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Ross Perot, Populist Harbinger

Views that were fringe in Perot’s day had, by the 2016 election, taken center stage.
by Jacqueline Brandon via Dissent on July 10, 2019

The Ballot and the Break

Minnesota’s Farmer-Labor Party, the most successful labor party in US history, is rich in lessons for challenging the two-party system.
by Eric Blanc via Jacobin on December 4, 2017
Corey M. Brooks, Liberty Power: Antislavery Third Parties and the Transformation of American Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016.

#FEELTHEBIRNEY

The most important third party in the history of American politics is one you may never have heard of before.
by W. Caleb McDaniel via Commonplace on September 4, 2016
Children smile and wave flags at a Farmer-Labor Party demonstration, circa 1920.

The Rise and Fall of Midwest Populism

When the Minnesota’s Farmer-Labor Party merged into the Democratic machine, its populist energies were chewed up and spat out.
by Patrick Greeley via Jacobin on November 11, 2024
Theodore Roosevelt giving a speech.

A Brief History of Former Presidents Running for Reelection: 3 Losses, 1 Win and 1 Still TBD

History illustrates that voters become galvanized and change their party allegiance when former US presidents run for a nonconsecutive term.
by Graeme Mack via The Conversation on September 24, 2024
partner

No Place to Make a Vote of Thanks

On the long tradition of Black third-party activism.
by Marc Blanc via HNN on April 23, 2024
Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

The Wild History of “Lesser of Two Evils” Voting

For as long as Americans have been subjected to lousy candidates, they’ve been told to suck it up and vote for one of them.
by Ginny Hogan via The Nation on March 19, 2024
Newspaper announcement of the Democratic Antimasonic nomination of William Wirt.
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The Birth of the U.S. Political Convention in 1831

A radical third party had a new idea for selecting a presidential candidate, and it’s still in use today.
via Retro Report on March 12, 2024
Photo of a young Donald Trump greeting Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, 2000

Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura’s Shocking Election 25 Years Ago Previewed Trump’s

The former pro wrestler says his surprise election as Minnesota governor paved the way for Donald Trump. Now he looks back “shamefully” on their past ties.
by Frederic J. Frommer via Retropolis on November 3, 2023
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Bernie Sanders’s Campaign is Over, but His Populist Ideas Will Survive

Suspending his presidential campaign might be the best way to advance Sanders’s movement, but it could leave some supporters bitter.
by Robert B. Mitchell via Made By History on April 9, 2020
Bernie Sanders

The Transformation of Bernie Sanders

How the Vermont senator went from a third-party independent to a 2020 frontrunner.
by Matthew Karp via The Nation on May 7, 2019

Are the Parties Dying?

A conversation on party politics and the durability of our current political system.
by Christopher Caldwell, Michael Kazin, Frances Lee, David Karol via Democracy Journal on March 19, 2018
Political cartoon of the Populist Party python eating the Democratic Party donkey.

The Myth of 'Populism'

It's the transatlantic commentariat’s favorite political put-down. It’s also historically illiterate.
by Anton Jäger via Jacobin on January 3, 2018
A political cartoon showing two figures leading donkeys in opposite directions. The donkeys are depicted with the faces of Zachary Taylor and Henry Clay.

Prospects for Partisan Realignment: Lessons from the Demise of the Whigs

What America’s last major party crack-up in the 1850s tells us about the 2010s.
by Philip Wallach via Brookings on March 6, 2017
Ross Perot speaking in front of a banner opposing NAFTA.

End of the End of History, Redux

Remember Perot?
by Frank Guan via n+1 on March 24, 2016
Kwame Ture at at a 1966 Mississippi Press Conference. Public Domain.
partner

Stokely Carmichael Interview

A field secretary of SNCC discusses the importance of maintaining political power inside communities at the county level.
via American Archive of Public Broadcasting on April 21, 1966
Horace Greeley

This Presidential Candidate Died in a Sanatorium Less Than a Month After Losing the Election

Horace Greeley ran against incumbent Ulysses S. Grant in November 1872. Twenty-four days later, he died of unknown causes at a private mental health facility.
by Greg Daugherty via Smithsonian on September 19, 2024
An illustration of William Morgan's abduction.

The Masonic Murder That Inspired the First Third Party in American Politics

Public outcry over whistleblower William Morgan's disappearance gave rise to the Anti-Masonic Party, which nominated a candidate for president in 1832.
by Colin Dickey via Smithsonian on July 11, 2023
Timeline of the history of American political parties to 1880, depicting intertwined streams of Democrats, Whigs, and Republicans.
original

What is Political Realignment?

An annotated collection of resources from the Bunk archive that help explain the shifting sands of American politics.
by Kathryn Ostrofsky on September 8, 2022
Jesse Jackson talking to a Black woman and her children, surrounded by supporters and the press.

The Locked Out

Understanding Jesse Jackson and the radicalism of 1980s Black presidential politics.
by Joshua Myers via Picturing Black History on October 8, 2021
People in formal wear sitting in chairs, listening to a person behind a desk

Will We Ever Get Rid of the Electoral College?

The system that is nobody’s first choice.
by Michael Kazin via The Nation on September 22, 2020
Tiled pattern of 2020 presidential campaign signs.

How Candidate Diversity Impacts Color Diversity

We looked at 271 presidential candidate logos from 1968–2020 to find out how race and gender intersect with color choices.
by Champe Barton via The Pudding on August 1, 2020

The Corrupt Bargain

Eric Foner reviews two new books that make the case against the Electoral College.
by Eric Foner via London Review of Books on May 21, 2020
Political cartoon of people reaching toward a woman symbolizing Milwaukee who herself is reaching toward socialism.

When Socialists Swept Milwaukee

Democratic socialists attending the 2020 Democratic Convention won’t be out of place in a city with a long history of socialist governance.
by Lindsey Anderson via Belt Magazine on May 21, 2019
Ross Perot speaks at a podium.

Why Billionaires With Big Egos Now Dream of Being President

The trends that brought us Howard Schultz (and Donald Trump) started in the 1970s.
by Kevin M. Kruse, Julian E. Zelizer via Washington Post on January 29, 2019
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Electing the House of Representatives

A series of interactive maps showing the results of nearly two centuries of congressional elections.
by Robert K. Nelson, LaDale Winling via American Panorama on October 15, 2018

From Progress to Poverty: America’s Long Gilded Age

The America that emerged out of the Civil War was meant to be a radically more equal place. What went wrong?
by Steven Hahn via The Nation on April 18, 2018

John Dewey's Experiment in Democratic Socialism

Despite his reputation as a liberal, Dewey's staunch commitment to democracy put him on a collision course with capitalism.
by Alexander Livingston, Ed Quish via Jacobin on January 8, 2018

How the 19th-Century Know Nothing Party Shaped American Politics

From xenophobia to conspiracy theories, the Know Nothing party launched a nativist movement whose effects are still felt today.
by Lorraine Boissoneault via Smithsonian on January 26, 2017

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