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10 - Weaponized Group Identities and the Health of Democracy

Why the National Rifle Association Is Good at Democracy but Bad for It

from Part III - Social Polarization and Partisanship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2021

By
Matthew J. Lacombe
Edited by
Robert C. Lieberman ,
Suzanne Mettler  and
Kenneth M. Roberts
Robert C. Lieberman
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins University
Suzanne Mettler
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Kenneth M. Roberts
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

The National Rifle Association (NRA) is good at using democracy to advance its agenda. Over the course of many decades, the United States’ foremost advocate of gun rights has built substantial political power by cultivating a politically unified and engaged base of grassroots supporters. The political intensity of US gun owners – and the NRA’s ability to mobilize them into action – has enabled the organization to consistently defeat proposed gun regulations and is a key reason that it has become a central pillar of the contemporary Republican Party.

Keywords

NRANational Rifle Associationgun owner identityfear-based mobilizationidentity alignmentRepublican Party
Type
Chapter
Information
Democratic Resilience
Can the United States Withstand Rising Polarization?
 , pp. 246 - 264
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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