In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here.Many people ask whether the MAGA movement can survive after President Donald Trump leaves office. It can, but only if his successors do what he did not: clearly define a set of principles that unite the movement’s various factions and point a direction for their common action. The influential populist think tank American Compass has just released an excellent document that does just that.That paper, “Reclaiming American Citizenship,” sets a revived sense of citizenship at the movement’s core. Compass’s definition of citizenship extends well beyond the simple acts of paying taxes, voting, and obeying the laws. It rejects that “thin, legalistic” view in favor of a “thick, reciprocal relationship that provide[s] the bedrock for the American republic and [gives] each citizen a real stake in its future.”
The idea that MAGA is essentially a desire to reclaim that reality will strike many readers as odd, if not wholly wrong. It runs directly counter to the view that elites left and right normally express. In their telling, MAGA adherents are resentful, misguided, and easily led (as the right-leaning elites say) or racist, bigoted, and hateful (the common view on the left).
