Democratic Party

• 
• SOURCE: Jacobin
  1/2/2021
  

  Stop Worrying About Upper-Class Suburbanites

  by Lily Geismer and Matthew Lassiter

  Two suburban historians argue that the changing demographics and political composition of American suburbs mean the Democrats' strategy of courting white moderates will foreclose building the ethnically and economically diverse coalition they need to win. 

• 
• SOURCE: Boston Review
  12/9/2020
  

  How Did the GOP Become the Party of Ideas?

  by Lawrence B. Glickman

  The Republican Party's reputation as the "Party of Ideas" in the late 1970s and 1980s was generally created by Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who derided the New Deal and Great Society as stale and outdated in a struggle to push the Democratic Party to the right. 

• 
• 11/17/2020
  

  Where do the Democrats Go from Here?

  by HNN Staff

  As the Trump administration withholds transition help and the Senate hangs in the balance, what can Democrats plan for Biden's first term? Student debt forgiveness has been an early policy idea. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Hill
  11/13/2020
  

  Princeton History Professor Says Biden Won With Unstable Democratic Coalition

  Historian Matt Karp argues that the Democratic Party risks future defeat if it does not develop a strong economic populist message that appeals to Black and Latino voters. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  11/9/2020
  

  Voting Trump Out Is Not Enough

  by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

  The results of the 2020 election show that the Democratic Party will fail unless it is willing to abandon a futile effort to woo Republicans to the center and embrace popular policies that meet the needs of Democratic constituents. 

• 
• SOURCE: Esoteric Political History
  11/3/2020
  

  When Black Voters Went Blue

  Leah Wright Rigeur discusses the process by which Black voters shifted from loyal Republicans to Democrats. 

• 
• SOURCE: Made by History at The Washington Post
  11/2/2020
  

  Whether Biden Wins or Loses, Texas is Now a Political Battleground

  by James Henson

  "Ironically, the return of real competition to Texas politics stems from the very thing that originally opened the door for Republicans: the political and cultural changes tied to the growing diversity that fractured the old Texas Democratic Party."

• 
• SOURCE: Public Books
  10/23/2020
  

  Thomas Frank On How Populism Can Save America

  "The consensus intellectuals of the ’50s plucked the term from 19th-century obscurity and redefined it. It is their redefinition that is still with us today."

• 
• SOURCE: Politico
  10/18/2020
  

  Former Democratic power broker James A. Johnson dies at 76

  James Johnson's business, policy and philanthropy resume led a colleague to call him "the chairman of the universe." 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  9/29/2020
  

  Harry Reid on the Senate, the Supreme Court, and a Time for Major Change

  Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin interviewed former Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid, who suggests the time has come to remove the filibuster from the Senate rules in response to the undemocratic nature of the chamber. 

• 
• SOURCE: TPM
  9/28/2020
  

  The Democrats Now Face A Historic Opportunity For Structural Change

  by Gregory P. Downs

  Democrats have seen the consequences of their caution in 2009. In 2021, they may have the opportunity to learn from the boldness of the 1880s.

• 
• SOURCE: The Hill
  9/23/2020
  

  History Professor: Democrats Should Work Around SCOTUS Like Abe Lincoln Did

  Associate Professor of History at Princeton University and Jacobin contributor Matt Karp said on Hill TV’s “Rising” Wednesday that Democrats should learn from former President Abraham Lincoln to work around a conservative-majority Supreme Court. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  9/16/2020
  

  How the Black Vote Became a Monolith

  by Theodore R. Johnson

  Despite the political diversity within Black America, the political system's accommodation of bigotry and the political utility of appeals to white identity have pushed the overwhelming majority of Black voters to cast ballots for the same party. 

• 
• 9/27/2020
  

  Where Does the Democratic Party Stand on War, Peace, and International Relations?

  by Lawrence Wittner

  While moving from a party platform to a change in policy is difficult, especially where the Pentagon is concerned, the Democrats seem to recognize a broad-based desire to return America to international cooperation and allocate resources to other national priorities like public health. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  9/2/2020
  

  Disdain for the Less Educated Is the Last Acceptable Prejudice

  by Michael J. Sandel

  Joe Biden has a secret weapon in his bid for the presidency: He is the first Democratic nominee in 36 years without a degree from an Ivy League university. His campaign may test the pervasive belief that elite academic credentials are a necessity to govern.

• 
• SOURCE: CNN
  8/27/2020
  

  Yes, Republicans Freed The Slaves. They Were NOT These Republicans.

  Political scientist Andra Gillespie describes how the party power shifted in this country.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Magazine
  8/20/2020
  

  The 48-Year Journey of Joe Biden's Democratic Party

  The Democratic Party has changed considerably since Joe Biden first attended a party convention, making his constant presence in the party noteworthy.

• 
• SOURCE: Made By History at The Washington Post
  8/19/2020
  

  The Virtual Democratic Convention Ignores Milwaukee At Its Peril

  by Mike Amezcua

  The 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago offers a cautionary example for Democrats today: the party's success depends on recognizing and meeting the needs of its constituents. 

• 
• SOURCE: Smithsonian
  8/20/2020
  

  Fannie Lou Hamer’s Dauntless Fight for Black Americans’ Right to Vote

  by Keisha N. Blain

  As Hamer and her Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party colleagues pointed out to the 1964 Democratic National Convention, a “whites-only” Democratic Party representing a state in which one out of five residents were black undermined the very notion of representative democracy. 

• 
• SOURCE: Vox
  8/17/2020
  

  The Triumph of the Nostalgiacrats

  Democrats have scheduled a convention that’s more about celebrating the past than winning the future.