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Ron DeSantis at podium at CPAC.
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Instead of Boosting Democracy, Primary Elections Are Undermining It

Why our politics are growing ever more extreme — and democracy itself is under siege.
People holding antiwar signs at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

A Brief History of the Democratic Party

The Democratic Party, and the US political system as a whole, is a very strange beast.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris standing behind President Joe Biden, who is giving a speech at podium.
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How Democrats Gave Away Their Ability to Pick a New Nominee

Until the late 1960s, the Democratic Party could have simply anointed a replacement for President Biden. Now it's not so easy.
1988 Republican presidential candidates on the debate stage.
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Republicans Didn’t Always Run Far to the Right in Presidential Primaries

The 1988 presidential primary showed it wasn't always like this — and helped guide the GOP to where it is now.
A drawing in the style of a 1980s video game of shooting at rainbows.

Jesse Jackson’s Political Revolution

Before Bernie Bros vs. the DNC, there was Jesse Jackson vs. the Atari Democrats.
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A Century of Reforms Made Iowa and New Hampshire Presidential Kingmakers

But did they backfire?

How Did the Presidential Campaign Get to Be So Long?

U.S. presidential elections didn't drag on so long before the late sixties.

How Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. Won the 1964 New Hampshire Primary Without Lifting a Finger

Lodge's victory in the 1964 New Hampshire primary is a fascinating testament to the power of whim in American elections.
Donald Trump standing behind a podium at a campaign event with his family at his side.

It’s the Charisma, Stupid

It’s not whom you’d want to get a beer with, but whom you’d want to watch getting a beer.
Drawing of Stella Stimson at a polling place with a notebook.

When a Trailblazing Suffragist and a Crusading Prosecutor Teamed Up to Expose an Election Conspiracy

In 1916, an unlikely duo exposed political corruption in Indiana, setting a new precedent for fair voting across the country.
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.
A yuppie surrounded by money and luxury items.

When Yuppies Ruled

Defining a social type is a way of defining an era. What can the time of the young urban professional tell us about our own?
Shirley Chisolm
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Losing Primary Candidates Still Influence the Race

What Shirley Chisholm can teach 2020 candidates as they exit.
George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush in church.
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How George H.W. Bush Enabled the Rise of the Religious Right

Religious conservatives used the Bush presidency to launch their takeover of the GOP.

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