Origins of the Culture War: Social Issues in State Party Platforms, 1960-2016

During the late-20th century, social issues that previously had played little role in party division came to separate one party from the other. Republican and Democratic elites staked out opposing positions on a range of issues – including abortion, gay rights, the role of religion in the public sphere and gun control – and party electorates today are sharply polarized over these issues. Matthew Carr will explore the Democratic and Republican political party platforms from 1960 to the present day, especially the emergence of abortion and gay rights as partisan issues. Matthew Carr is a doctoral candidate in political science at Columbia University and a 2017 James W. Scott Research Fellow. The Scott Fellowships are offered annually to promote awareness and innovative use of archival collections at WWU’s Center for Pacific Northwest Studies. This event takes place in Western Libraries Special Collections (Wilson Library 6th Floor).