At the beginning of the 1880s, Democratic and Republicans candidates observed a tradition of reserve and silence during campaigns. Since gaining a decisive lead in the Democratic primaries, Joe Biden has faced a situation unique in contemporary politics: while preparations for the upcoming general campaign are underway, the candidate himself is locked up at home.[…]
Rumors of secret alliances, bank deals, and double-crossings were rampant in early American elections. From claims that NASA faked the moon landing to suspicions about the U.S. government’s complicity in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Americans love conspiracy theories. Conspiratorial rhetoric in presidential campaigns and its distracting impact on the body politic have been[…]
To begin, a disclaimer for this article: This is not an attempt to sanitise the legacy of the 45th President of the United States. Indeed, it’s telling that it would be much easier to publish a piece about 100 things Donald Trump has got wrong than it is to find five things he has got[…]
Looking at the consequences of President Nixon’s actions and how the public viewed our governmental policies afterwards. By K. Chouinard / 11.03.2017 In the early 1970’s, the Watergate scandal involving President Richard Nixon made headlines nationwide, but did he have anything to do with the break in at the Democratic National Committee? Even with the lack of[…]
Nixon had a strong “us v. them” mentality. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 12.04.2018 Public Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested after breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee located in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. The burglars were not ordinary thieves. They carried wiretaps to install on telephones. They carried[…]
From the suffragette Sophia Duleep Singh to the Communist MP Shapurji Saklatvala: explore the lives of notable South Asians in 19th and 20th century British and Indian politics. By (left-to-right) Dr. Susheila Nasta, Dr. Florian Stadtler, and Dr. Rozina Visram Nasta: Chair in Modern Literature, The Open University Stadtler: Senior Lecturer in Postcolonial Literatures, University[…]
William Jennings Bryan during the 1896 campaign for U.S. president / U.S. Information Agency, Wikimedia Commons For a few years, this party played a major role as a force in American politics. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 11.09.2018 Public Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Introduction The People’s Party (also known as the Populist Party or the Populists) was an agrarian-populist political party in the[…]
From “A full and complete account of the late awful riots in Philadelphia : embellished with ten engravings”, part of Villanova’s Falvey Memorial Library’s Chaos in the Streets! The Philadelphia Riots of 1844 collection / Creative Commons Fights over guns, immigration, and religious intolerance cost the city dozens of lives, millions of dollars, and a little bit of our humanity.[…]
Kleroterion: This device was used for the jury selection system in Athens. Bronze identification tickets were inserted to indicate eligible jurors who were also divided into tribes. By a random process, a whole row would be accepted or rejected for jury service. There was a kleroteria in front of each court. / Photo by Marsyas,[…]
The Acropolis of Athens. Dominating the acropolis is the Parthenon, built between 447 and 432 BCE in the Age of Pericles, and dedicated to the city’s patron deity Athena. / Photo by Mark Cartwright, Creative Commons Ancient Athenians actively served in the institutions that governed them, and so they directly controlled all parts of the political process. By Mark Cartwright / 04.03.2018 Historian[…]
Adolf Hitler and his entourage take a stroll in Paris on June 23, 1940 / German Federal Archives, Wikimedia Commons Examining Adolf Hitler’s conceptualization of Nationalism – the Nation and who, in Hitler’s thinking, comprises it. By John Cai Benjamin Weaver / 05.16.2011 Doctoral Candidate, Department of Political and Economic Studies University of Helsinki Adolf[…]
Map of the Peterloo Massacre depicting the location and movements of protestors and soldiers at St Peter’s Fields, 1820. / British Library, Public Domain In August 1819 dozens of peaceful protestors were killed and hundreds injured at what became known as the Peterloo Massacre. Ruth Mather examines the origins, response and aftermath of this key[…]
Pottery ostraka identifying Themistocles, 482 BCE. These were used in Athens to vote a particular citizen to be ostracised from the polis. From a well on the north slope of the acropolis of Athens. (Museum of the Ancient Agora, Athens) / Photo by Mark Cartwright, Creative Commons Ostracism was the supreme example of the power of the ordinary people, the demos, to combat abuses of[…]
This great writer, great naturalist, and great advocate of self-reliant individualism was also one of the founding fathers of American libertarian thought. By Jeff Riggenbach / 07.15.2010 Henry David Thoreau was born David Henry Thoreau on July 12, 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts, a small country town about 20 miles northwest of Boston. Nancy Rosenblum of the[…]
Rose Schneiderman, an unsung forerunner of the #MeToo movement, organized women to fight for laws to protect them from, among other exploitation, sexual harassment and assault by higher-ranking men in their work spaces. / Photo by Bettmann, Getty Images An unsung shero of the early 20th century, Rose Schneiderman organized women to fight for laws[…]
