Why Power Is Getting Woke

This book

https://www.amazon.com/Political-Economy-Dictatorship-Wintro...

expounds a framework in which politicians have a certain amount of resources to spend on preserving the system (e.g. spending on legitimacy, welfare, police and military) vs resources they can spend on their own priorities.

Addressing inequality involves real money, as does improving security.

"Culture war" offerings on the left and right are free or very low cost so they are popular with politicians.