Political Generations in American Politics: Insights from Research in International Relations
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Tim Luecke
Tim Luecke is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Mershon Center for International Security at Ohio State University and Managing Editor of the JournalInternational Theory. His research focuses on the role of political generations in international politics, on German and American foreign policy, and on IR theory.
Abstract
The last decade has witnessed renewed interest in the concept of political generations and the role of generations in foreign and domestic politics. The purpose of this article is to discuss a number of patterns and insights concerning political generations in American politics that derive from my own research in international relations. In pursuit of this goal, I summarize a theory of political generations and explain how it was applied empirically. In the second half of the essay, I discuss what generational analysis might tell us about the study of political change and stability, the presidency, voters, social movements, parties, and bureaucracies. Finally, I briefly engage the methodological problems that can arise from the fact that political generations are in important respects socially constructed through public discourses, in the context of the work on the “Millennial Generation” conducted by the Pew Research Center. While this article can only suggest patterns and initial ideas for further development and research, the hope is that it will help to push forward research on political generations across disciplinary sub-fields.
About the author
Tim Luecke is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Mershon Center for International Security at Ohio State University and Managing Editor of the Journal International Theory. His research focuses on the role of political generations in international politics, on German and American foreign policy, and on IR theory.
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©2014 by De Gruyter
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Reflections on the Study of Generations in Politics
- The Long Shadow of Parental Political Socialization on the Development of Political Orientations
- Baby Boomers
- Political Generations in American Politics: Insights from Research in International Relations
- More Than a Trace: Political Periods, Presidential Losers, and the Goldwater and McGovern Experiences
- How Impressionable Were the Younger Reagan Cohorts?
- Thinking about my Generation: The Impact of Large Congressional Cohorts
- Class Connections: Congressional Classes and the Republicans of 1994
- Congressional Cohorts: The House Republican Class of 2010
- Foreign Junkets or Learning to Legislate? Generational Changes in the International Travel Patterns of House Members, 1977–2012
- Book reviews
- Artists of the Possible: Governing Networks and American Policy Change Since 1945
- Social Democratic America
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Reflections on the Study of Generations in Politics
- The Long Shadow of Parental Political Socialization on the Development of Political Orientations
- Baby Boomers
- Political Generations in American Politics: Insights from Research in International Relations
- More Than a Trace: Political Periods, Presidential Losers, and the Goldwater and McGovern Experiences
- How Impressionable Were the Younger Reagan Cohorts?
- Thinking about my Generation: The Impact of Large Congressional Cohorts
- Class Connections: Congressional Classes and the Republicans of 1994
- Congressional Cohorts: The House Republican Class of 2010
- Foreign Junkets or Learning to Legislate? Generational Changes in the International Travel Patterns of House Members, 1977–2012
- Book reviews
- Artists of the Possible: Governing Networks and American Policy Change Since 1945
- Social Democratic America
