Last week, I tried to demonstrate that American politics was undergoing a subtle but important transformation as we move from an alignment based more on class to one based importantly on culture. Today, cultural attitudes and behaviors do a better job of predicting partisanship than does class. In short, those with a more traditional cultural stance have moved toward the Republicans, while cultural progressives joined the Democrats.

Last week, I tried to demonstrate that American politics was undergoing a subtle but important transformation as we move from an alignment based more on class to one based importantly on culture. Today, cultural attitudes and behaviors do a better job of predicting partisanship than does class. In short, those with a more traditional cultural stance have moved toward the Republicans, while cultural progressives joined the Democrats.This transformation has at least three critical implications for politics and governing.