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Ben Davis Jr. leaving courthouse, surrounded by crowd carrying signs bearing various slogans.

In 1930s NYC, Proportional Representation Boosted the Left

NYC history suggests that the Left might profitably revive proportional representation as a tool to build its electoral strength.
by Trevor Goodwin via Jacobin on January 26, 2025
Campaign banner ad from former Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters, stating that he "won't ask for your pronouns in the U.S. Senate."

The Modern Electoral History of Transphobia

How transphobia has been a consistent liability for Republicans, and why the right refuses to give it up.
by Josh Cohen via Ettingermentum Newsletter on March 18, 2023
Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, left, and former Chicago Public Schools chief executive, Paul Vallas. (Erin Hooley/AP; Nam Y. Huh/AP)
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Chicago’s Mayoral Election Feels Like 1983 All Over Again — But It Isn’t

Decades of failed promises have left voters apathetic or pessimistic.
by Gordon Mantler via Made By History on March 8, 2023
Side-by-side of Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock
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The Racist Origins of Georgia’s Runoff Elections

Sen. Raphael Warnock and challenger Herschel Walker, both Black, square off in a contest designed to empower White voters.
by Steven F. Lawson via Made By History on December 5, 2022
Painting of the Constitutional Convention in black and white.

Fraudulent Document Cited in Supreme Court Bid to Torch Election Law

Supporters of the “independent state legislature theory” are quoting fake history.
by Brian Palmer, Ethan Herenstein via Politico Magazine on September 15, 2022
African American and white participants in the 1963 march on Washington, holding signs demanding voting rights, jobs, and an end to police brutality.

How Protest Moves From the Streets Into the Statehouse

In The Loud Minority, Daniel Gillion examines the relationship between electoral politics and protest movements.
by Erin Pineda via The Nation on November 13, 2021
A collage of newspapers declaring various elections to be "the most important election in our lives."

The Most Important Political Platitude of Our Lifetime (and Many Others)

How a simple message came to be used nearly word-for-word in elections large and small for more than 200 years.
by Jason Feifer via Slate on November 2, 2020
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It’s Time to Make Election Day a Holiday in Law and Spirit

We need to bring back the celebratory atmosphere that animated Election Day in the 19th century.
by Holly Jackson via Made By History on October 22, 2019

You Probably Don't Know This About U.S. Elections

From voting rights to the electoral college, a brief explainer on three widespread misconceptions about voting.
by Alex Keyssar via Harvard Kennedy School on October 30, 2018
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Electing the House of Representatives

A series of interactive maps showing the results of nearly two centuries of congressional elections.
by Robert K. Nelson, LaDale Winling via American Panorama on October 15, 2018
Zohran Mamdani stands at the podium during a campaign rally.

Zohran Mamdani Is Part of Municipal Socialism’s Long History

If he wins the New York City mayoral election, Zohran Mamdani will not be in totally uncharted territory.
by Shelton Stromquist via Jacobin on August 20, 2025
Rudy Giuliani prepares for a press conference surrounded by confiscated guns.

A New York Miracle

A street-level view of Rudy Giuliani’s transformation of the Big Apple.
by Scott McConnell via The American Conservative on August 17, 2025
Protesters gather outside the White House, holding picket signs advocating for home rule for Washington DC.

How the 1973 D.C. Home Rule Act Enabled the Nation’s Capital to Govern Itself—With Oversight

Far from being a new debate, the discussion over extending home rule to Washingtonians has been around as long as the District of Columbia itself.
by Meilan Solly via Smithsonian Magazine on August 14, 2025
“The Gerry-Mander.” Although not the first version of Elkanah Tisdale’s famous cartoon, this one notably includes all the towns of Essex County. Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Gerry-Mander_Edit.png#/media/File:The_Gerry-Mander.png.

The Original Gerrymanders

The history of gerrymandering suggests that the current redistricting race for short-term partisan gain indicates a period of political instability on the way.
by Kevin Vrevich via Panorama on August 1, 2025
George Lunn, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and other politicans at the Democratic National Nominating Convention in 1924.
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The Socialist Mayor Who Came 100 Years Before Zohran Mamdani

George Lunn, socialist mayor of Schenectady, New York rose to power in 1911 by making a difference in people's lives.
by Andrew Morris via Made By History on July 22, 2025
An 1880 Harper's Weekly illustration titled Women at the Polls in New Jersey.

