The crudeness of the Trump administration and the threat it poses to democratic rights and social gains have provoked the first stirrings of political consciousness among vast numbers of previously disengaged Americans. One analyst who surveyed participants at the huge women’s march in Washington noted that “around one-third were attending their first protest - the highest percentage she has ever observed.”
This has resulted in the appearance of hundreds of new grassroots organizations on the left within and outside the Democratic party, paralleling the earlier rise of the right-wing tea party movement among Republicans, and reflecting the deep and growing polarization in American society.