In 2012, Republican spending on ads in Florida alone was almost double the total spent by the six main British parties combined during the UK 2015 election. The authors, Helen Merrell Lynd and Robert Staughton Lynd, who were married, were seeking a fairly typical American town in which to conduct extensive field research. The question of political alienation and political parties losing their grip on their bases is not, however, unique to America. Look across Europe and you will see that there is nothing uniquely American about the rise of Donald Trump. So I’m back in Middletown in the hope that I will once again find that level of complexity and nuance in this volatile moment.

Source: The Guardian October 11, 2016 11:34 UTC