Why Voters Aren't Motivated by a Laundry List of Positions on Issues

Summary

Joe Brewer and George Lakoff of the Rockridge Institute argue that every material policy has a cognitive side, “often unconscious and implicit”. Conservatives spent decades making their values seem natural, while progressives sell policies one at a time through last-minute messaging. A policy lasts only if it’s popular “because it promotes the right long-term values in the minds of citizens.”

Rationale

Their point that every policy carries values matches our idea of bringing a deep disposition lens to existing work. Their aim, values that “dominate public discourse”, leans towards conversion.