{"id":106488,"date":"2023-06-26T16:37:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T20:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=106488"},"modified":"2023-06-28T09:52:06","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T13:52:06","slug":"identity-politics-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Identity Politics in America to Blame for Growing Polarization?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What’s more important in American politics\u2014issues or identities? What’s fueling the increasing political polarization<\/a> in the country?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that, more and more, America has an “us vs. them” mentality when it comes to politics. People used to discuss the issues; now, they talk about other people. Ezra Klein argues that this results in growing divisions among Americans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more to learn about this troubling function of identity politics in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Identity Politics in America<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Klein explores how political polarization works in contemporary politics, which leads him to the matter of identity politics in America. According to Klein, polarization creates a set of dynamics that make it a winner-take-all contest between the two parties. The dynamics of polarization, he writes, create a positive feedback loop: Partisan voters feel increasingly hostile toward one another and reward politicians who deliberately antagonize the other side, driving further rounds of polarization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll explore the underlying mechanics of this dynamic, looking at how identities trump issues in American politics, why our partisanship is driven primarily by negativity, and how these factors give politicians an incentive<\/a> to stoke further division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Klein observes that our partisan differences stem less from disagreements about what we believe <\/em>than about who we are <\/em>and who we believe our opponents to be. In other words, identities<\/em><\/strong>, not <\/strong>issues<\/em><\/strong>, are what drive our political behavior. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He writes that our disagreements run far deeper than straightforward economic questions like, \u201cWill this bill help improve the roads in my town?\u201d or, \u201cWhich candidate or party will help lower the cost of prescription drugs?\u201d Instead, partisanship operates at a more fundamental, tribal level: We support the party that we believe represents people like \u201cus\u201d and that will help us defeat and punish the hated \u201cothers.\u201d<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Although Klein argues that tribal, identity-based appeals are what matter most to voters in a polarized climate, some data seems to suggest the opposite. In a poll taken just before the 2022 midterm elections, registered voters still claimed to be basing their votes on substantive issues<\/a>. The poll showed that 59% rated the economy as a top priority in determining their vote in the elections. The poll also showed 72% of voters ranking abortion rights as highly determinative of their upcoming vote.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pull of Negative Polarization<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Klein\u2019s analysis, these identity-based politics transform political competition into an all-or-nothing, us vs. them<\/a> struggle marked by a phenomenon political scientists call \u201cnegative<\/em> polarization\u201d\u2014we hate and fear the <\/strong>other <\/em><\/strong>political coalition more than we love and admire our <\/strong>own<\/em><\/strong>. In other words, loyal Democratic Party voters aren\u2019t Democrats because they have deep love and admiration for the Democratic Party and all it stands for. Instead, they have an abiding fear of and hatred toward the Republican <\/em>Party, and they view the Democrats as their only bulwark against them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: American voting habits demonstrate just how strong a pull negative polarization exerts. Even though large swathes of voters profess a distaste for both <\/em>major parties<\/a>, those same two parties still combined for over 98% of the votes cast<\/a> in the 2020 presidential election. Negative polarization can explain a lot of this voting behavior\u2014a voter may not like her party, but she knows that sitting out an election or voting for a third party is tantamount to voting for the rival major party. And in our polarized system, voting for \u201cour\u201d party, even if we\u2019re ambivalent about it, is vastly preferable to seeing the other party win.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Impossibility of Compromise<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Klein writes that this level of extreme partisanship makes democratic governance all but impossible<\/strong>. After all, you can\u2019t compromise or accept the normal give-and-take of democratic governance (like losing elections), because to do so would risk letting the hated other side \u201cwin.\u201d And when your partisan rivals are feared and despised rivals who you believe want to destroy everything you cherish (instead of merely being a group that you disagree with on routine political matters), you\u2019ll inevitably come to see every election as an ultra-high-stakes contest. Ultimately, writes Klein, both sides develop a mentality of winning at all costs\u2014because the other side is simply too radical, dangerous, and different <\/em>to be trusted with power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Role of Norms in Democratic Functioning<\/strong>

In How Democracies Die<\/em><\/a>, Levitsky and Ziblatt write that healthy democratic functioning stems from adherence to political norms\u2014<\/em>the unwritten <\/em>rules that govern political conduct<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>In systems where these norms are respected by all political actors, everyone agrees on what is and is not acceptable behavior. Crucially, they adhere to these bounds of behavior even if violating them may technically be permitted by the written rules.

