliticsWolf the 2010 districts, later in the thread, are both 50% black — PolitiTweet.org