Why Donald Trump won

Two new books, The System and Break 'Em Up are among the latest examples of an evolving set of explanations that try to make sense of the 2016 results

One of the mysteries in politics for decades now has been why white working-class Americans began to vote Republican in large numbers in the 1960s and 1970s. After all, it was Democrats who supported labour unions, higher minimum wages, expanded unemployment insurance, Medicare and generous Social Security, helping to lift workers into the middle class.

Of course, an alternative economic view, led by economists like Milton Friedman, was that this turn toward the Republican Party was rational and served workers’ interests. He emphasised free markets, entrepreneurialism and the maximisation of profit. These, Friedman argued, would raise wages for many and even