The two main democratic norms Levitsky and Ziblatt focus on are mutual toleration and institutional forbearance<\/a>. They define mutual toleration as accepting the legitimacy of your political opponents and acknowledging their right to govern, as long as they win in free and fair elections. Institutional forbearance<\/a> is the unwritten rule by which political actors agree not to use their control of institutions to marginalize their opponents.<\/strong>

They describe these norms as guardrails that prevent political competition from getting too intense or the stakes of elections from getting too high\u2014however, these norms can erode under the circumstances of extreme polarization outlined by Klein. When opposing parties come to see their opponents as too dangerous or \u201cother\u201d to be trusted with power, anything <\/em>can be justified in the name of keeping them out of power. Levitsky and Ziblatt warn that this can lead to a democratic death spiral <\/strong>as each side engages in a tit-for-tat violation of norms until there\u2019s no democracy left.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Polarization Leads to More <\/em>Polarization<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Klein points out that the US political system operates according to the logic and incentives that our polarized society imposes upon it<\/strong>. He writes that divisive and fear-mongering politicians aren\u2019t necessarily evil or malicious people. Instead, they\u2019re responding rationally to their political incentives\u2014and those incentives are to demonize and antagonize the other party. In other words, it\u2019s politically advantageous <\/em>for politicians to refuse to compromise and to stir up the most partisan reactions among their supporters. Electorally speaking, it pays to be a divider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Although Klein argues that politicians are rewarded by further polarizing the electorate\u2014driving more <\/em>polarization\u2014some polling data appears to suggest the opposite. A December 2022 NPR poll showed that a supermajority of 74% of Americans want members of Congress to compromise <\/em>and seek common ground with members of the other party<\/a>. Eighty-two percent of Democrats expressed this preference for compromise, as did 78% of independent voters\u2014although a notably smaller majority of 66% of Republicans expressed this desire.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What’s more important in American politics\u2014issues or identities? What’s fueling the increasing political polarization in the country? It seems that, more and more, America has an “us vs. them” mentality when it comes to politics. People used to discuss the issues; now, they talk about other people. Ezra Klein argues that this results in growing divisions among Americans. Read more to learn about this troubling function of identity politics in America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":89676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[275,24],"tags":[1079],"class_list":["post-106488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-society","tag-why-were-polarized","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nAre Identity Politics in America to Blame for Growing Polarization? - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"People used to discuss the issues; now, they talk about other people. Learn how identity politics in America contribute to polarization.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are Identity Politics in America to Blame for Growing Polarization?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"People used to discuss the issues; now, they talk about other people. Learn how identity politics in America contribute to polarization.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-26T20:37:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-28T13:52:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/protestors-activists-the-future-is-female-demonstration.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\"},\"headline\":\"Are Identity Politics in America to Blame for Growing Polarization?\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-26T20:37:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-28T13:52:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/\"},\"wordCount\":1119,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/protestors-activists-the-future-is-female-demonstration.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Why We're Polarized\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\",\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/\",\"name\":\"Are Identity Politics in America to Blame for Growing Polarization? - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/protestors-activists-the-future-is-female-demonstration.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-26T20:37:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-28T13:52:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"People used to discuss the issues; now, they talk about other people. Learn how identity politics in America contribute to polarization.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/protestors-activists-the-future-is-female-demonstration.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/protestors-activists-the-future-is-female-demonstration.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Are Identity Politics in America to Blame for Growing Polarization?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\"},\"description\":\"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.\",\"sameAs\":[\"rina@shortform.com\"],\"award\":[\"Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)\",\"Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)\",\"Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)\",\"Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"History\",\"Theology\",\"Government\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Senior SEO Writer\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are Identity Politics in America to Blame for Growing Polarization? - Shortform Books","description":"People used to discuss the issues; now, they talk about other people. Learn how identity politics in America contribute to polarization.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are Identity Politics in America to Blame for Growing Polarization?","og_description":"People used to discuss the issues; now, they talk about other people. Learn how identity politics in America contribute to polarization.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2023-06-26T20:37:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-28T13:52:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/protestors-activists-the-future-is-female-demonstration.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Whitworth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Whitworth","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/"},"author":{"name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13"},"headline":"Are Identity Politics in America to Blame for Growing Polarization?","datePublished":"2023-06-26T20:37:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-28T13:52:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/"},"wordCount":1119,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/protestors-activists-the-future-is-female-demonstration.jpg","keywords":["Why We're Polarized"],"articleSection":["Politics","Society"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/","name":"Are Identity Politics in America to Blame for Growing Polarization? - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/protestors-activists-the-future-is-female-demonstration.jpg","datePublished":"2023-06-26T20:37:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-28T13:52:06+00:00","description":"People used to discuss the issues; now, they talk about other people. Learn how identity politics in America contribute to polarization.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/protestors-activists-the-future-is-female-demonstration.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/protestors-activists-the-future-is-female-demonstration.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/identity-politics-in-america\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Are Identity Politics in America to Blame for Growing Polarization?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13","name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Whitworth"},"description":"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.","sameAs":["rina@shortform.com"],"award":["Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)","Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)","Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)","Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)"],"knowsAbout":["History","Theology","Government"],"jobTitle":"Senior SEO Writer","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/protestors-activists-the-future-is-female-demonstration.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106488"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106494,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106488\/revisions\/106494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}