Larry Bartels on the non-existent populist surge.
I mentioned something like this in my review of Dividing Lines,
…it’s a ironic time for an anti-immigrant populism to take power; immigration levels from Mexico have fallen dramatically over the past decade or so, to the point where net migration is now negative. And at the same time, the American public has recently become friendlier than ever before to the idea of immigration (okay, perhaps “friendlier” means “less hostile”; people want less immigration now outnumber people who want more immigration by only two-to-one.)
As I think about it now, I realize this reinforces (what I see as) the book’s central claim – that American immigration policy is driven by partisan coalitions, not public opinion. And so the future viability of Trump-like candidates will depend, not chiefly on public opinion, but on how well Republican elites can control the nomination process.