(Left-to-right) Carrie Clyde Holly, Clara Cresshingham and Frances Klock They had to convince a majority of men in the state, not just legislators, that they should share political power with women. By Dr. Jennifer Frost / 10.14.2018 Associate Professor of History University of Auckland “Western Women Wild With Joy Over Colorado’s Election,” journalist and suffragist Caroline[…]
Ostraka for Ostracism / Museum of the Ancient Agora, Wikimedia Commons Although the Greek city-states differed in size and natural resources, they came to share certain fundamental political institutions and social traditions. By Dr. Thomas R. Martin Jeremiah W. O’Connor, Jr. Professor of Classics College of the Holy Cross Introduction Although the Greek city-states differed in[…]
Tea Party protest at the National Mall on September 12, 2009 / Photo by NYyankees51, Wikimedia Commons In the late nineteenth century, a new American political party sprung up to defend the interests of farmers. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 10.05.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Introduction The Populists were an agrarian-based political movement aimed at[…]
“The Lucy Furnaces in 1886.” Carnegie Steel Company, Lawrenceville (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania / Wikimedia Commons As the United States became a major industrial power, conflict between workers and factory owners intensified. Read about the Homestead Strike and the Pullman Strike, two of the most famous labor battles in American history. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh /[…]
Radical pamphleteer Thomas Paine advocated a republic: a state without a king. By Dr. P. Scott Corbett, et.al. Professor of History Ventura College Introduction While monarchies dominated eighteenth-century Europe, American revolutionaries were determined to find an alternative to this method of government. Radical pamphleteer Thomas Paine, whose enormously popular essay Common Sense was first published[…]
1952 Democratic Convention / Wikimedia Commons People gain an understanding and acceptance of the political culture of their nation through a process called political socialization. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 09.25.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Introduction Americans have strong positive feelings about the country’s flag. Government leaders and candidates giving speeches often are flanked by[…]
Green Dragon Tavern, Union Street. Engraver: Russell. 1898 (approximate). Copy photograph from engraving by Russell of the tavern in the North End where the Sons of Liberty planned the Boston Tea Party. / Boston Public Library, Wikimedia Commons Every country has a political culture — widely shared beliefs, values, and norms that define the relationship[…]
Political parties thrive when they are able to manage the media and effectively promote their candidates, leaders, and causes. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 09.22.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Introduction Political parties thrive when they are able to manage the media and effectively promote their candidates, leaders, and causes. Their goal is to use the[…]
Walter Lippmann / Public Domain The interwar period was a moment of deep crisis everywhere. By Dr. Francesco Regalzi / 04.12.2011 Professor of Political Science University of Turin The interwar period was a moment of deep crisis everywhere. The already strong shock of World War I, a conflict that involved different continents with political and[…]
History tells us that midterm elections are bad — sometimes very bad — for the party that controls the White House. By Don Gonyea / 10.30.2014 History tells us that midterm elections are bad — sometimes very bad — for the party that controls the White House. President Obama and the Democrats are pushing for[…]
The Storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789, by Jean-Pierre Houël / Bibliothèque nationale de France, Wikimedia Commons Starting in the 1600s, European philosophers began debating the question of who should govern a nation. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 09.07.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Starting in the 1600s, European philosophers began debating the question of[…]
Women suffragists marching on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C., March 3, 1913 Demanding the right to vote under Wilson. By Dr. Kimberly A. Hamlin / 01.18.2017 Associate Professor of History and Global and Intercultural Studies Miami University Ohio On March 3, 1913, the day before President-elect Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, more than 5,000 women—young and old,[…]
Did the Roman arenas of political conflict support the common good? Trey Ratcliff/flickr, Creative Commons History offers countless examples of social change that is now consolidated and popularly supported, but which was only achieved through protests that were judged at the time to be extreme. By Dr. Sandra Leonie Field / 11.19.2015 Assistant Professor of Humanities (Philosophy) Yale-NUS College[…]
A 1969 photo of political theorist and scholar Hannah Arendt. AP Photo Hannah Arendt, a political theorist, fled Germany during Adolf Hitler’s rise to power and later wrote about ‘the banality of evil.’ Her work has recently become a best-seller. Here’s why. By Dr. Kathleen B. Jones / 03.14.2017 Professor Emerita of Women’s Studies San Diego State University In the weeks since[…]
However you read The Prince, it is a reminder that the elementary condition of good government is effective government. By Dr. Stein Ringen / 03.04.2018 Professor of Sociology and Social Policy University of Oxford Is Machiavelli relevant today? Relevant, perhaps, but a democrat? Was he not the author of a book of tyranny? Perhaps not quite.[…]