McGirr

Have a mixed opinion about this book. One of my biggest concerns about "Suburban Warriors" was about the grassroots nature of the movement. McGirr claims that this was largely a social movement, but I keep finding examples of her pointing out how either the party or other establishment members who came down from on high and helped teach the individuals about the truths of conservatism....I didn't get a really good feel about the agency of the individuals in beginning the "new american right". There is ample evidence about how grassroots efforts helped to bring change in various levels of government, but in terms of its origins....McGirr seems to reserve this for the "big businessmen, politicians, and intellectuals". (70-71,98)

Despite this, I found McGirr's analysis of the make up of the Orange County population and the gradual creation of its demography pretty effective. Although, she brings in a regional analysis of Orange County in comparison with the rest of the country, but does little else in framing how this population is representative of the rest of the country.