Williamson

Vanessa Williamson

Senior Fellow in Governance Studies; Senior Fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, Brookings Institution

Connect with Vanessa

About Vanessa

Williamson’s research focuses on the politics of taxation in America. She worked at the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America from 2004 to 2010, serving as their Policy Director from 2007.

Contributions

How to Revitalize America's Local Political Parties

  • Kenneth T. Andrews
  • Hahrie Han ,
  • Alexander Hertel-Fernandez
  • Lara Putnam
  • Daniel Schlozman
  • Theda Skocpol Sarah E. James
  • Caroline Tervo
  • Michael Zoorob

The Tea Party Lives On - And Pulls Republicans to the Right

    Theda Skocpol

Who Pays America's Taxes?

  • Alexander Hertel-Fernandez

Making Sense of the Tea Party

    Theda Skocpol

In the News

"The I.R.S. Can Register Voters As Well as the D.M.V., and Maybe Better," Vanessa Williamson (with Jeremy Bearer-Friend), Opinion, The New York Times, September 29, 2021.
"Tonight, Biden Could Use Trump’s Returns to Shift the Debate on Taxes," Vanessa Williamson, Monkey Cage, The Washington Post, September 29, 2020.
Vanessa Williamson quoted on the disputable nature of taxes by Arthur Delaney, "The Worst Debate Question" HuffPost, October 15, 2019.
Vanessa Williamson quoted on impact of right to work laws on political mobilization by German Lopez, "I was Skeptical of Unions. Then I Joined One." Vox, August 19, 2019.
Vanessa Williamson quoted on Republican opinions on gun control by Perry Bacon Jr., "GOP Politicians are Much More Resistant to Gun Control than GOP Voters Are " FiveThirtyEight, August 6, 2019.
Vanessa Williamson's research on federal tax spending discussed by Elizabeth Dohms, "Spelling Out Where Your Federal Tax Dollars Go," Wisconsin Public Radio, April 12, 2019.
"'Tax-the-Rich' Policies are All the Rage in the US," Vanessa Williamson, The Hill, February 17, 2019.
Vanessa Williamson's research on tax policy discussed by Jessica Smith, "Trump Promises Another Tax Cut for Middle-Class," ABC4 News, October 25, 2018.
"Why the U.S. Tax System is so Complicated — but Americans are Proud to Pay Taxes Anyway," Vanessa Williamson (with Andrea Louise Campbell), Interview with John Sides, The Washington Post, April 12, 2018.
"Right-to-Work Laws Have Devastated Unions — and Democrats," Vanessa Williamson (with Alexander Hertel-Fernandez and James Feigenbaum), New York Times, March 8, 2018.
Vanessa Williamson quoted by Andrew Hanna and Caitlin Emma, "Supreme Court Could Cripple Public Unions in Run-Up to 2018 Midterms" Politico, February 25, 2018.
Vanessa Williamson quoted on views on paying taxes by Noam Gidron, "The Left Shouldn’t Fear Nationalism. It Should Embrace It." Vox, February 8, 2018.
"What Can (or Should) Activists Learn from the Tea Party?," Vanessa Williamson (with Theda Skocpol), The Washington Post, May 11, 2017.
Guest to discuss the Tea Party on WBUR, Vanessa Williamson, February 13, 2017.
"How the Women’s March Could Have a Lasting Historical Impact," Vanessa Williamson, Teen Vogue, January 19, 2017.
"Choose Your Own Post-Mortem: Part 2," Vanessa Williamson (with Carly Knight), Brookings Institution, November 16, 2016.
"Choose Your Own Post-Mortem: Part 1," Vanessa Williamson (with Carly Knight), Brookings Institution, November 16, 2016.
"What the Tea Party Tells Us about the Trump Presidency," Vanessa Williamson, Brookings Institution, November 9, 2016.
"Getting Federal Stimulus Money Turned Blue U.S. Counties Bluer, and Red Counties Redder. How Can That Be?," Vanessa Williamson (with Katherine Levine Einstein and Kris-Stella Trump), The Washington Post, June 2, 2016.
"Can Sanders Do for Income Inequality What Clinton Did for Healthcare?," Vanessa Williamson, Brookings Institution, May 23, 2016.
Vanessa Williamson quoted on the Koch's outsized influence on the Republican party by Jeff Stein, "How Conservative Megadonors Built a Shadow GOP That Weakened the Official Party" Vox, April 14, 2016.
"Clinton v. Sanders: New Democrats or the New Deal?," Vanessa Williamson, Brookings Institution, January 19, 2016.
"Trump's 'Populist' Tax Plan is Nothing but a Bush-Era Giveaway to the Rich," Vanessa Williamson, Talking Points Memo, September 29, 2015.
"How Bush-Appointed Ivy Leaguer Ted Cruz Became a Tea Party Darling," Vanessa Williamson, Talking Points Memo, March 25, 2015.
Vanessa Williamson quoted on Tea Party stance on immigration by Elias Isquith, "Tom Coburn’s Lunacy and the Real Meaning of the Immigration Fight" Salon, November 20, 2014.
Vanessa Williamson's research on conservative media (with Theda Skocpol) discussed by Matthew W. Hughey and Gregory S. Parks, "Fox News' Divisive Race Strategy: How O'Reilly, Hannity and Coulter Intentionally Tore America Apart," Salon, May 17, 2014.
Vanessa Williamson quoted on their book, "The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism", "The Ten Best Political Books of 2012" The New Yorker, December 14, 2012.
Interview on The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism Vanessa Williamson, The Rachel Maddow Show, December 9, 2011.

Publications

"The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism" (with Theda Skocpol) (Oxford University Press, 2012).
Shows how grassroots activism, elite funders and policy advocates, and the right-wing media interact to allow the Tea Party to boost the GOP and prod it to the right. Includes interviews with grass roots activists and an analysis of the role of the Tea Party in the 2010 and 2012 elections.