Description
Book SynopsisPoliticians and the political process, even in ostensibly democratic countries, can be deadly.
Trade Review"A quirky book that deserves to be taken seriously ... Gilligan's inferences are standing up."
New York Review of Books "Gilligan offers far more than a statistical argument. In Republican ideology, dependence is associated with dishonour and shame. Gilligan offers a compelling model of how this ethic triggers intolerable feelings of being discounted, disrespected, or 'dissed' that issue in violence."
Times Literary Supplement
"Amazingly, until this book appeared nobody had spotted this trend."
The Diplomat
"By fusing together the scientific rigour of evidence-based medicine with a wealth of theoretical insights from the social sciences, Gilligan’s book (provides) new and exciting ways of understanding the social and economic determinants of health and well-being."
LSE Politics Blog
"Gilligan's book deserves a wide audience. It is inspiring to find a social/behavioral study that may turn out to be of great importance, and one that may also prove useful in furthering investigation of the emotion of shame."
Contemporary Psychology
"Irrefutable evidence that the politics of the right can actually kill you."
Morning Star
"If you believe politicians can make a difference then these statistics will confirm your beliefs."
Sydney Morning Herald
"The Republicans and Conservatives are bad for your health. They should come with the same warning that took years to become emblazoned on cigarette packets. This book goes a long way in working towards that."
Tribune
"For everyone interested in American politics, this book is a must. It will change the way you think about our two major political parties."
George Soros
"James Gilligan has given us a new formula for thinking about American politics: smoking is to cancer as republicans are to suicides and homicides. His findings are not guesswork or political wishful thinking, but based on old-fashioned digging through thousands of pages about data. Gilligan is telling us, in essence, that how we vote is a life or death decision."
Seymour M. Hersh
"A hugely important book, which needs to be widely known - not simply for its impact on voting, but also to make politicians more aware of the consequences of their actions and the non-voting public more aware of the importance of politics."
Richard Wilkinson, author of The Spirit Level
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements viii
Introduction: Murder Mysteries 1
1 A Matter of Life and Death 11
2 What Kind of a Man Are You? 39
3 Nothing Succeeds Like Failure 51
4 The Shame of It All 97
5 Who Wants To Be Redundant? 117
6 Red States, Blue States: Honor vs. Guilt 123
Conclusion: The Mystery Solved: What Is To Be Done? 155
Appendices
How Accurate and Complete Are the Data? 195
Figures and tables 205
Bibliography 210
Index 219
