In "The Tea Party: The New Populism," Arun Gupta examines the origins, nature, and vulnerabilities of the Tea Party movement in the United States. Progressives often dismiss the Tea Party as an "Astroturf" movement, alleging the movement is driven by rich and powerful corporate entities such as the Koch Brothers and does not have widespread support. Despite these Astroturf appearances, Gupta says the Tea Party movement also has many grassroots elements: polling data, election results (especially the 2010 midterm elections), and attendance at Tea Party events. Moreover--while the Tea Party movement played a major role in the 2010 elections--there were a variety of elections which Astroturf Tea Party organizations were unable to influence because voters were not aligned with the cause.
Gupta notes that liberals also dismiss the Tea Party movement because they believe it is inherently racist and thus cannot become a powerful force in national American politics. However, Gupta argues that racism is a unifying force for the Tea Party and has brought the movement success. Thus, liberals should not discount its role as a populist movement.
Finally, Gupta examines vulnerabilities within the Tea Party movement. He believes the Tea Party is too ideologically heterogeneous to remain united. He also says that as the Tea Party movement become systematized, it loses its anti-authoritarian ethos. Finally, Gupta says polls indicate Tea Party supporters are beginning to question their support for the ideas the Tea Party represents.
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