Democratic Party

Two New Books Take the 1990s as a Pivotal Decade

by Henry M.J. Tonks

Books by Lily Geismer and Nicole Hemmer look at the changes that took place within the Democratic and Republican parties (respectively) during a decade that was supposed to be the end of history. 

Between Feinstein and the Blue Slip, Senate Dems Making Historic Blunders on Judiciary

Barack Obama's administration left dozens of vacant federal judgeships for Donald Trump to fill. If the Biden administration repeats this, it won't be only due to Republican obstruction of nominees. 

Why Can't the Democrats Build a Governing Majority? (Review of Timothy Shenk)

by Kim Phillips-Fein

In an implicit response to Richard Hofstadter's finding of the continuity of a narrow "American Political Tradition," Timothy Shenk examines the ways that activists have occasionally disrupted the political order and convinced people to "take a leap into an unknown future."

Why do Republicans Keep Calling it the "Democrat Party"?

by Lawrence B. Glickman

The odd rhetorical device isn't just trolling—it reflects 70 years of the Republican Party seeking to define itself against the opposition even as terms like "liberal" and "conservatism" had not yet taken on stable meaning. 

Anastasia Curwood on New Shirley Chisholm Bio

By framing Chisholm as a person with a life history, Curwood elevates knowledge of the New York congresswoman from a "first major party candidate" to a political theorist and visionary. 

Michigan Gubernatorial Candidate Steeped in Disinformation About Parties' Roles

by Heather Cox Richardson

Focusing on the tension between hierarchy and equality rather than party affiliation helps to clarify why a candidate of the "Party of Lincoln" can make white power rants on public media. 

Review Essay: How the Biggest Party Started Thinking Small

Books by Michael Kazin and Lily Geismer trace the rise and fall of the Democratic Party's reign as a party of big ideas and big initiatives. 

Labor Day is a Chance for Unions and the Democrats to Renew Their Shared History

by Michael Kazin

The Democrats and American labor unions have enjoyed success proportionally to the strength of their partnership. Pro-labor rhetoric by President Biden and the upsurge of grassroots union organizing are a sign to renew a formal partnership, says a historian of the Democratic Party. 

The Democrats, Not the "Party of Lincoln," are the Best Hope to Protect Abe's Legacy

by Eli Merritt

Abraham Lincoln went to Washington as president-elect animated by the commitments to justice and liberty defined in the first Republican Party convention. If the Republicans won't honor these commitments, the Democrats must do it. 

Review: Two Books on the Recent History of Polarization

by Paul Starr

Historian Michael Kazin and journalist Dana Milbank approach the nation's dire politics from the perspective of the two respective parties, Kazin examining the long conflicts within the Democratic party to create a broad and stable populist coalition, and Milbank examining the GOP's increasingly nihilistic efforts to break it up.

Fed Up with Emails from Democratic Pols? You're Not Alone

by Lara Putnam and Micah Sifry

The Democratic Party's strategy of electronic communications to raise fear and money is backfiring, as voters see little change despite their contributions. The party must reach people at their doorsteps, not through their inboxes. 

Will Progressive Dems Realize Elections Have Consequences?

by Clyde W. Ford

Progressives need to begin “holding their noses” and voting based on a transactional rather than moral understanding of politics.

Stuck on the Rufo Road

by Jennifer Berkshire

As conservative activists mount a multi-front campaign to discredit and defund public education, too many leading Democrats seem unaware that the popularity of public education means they have a winning issue right in front of their faces, says an education historian and policy analyst. 

Forget the Metaphorical Heat – The Literal Temperatures are the Problem

by Tom Engelhardt

"Somehow, in this country, climate change has yet to become a significant part of the national debate or mainstream politics."

Robert Kuttner: If Dems Don't Go Big, Country May Go Fascist

If the United States was lucky to avoid a fascist takeover in the 1930s, the country made much of its own luck through the New Deal. 

Is the Republican Party Willing to Purge its Extremists?

by Jeff Kolnick

Beginning in the 1920s, the Democratic Party began the long, difficult, and politically costly process of dissociation from white supremacy. Do today's Republicans who claim to reject extremism have the courage to do the same?

Rescuing Shirley Chisholm's Life from Symbolism

by Anastasia Curwood

Writing a biography of the Congresswoman and presidential candidate required working through the distinction between Shirley Chisholm the symbol and the much more complex reality of Shirley Chisholm the woman, to see how big trends in Black history unfolded at a human scale.

Are the Dems Doomed?

by Julian Zelizer

The Democrats are leaving themselves open to taking the blame at the polls for the war in Ukraine and high gas prices and the inevitable next wave of the COVID pandemic. 

Nicole Hemmer Reviews Martin and Burns's "This Will Not Pass"

by Nicole Hemmer

The book by two political reporters portrays the dire contrast between a Republican Party willing to do anything to hold power between November 2020 and January 2021 and a Democratic Party enmeshed in business-as-usual. 

We're Facing the Results of the Dems' Retreat from Secularism

by Jacques Berlinerblau

By trying to match the Republicans on bringing Christian faith into policy, Democrats abandoned the difficult but necessary struggles to define how a diverse society protects religious freedom for majority and minority faiths – and those of no faith.