electorate

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

As more Black men gained the right to vote in New York, the state began to change its laws to reduce their power or disenfranchise them completely.

Unlike the Southern whites who moved en masse during the 20th century, these early migrants often had direct, personal ties to the institution of slavery.

The 1988 presidential primary showed it wasn't always like this — and helped guide the GOP to where it is now.

How the Senate has become a bastion of Republican minority rule.

Sen. Raphael Warnock and challenger Herschel Walker, both Black, square off in a contest designed to empower White voters.

An annotated collection of resources from the Bunk archive that help explain the shifting sands of American politics.

The second section of the Fourteenth Amendment offers severe penalties for menacing the right to vote—if anyone can figure out how to enforce it.

The electorate has consistently changed over time as politicians seek to shape it in their favor.

Much of the anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy in the news today is similar to a movement that swept the country 20 years ago.

After 110 years, a look at the benefits — and drawbacks — to expanding the chamber.

How the late 19th century’s raucous party system gave way to a sedate and exclusionary political culture that erected more and more barriers to participation.

We say we’re for it. We’ve never truly had it. These next few years will determine its fate.

The decades after the Civil War saw mass participation and mass outrage, followed by a period of orderly reform. What can we learn from that era today?

Understanding this history helps make the case for D.C. as the 51st state.

The selection of African American Sen. Hiram Revels in 1870 offered great hope — but it was soon dashed.

Invoking the specter of voter fraud to undermine democratic participation is a tactic as old as the United States itself.

Jaime Harrison lost to Lindsey Graham but expanded Democrats’ vision of what’s possible in the Deep South.

It can be hard to know what the Founders intended when they didn't know, either.

Black people suffer disproportionately from police violence. But white skin does not provide immunity.