Matthew Lacombe
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About Matthew
Lacombe's research focuses on understanding and explaining political power in the U.S. It engages with interest groups and political parties, social identity and political ideology, inequality and representation, and American political development. Lacombe is the author of Firepower: How the NRA Turned Gun Owners into a Political Force and co-author of Billionaires and Stealth Politics.
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Identifies and describes nearly all public stances taken by the 100 wealthiest American billionaires on important economic and social issues over an approximately 10 year period. Argues that these billionaires engage in what can be described as "stealth politics": they are exceptionally politically active, but strategically hide their political activities when their views differ from those of average citizens.
Documents the National Rifle Association's long-term cultivation and dissemination of a distinct, politicized gun owner social identity, which the National Rife Association uses to mobilize mass political action on its behalf.