party loyalty — Bunk History

A drawing of two people speaking with a third person's head listening between them.

Diverging Majority

Demography has not managed to be destiny in the past half-century—but predictions of a millenarian shift have not lost their appeal.

by Rick Perlstein, Geraldo Cadava via The Baffler on September 3, 2024

Rudy Giuliani speaking at a Trump rally

Republicans Won’t Speak Out Against Trump Because They’re Afraid Politically

And history says they have a reason to be.

by Michael Koncewicz via Made By History on November 20, 2020

Mitch McConnell

Partisanship is an American Tradition — And Good for Democracy

Bipartisanship is the exception, not the rule.

by Aaron Astor via Made By History on July 12, 2017

A window displaying two Puerto Rican flags and two Trump/Vance campaign posters.

Understanding Latino Support for Donald Trump

Democrats have often described Latinos as decisive when they support liberal candidates and inconsequential when they don’t.

by Geraldo Cadava via The New Yorker on November 18, 2024

Trump holding a table of tariff rates.

Tariffs Don’t Have to Make Economic Sense to Appeal to Trump Voters

Economists and Democrats dismiss Trump’s tariffs talk at their peril.

by Bruce J. Schulman via Made By History on October 24, 2024

Black churchgoers attending a sermon.

Democrats Can’t Rely on the Black Church Anymore

The path to winning the Black vote no longer runs through the church door.

by Daniel K. Williams via The Atlantic on September 18, 2024

People in red and blue with campaign signs and posters, yelling at each other across a widening chasm.

Divided We Stand: The Rise of Political Animosity

Scientists peered into the partisan abyss. They looked to see why hostility has become so high between groups with different political leanings.

by Carl-Johan Karlsson via Knowable Magazine on August 19, 2024

Angela Davis standing at podium, speaking at Communist Party USA event.

How and Why American Communism Failed

Plus: One historian’s about-face on the Communist record.

by Ronald Radosh via The Bulwark on August 2, 2024

Thomas Nast’s 1874 elephant illustration.

What History Tells Us Might Happen to the Republican Party

The signs that precede the crumbling of American political parties and the creation of new ones.

by Lindsay M. Chervinsky via The Bulwark on July 31, 2024

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

Then President Donald Trump, right, and Joe Biden, then the Democratic presidential nominee, during the U.S. presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 22, 2020.

The Biden-Trump Rematch May Mark the End of an Era

Over the course of U.S. history, presidential rematches have signaled momentous political upheavals.

by Bruce J. Schulman via Made By History on April 4, 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

Ronald Reagan and Jerry Falwell speaking to each other in the White House.

It Wasn’t the Religious Right That Made White Evangelicals Vote Republican

To understand why evangelicals vote Republican, we shouldn’t focus just on Falwell; we need to look at a century or more of evangelical political culture.

by Daniel K. Williams via Anxious Bench on August 23, 2022

Portrait of Thomas Jefferson

Sunrise at Monticello

Jefferson and his connection to partisanship in early America.

by Michael Liss via 3 Quarks Daily on July 19, 2021

Joe Biden.

What’s Driving So Many Republicans to Support Joe Biden?

The collapse of the Republican Party.

by Geoffrey Kabaservice via Made By History on October 30, 2020

The Supreme Court Used To Be Openly Political. It Traded Partisanship For Power.

The idea that justices exist outside of politics is a relatively new concept.

by Rachel Shelden via Washington Post on September 25, 2020

The Past and Future of Latinx Politics

Two new books look at the history of Latinx Democrats and Republicans and the role each will play in the future.

by Ed Morales via The Nation on June 30, 2020

The Republican Choice

How a party spent decades making itself white.

by Clare Malone via FiveThirtyEight on June 24, 2020

Man at Trump rally holding a "Latinos for Trump" sign.

On the Past and Future of Hispanic Republicans

“I was shocked to learn that Hispanic conservatives celebrate Cortes’s arrival in Mexico.”

by Geraldo Cadava, Rosina Lozano via Public Books on June 15, 2020

Trump's not Richard Nixon. He's Andrew Johnson.

Betrayal. Paranoia. Cowardice. We've been here before.

by Tim Murphy via Mother Jones on December 20, 2019

"No" on Impeachment Unites Today's GOP. In the 1950s, a Renegade Dared to Break Ranks

Breaking with party unity can be costly. In the 1950's, Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine faced backlash after she condemned McCarthy, a fellow Republican.

by Karen M. Sughrue via Retro Report on December 3, 2019

Republicans Defending Trump on Impeachment Should Fear the Judgment of History

For Nixon stalwarts on the House Judiciary Committee, defending the President became an inalterable epitaph.

by Michael Luo via The New Yorker on December 2, 2019

The Difference Between Nixon and Trump is Fox News

Fox News shields President Trump, but his love for their conspiracies might bring him down.

by Nicole Hemmer via Vox on October 7, 2019

When Conservatives Tried to Throw Out Richard Nixon

Well before Watergate broke, John Ashbrook waged a primary campaign that the Right took very seriously.

by Daniel Bring via The American Conservative on September 27, 2019

Mugshot of Bernard L. Barker.

Want to Know Why Some Hispanics Support Donald Trump? Ask Richard Nixon.

Nixon created the blend of Republicanism that remains attractive to a segment of Hispanic voters.

by Geraldo Cadava via Made By History on August 9, 2019

Barry Goldwater with his finger to his lips sushing the audience.

How Never-Trump Republicans Went Extinct

Shared enemies and ideology matter more than Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric.

by Lawrence B. Glickman via Made By History on August 6, 2019

The Case for Impeachment

Starting the process will rein in a president undermining American ideals—and bring the debate into Congress, where it belongs.

by Yoni Appelbaum via The Atlantic on January 17, 2019

The Man Who Broke Politics

Gingrich turned partisan battles into bloodsport, wrecked Congress, and paved the way for Trump’s rise. Now he’s reveling in it.

by McKay Coppins via The Atlantic on October 15, 2018

The Senate Has Lost Its Way

Here's how it's supposed to handle Supreme Court nominations.

by Dov Weinryb Grohsgal via Made By History on October 6, 2018

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

brought to you by

© Bunk History