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A ballot from Ireland’s 2020 general election.

Avoiding the PR Mistakes of the Past

The proportional representation (PR) vs. single transferable vote (STV) battle in local elections.
by Jack Santucci via Democracy Journal on September 12, 2023
Edgar Allen Poe.

Did Voter Fraud Kill Edgar Allan Poe?

The death of mystery writer Edgar Allan Poe is its own mystery. But new research suggests election fraud may have contributed to his demise in Baltimore.
by Randy Dotinga via Retropolis on March 26, 2023

Republicans Have Won the Senate Half the Time Since 2000 Despite Winning Fewer Votes than Democrats

How the Senate has become a bastion of Republican minority rule.
by Stephen Wolf via Daily Kos on February 15, 2023
Kevin McCarthy
partner

What 1856 Teaches Us About the Ramifications of the House Speaker Fight

The battle is worth winning for Kevin McCarthy — and could reshape the Republican Party.
by Corey M. Brooks via Made By History on January 5, 2023
Drawing of Al Gore at the 2000 Democratic Convention.

Has the United States Ever Been a Democracy?

Jedediah Purdy's new book examines why the U.S. has continuously failed to qualify as a system defined by popular rule.
by Sophia Rosenfeld via The Nation on January 3, 2023
Supporters cheer during an election night watch party for Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D) in Atlanta
partner

Warnock’s Win Points to the Need For Ongoing Political Organizing

Georgia’s own history highlights what out-organizing voter suppression really entails.
by Dan Berger via Made By History on December 7, 2022
African Americans campaigning for Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker, and Confederate symbols in Georgia.

Minority Rule(s)

Georgia’s competitive runoff election is the result of centuries of white supremacist efforts.
by Anthony Conwright via The Forum on December 6, 2022
Hand tossing a coin.

Why Is America Always Divided 50–50?

Despite wrenching economic and political changes in the country, Democrats and Republicans keep finding themselves nearly tied in election after election.
by Annie Lowrey via The Atlantic on November 8, 2022
Image of the "I Voted" sticker.

A Brief History of the "I Voted" Sticker

Who designed the first sticker? And does anyone care about it anymore?
by Rhea Nayyar via Hyperallergic on November 7, 2022
A political cartoon representing New Deal programs as children dancing around President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Timothy Shenk’s ‘Realigners’

Since the 18th century, American politics has functioned via coalitions between competing factions. Can alliances survive today’s partisan climate?
by Barton Swaim via The Wall Street Journal on October 7, 2022
The American flag depicted upside down, in a beige color scheme.

Making the Constitution Safe for Democracy

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.
by Anthony Conwright via The Forum on August 17, 2022
Drawing of a voting booth on top of a gerrymandered district with a saw cutting the floor out from under it.

American Democracy Was Never Designed to Be Democratic

The partisan redistricting tactics of cracking and packing aren’t merely flaws in the system—they are the system.
by Louis Menand via The New Yorker on August 15, 2022
Human legs in the water with a shark under them

Did Shark Attacks Eat Into Woodrow Wilson’s Votes in 1916?

What shark attacks in 1916 could tell us about the midterms in 2022.
by Dylan Matthews via Vox on August 4, 2022
Protest sign reading "We never left Jim Crow."

Voter Fraud Propagandists Are Recycling Jim Crow Rhetoric

The conservative plot to suppress the Black vote has relied on racist caricatures, then and now.
by Nick Tabor via The New Republic on February 4, 2022
African American man casting a ballot following the Fifteenth Amendment.

Echoes of 1891 in 2022

Using the congressional filibuster to prevent voting rights legislation isn't new. It has roots in the 19th century.
by Daniel W. Crofts via Muster on January 25, 2022
Ballots in sealed envelopes, in a plastic box with a sticker that reads "Vote NYC."
partner

You Didn’t Always Have to Be a Citizen to Vote in America

The electorate has consistently changed over time as politicians seek to shape it in their favor.
by Rachel Michelle Gunter via Made By History on December 29, 2021
partner

Gerrymandering's Surprising History and Uncertain Future

Both parties play the redistricting game, redrawing electoral boundaries to lock down power.
via Retro Report on October 18, 2021
National Park Services sign
partner

The Roots of the Politicization of the National Parks Service

Understanding how the National Park Service Director is chosen is important for understanding the current state of our national parks system.
by Nick DeLuca via HNN on September 26, 2021
Man is being carried by a lot of people while sitting on a chair

What Made Gilded Age Politics So Acrimonious?

Fearful of increasing participation, elites of the era attempted to rein in democracy.
by Chris Lehmann via The New Republic on June 21, 2021
Cartoon of politicians arguing

The Gilded Age’s Democratic Contradictions

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.
by Eric Foner via The Nation on June 1, 2021
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).
partner

House Republicans’ Leadership Fight Signals a New Direction

Leadership battles tell us a lot about where a party is headed.
by Zack C. Smith via Made By History on May 12, 2021
Sketch of late 19th century political rally in NYC

The Forgotten Precedent for Our ‘Unprecedented’ Political Insanity

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?
by Jon Grinspan via Politico Magazine on April 24, 2021
James Baker and Jimmy Carter.

Why Republicans Won’t Shut Up About a 16-Year-Old Bipartisan Report on Election Reform

The Carter-Baker report was intended to strengthen Americans’ trust in the electoral process. It’s become a weapon for right-wing attacks on voting rights.
by Matt Ford via The New Republic on March 10, 2021
Rudy Giuliani and a graphic that says "multiple pathways to victory."

Disenfranchisement: An American Tradition

Invoking the specter of voter fraud to undermine democratic participation is a tactic as old as the United States itself.
by Julilly Kohler-Hausmann via Dissent on January 10, 2021
Painting of “Polling Day” in Pennsylvania in the Colonies, date unknown.

“They Chase Specters”

The irrational, the political, and fear of elections in colonial Pennsylvania.
by J. L. Tomlin via Age of Revolutions on December 3, 2020
Photo of people protesting and demanding all votes are counted the day after Election Day at McPherson Square, near the White House.
partner

President Trump’s False Claims About Election Fraud Are Dangerous

Trump’s campaign to delegitimize the vote has a familiar ring. It evokes an egregious example of election fraud in the 1890s.
by Sid Bedingfield via Made By History on November 5, 2020
Jill Lepore and the cover of her Book "If Then: How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future"

“We Don’t Want the Program”: On How Tech Can’t Fix Democracy

“Start-ups: they need philosophers, political theorists, historians, poets. Critics.”
by Jill Lepore, Danah Boyd via Public Books on November 2, 2020
partner

Poll Watchers and the Long History of Voter Intimidation

President Trump has called on supporters, including law enforcement officers, to monitor election sites. Voter intimidation tactics have a long history.
via Retro Report on November 1, 2020
partner

Bush v. Gore: How a Recount Dispute Affects Voting Today

The controversy surrounding the 2000 presidential election led to sweeping voting reforms, but opened the door to a new set of problems still affecting us.
via Retro Report on October 19, 2020
Mail-in ballot in a mailbox.
partner

Holding an Election During the Civil War Set the Standard for Us Today

On-time elections are a key part of ensuring the promise of American democracy.
by Jonathan W. White via Made By History on October 5, 2020
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