Elizabeth Suhay, a political scientist and professor at American University, dives into the evolving landscape of the American Dream. She reveals how belief in this ideal intertwines with political identity, showing that skepticism has surged, especially among Democrats. Suhay discusses demographic influences on views of economic mobility and contrasts how parties defend or question the fairness of the economy. Her research uncovers the widening partisan divide over decades, highlighting the role of political culture and narratives in shaping beliefs about inequality.
31:15
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
insights INSIGHT
Consensus On The Ideal, Dispute On Reality
Americans broadly agree the American Dream should exist and reflect meritocratic abundance.
The core disagreement is whether the nation currently delivers that promise to everyone.
insights INSIGHT
Partisanship Trumps Demographics
Partisanship predicts belief in the American Dream much more strongly than demographics.
Republicans are far more optimistic while Democrats have become markedly more skeptical over time.
insights INSIGHT
Growing Polarization From Divergent Shifts
Polarization has grown because Democratic skepticism deepened while Republican views moved only slightly.
This produced wider partisan gaps despite Republicans gaining more working-class supporters.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Faith in the American Dream—the idea that anyone who works hard can achieve success—has waned in the 21st century. Decreases in economic mobility, increases in the wealth gap, and other economic shifts have undoubtedly influenced this decline. Politics, however, are an overlooked contributor to confidence, or lack of confidence, in the American Dream. In Debating the American Dream: How Explanations for Inequality Polarize Politics (Russell Sage Foundation, 2025), political scientist Elizabeth Suhay investigates how politics and political identity are intertwined with beliefs about the American Dream and the causes of inequality. Drawing on public opinion surveys spanning more than four decades, Suhay finds that Americans’ belief in the American Dream is strongly related to their political party affiliation. Democratic Party leaders have increasingly questioned the fairness of the American economy, and, in effect, have called into question whether the American Dream is “real.” Republican Party leaders, by contrast, have consistently defended the fairness of the economy and the American Dream. While it is true that Americans have become more skeptical of the American Dream overall, Suhay finds this skepticism is concentrated among Democratic members of the public. Despite the increasingly working-class make-up of the Republican coalition, most Republican members of the public continue to believe the American Dream is reality. Suhay finds that both Democrats and Republicans tend to adhere to their party’s economic narratives when identifying the causes of inequality between rich and poor, White and Black and Latino Americans, and men and women. Democrats and liberals often attribute inequality between these groups to societal causes, such as lack of access to education and jobs or discrimination. Republicans and conservatives, on the other hand, are more likely to blame individuals and lower income groups for their difficulties. However, Americans’ beliefs are less polarized when they consider socioeconomic inequalities rarely debated by politicians. For example, when asking Republicans and Democrats about the roots of rural-urban and White-Asian inequality, there is no clear unequal opportunity-individual responsibility partisan divide. Suhay argues that the availability of partisan “scripts” helps to explain differences in the public’s views on inequality between groups that have been politicized. These beliefs appear to bolster support for the two parties’ policy agendas among party supporters, driving a wedge between Democrats and Republicans in support for redistributive economic policy as well as the political candidates who support or oppose redistribution. Debating the American Dream provides fascinating insights into politics’ role in Americans’ beliefs and attitudes concerning inequality.
New Books Network