Despite losses in the 2006 elections, the Republican right remains a powerful force in American politics. In his book The Conservative Ascendancy, Donald Critchlow explores the anomaly of the Republican right’s anti-statist ideology. In Critchlow’s view, though today’s intensified partisanship can be unsettling, it reflects the vibrancy of a mature democracy and deepening political participation.

Watch the discussion:

Critchlow is joined by panelists Tom Edsall, Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Journalism, 25-year veteran of the Washington Post, and author of Building Red America: The New Conservative Coalition and the Drive for Permanent Power; John Judis, senior editor of the New Republic; and Wendy Kaminer, an author and lawyer who serves on the National Board of the American Civil Liberties Union; and moderator Lewis Bateman, senior editor, Cambridge University Press.

Originally posted at Thirteen Forum 2/27/2008.