Women in New Jersey Gained—and Lost—the Right to Vote More Than a Century Before the 19th Amendment

Vague phrasing enfranchised women who met specific property requirements. A 1790 law explicitly allowed female suffrage, but this privilege was revoked in 1807.
by Peter Zablocki via Smithsonian Magazine on July 8, 2025
A throng of Trump supporters, some in colonial garb, march through Washington D.C.

The 19th-Century Precursors to the Crises of Trump’s America

Revisiting history shows that violence and constitutional disputes are nothing new in US politics.
by Marcus Alexander Gadson via New Lines on July 4, 2025
Jimmy Carter waving and smiling at a crowd of supporters, surrounded by men in suits.

Jimmy Carter’s Improbable Road to the Presidency

The Southern president, who kept his head down following Brown v. Board of Education, would eventually declare that “the time for discrimination is over.”
by Joseph Crespino via The Nation on December 29, 2024
Jimmy Carter in 1980.

Jimmy Carter Was No Friend of Union Workers Like Me

As a worker in the 1970s, I looked forward to a Jimmy Carter administration. By the end of his term in office, I felt betrayed.
by Chris Townsend via Jacobin on December 29, 2024
Portrait of Morris Hillquit.

When Socialists Run for NYC Mayor, Good Things Can Happen

Socialist legislator Zohran Mamdani is running for New York City mayor against a corrupt, unpopular mayor. Morris Hillquit did the same thing a century ago.
by Charlie Dulik via Jacobin on December 19, 2024
Shirley Chisolm
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Shirley Chisholm Was a Trailblazer for Change

Explore the groundbreaking career of the first Black woman to seek the U.S. presidency.
via Retro Report on November 21, 2024
Photo of Grover Cleveland and then a photo of Donald Trump next to each other.
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Will Grover Cleveland's Second Term Foreshadow Trump's Future?

The only president before Trump to win, lose, and win again ended up decimating his own party during his second term.
by Luke Voyles via Made By History on November 21, 2024
A masked man with a sword waves an American flag at the face of a masked man with a stick on the anniversary of the January 6 riot.

Hyperpolitics In America

When polarization lacks clear consequences, Americans are left with "a grin without a cat: a politics with only weak policy influence or institutional ties."
by Anton Jäger via New Left Review on October 31, 2024
Wilmington after the massacre.
partner

The Troubling Consequence of State Takeovers of Local Government

State efforts to usurp local government power over schools, elections, and police tend to diminish Black political power.
by Domingo Morel via Made By History on October 25, 2024
The Puerto Rican flag outside the Governor's residence in San Juan.
partner

The Catch-22 of Puerto Rico's Status Referendum

When Puerto Ricans go to the polls, they can express their choice for several status options for the island.
by Christina D. Ponsa-Kraus via Made By History on October 11, 2024
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.
by Sasha Issenberg via Smithsonian on September 5, 2024
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
Eugene V. Debs delivers an antiwar speech in Canton, Ohio, June 16, 1918.

The Unsung History of Heartland Socialism

The spirit of socialism has coursed through the American Midwest ever since the movement emerged, continuing to animate the political landscape today.
by Miles Kampf-Lassin via In These Times on August 30, 2024
Bruce Springsteen on July 19, 1988 at his concert in East Berlin on the cycle track Weissensee.

Can the 1980s Explain 2024?

The yuppies embodied the winning side of America’s deepening economic divide. Bruce Springsteen spoke for those left behind.
by Nicholas Lemann via Washington Monthly on August 25, 2024
John Roberts, Lewis F. Powell Jr., and a statue of Lady Justice between them.

There’s a New Lewis Powell Memo, and It’s Wildly Racist

One young conservative lawyer would lead a determined fight to maintain Lewis Powell’s blindfolded race neutrality.
by David Daley via Slate on August 6, 2024
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