America’s political binary — left and right, Democrat and Republican — can feel inescapable, Eric Levitz writes. But historically, it’s a relatively new development, and academically, some political scientists argue it’s nonsense. Instead, what we think of as immutable political realities are closer to artificial alliances of political convenience.
For the January issue of Vox’s The Highlight, Eric breaks down the case against “progressivism” and “conservatism,” where it works and doesn’t, and what’s really at the heart of our partisan divide.
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—Elias Isquith, senior editor for policy, politics, and ideas