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==History, development and evolution== ===American political culture=== {{Main|Political culture of the United States}} ====Colonial origins==== {{Main|Colonial history of the United States|Thirteen Colonies}} The American political culture is rooted in the [[Colonial history of the United States|colonial experience]] and the [[American Revolution]]. The colonies were unique within the European world for their [[Voting rights in the United States|(relatively) widespread suffrage]] which was granted to white male [[Property qualification|property owners]], and the relative power and activity of the elected bodies which they could vote for.<ref>Patricia U. Bonomi, ''A Factious People: Politics and Society in Colonial New York'' (Columbia U.P., 1971) pp 281-2</ref> These dealt with land grants, commercial subsidies, taxation, the oversight of roads, poor relief, taverns, and schools. Courts, (private lawsuits were very common) also provided Americans with experience in public affairs and law,<ref>Anton-Hermann, ''The Rise of the legal profession in America'' (2 vol 1965), vol 1.</ref> and gave interest groups such as merchants, landlords, petty farmers, artisans, [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]], [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]], [[Quakers]], Germans, [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scotch Irish]], Yankees, Yorkers, etc. control over matters left to the royal court, aristocratic families and the established church in Great Britain. Finally, Americans were interested in the political values of [[Republicanism in the United States|Republicanism]], which celebrated equal rights, civic virtue, and abhorred corruption, luxury, and aristocracy.<ref>Bonomi, ''A Factious People'', pp. 281-286</ref> ====Concepts of the Founding Fathers==== [[File:Statue of Liberty 7.jpg|thumb|The [[Statue of Liberty]], a symbol of American freedom and openness to [[Immigration to the United States|immigration]]]] Two pivotal political ideas in the establishment of the United States were [[Republicanism in the United States|Republicanism]] and [[classical liberalism]]. Central documents of American thought include: the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence (1776)]], the [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution (1787)]], the [[Federalist Papers|Federalist]] and [[Anti-Federalist Papers]] (1787–1790s), [[United States Bill of Rights|the Bill of Rights]] (1791), and [[Gettysburg Address|Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address"]] (1863). Among the core tenets were: * [[Consent of the governed]]: the authority and legitimacy of the government is dependent upon the assent of the people as expressed in free and fair elections * [[Civic duty]]/"Positive liberty"/"republican virtue": the responsibility to understand and support the government, participate in elections, pay taxes, oppose [[political corruption]], and perform military service.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://isi.org/modern-age/the-american-founders-and-their-relevance-today/|title= THE AMERICAN FOUNDERS AND THEIR RELEVANCE TODAY |author=Robert P. Kraynak |publisher=Intercollegiate Studies Institute |date=2015}}</ref> * [[Democracy]]: government answerable to citizens, who may change who represents them through elections. * [[Equality before the law]]: laws that attach no special privilege to any citizen and hold government officials subject just as any other person.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/creating-the-united-states/founded-on-a-set-of-beliefs.html#:~:text=Among%20them%20was%20the%20idea,revolutionaries%20openly%20discussed%20these%20concepts. |publisher=Library of Congress |title=Creating the United States|date=April 12, 2008 }}</ref> * [[Freedom of religion]]: [[Separation of church and state|government that neither supports nor suppresses any or all religion]]. * [[Freedom of speech]]: government that restricts neither through law nor action the non-violent speech of a citizen; a [[marketplace of ideas]]. ====Post–World War II==== At the time of the United States' founding, the economy was predominantly one of agriculture and small private businesses, and state governments left welfare issues to private or local initiative. As in the UK and other industrialized countries, [[Laissez-faire|laissez-faire ideology]] was largely discredited during [[Great Depression|the Great Depression]]. Between the 1930s and 1970s, fiscal policy was characterized by the [[Keynesian consensus]].<ref name="Weeks">Weeks, J. (2007). Inequality Trends in Some Developed OECD Countries. In J. K. S. & J. Baudot (Eds.) ''Flat world, big gaps: Economic liberalization, globalization, poverty & inequality'' (159-176). New York: Zed Books.</ref><ref name="Thomas">{{cite news |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/117854/page/1 |last=Thomas |first=E. |date=March 10, 2008|title=He knew he was right|magazine=Newsweek|access-date=2008-04-19|archive-date=2008-04-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080405101829/http://www.newsweek.com/id/117854/page/1}}</ref> After the "[[Reaganomics|Reagan revolution]]" in the early 1980s, laissez-faire ideology once more became a powerful force in American politics.<ref name="Clark">Clark, B. (1998). ''Political economy: A comparative approach''. Westport, CT: Preager.</ref> While the American [[welfare state]] expanded more than threefold after WWII, it held at 20% of GDP from the late 1970s to late 1980s.<ref name="Alber">{{Cite journal|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.esr.a036484|title=Is there a crisis of the welfare state? Crossnational evidence from Europe, North America, and Japan|year=1988|last1=Alber|first1=Jens|journal=European Sociological Review|volume=4|issue=3|pages=181–205}}</ref><ref name="Barr">Barr, N. (2004). ''Economics of the welfare state''. New York: [[Oxford University Press]] (US).</ref> In the 21st century, [[Modern liberalism in the United States|modern American liberalism]], and [[Conservatism in the United States|modern American conservatism]] are engaged in a [[Bipartisan coalition in Congress|continuous political battle]], characterized by what ''The Economist'' describes as "greater divisiveness [and] close, but bitterly fought elections."<ref name="Economist">{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/Countries/USA/profile.cfm?folder=Profile%2DPolitical%20Forces|title=Economist Intelligence Unit. (July 11, 2007). ''United States: Political Forces''.|access-date=2008-06-03 |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref> Since 2016, the United States has been recognized as a [[Illiberal democracy|flawed democracy]] in the ''[[Democracy Index]]'' by the [[Economist Intelligence Unit]], partially due to increased [[political polarization]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Francis|first=Ellen|date=February 10, 2021|title=Global freedoms have hit a 'dismal' record low, with pandemic restrictions making things worse, report says|language=en-US|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/10/global-democracy-index-2021-pandemic/|access-date=2022-02-16|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Democracy Index 2021: the China challenge|url=https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/democracy-index-2021/|access-date=2022-02-16|website=[[Economist Intelligence Unit]]|language=en-GB|archive-date=November 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108091515/https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/democracy-index-2021/|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to the [[V-Dem Democracy indices]] the United States were 2023 the 27th most electoral democratic country and 3rd most participatory democracy in the world.<ref name="vdem_dataset">{{cite web |last=V-Dem Institute |date=2023 |title=The V-Dem Dataset |url=https://www.v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/ |access-date=14 October 2023}}</ref> In foreign affairs, the United States generally pursued a [[nonintervention]]ist policy of "avoiding foreign entanglements" before [[World War II]]. After the war, when America became a [[superpower]], for many decades the country embraced [[Internationalism (politics)|internationalism]], seeking allies to contain [[Communism]] and foster economic cooperation. ===Development and evolution of political parties=== {{See also|History of the United States Republican Party|History of the United States Democratic Party}} ====Background==== The [[United States Constitution]] never formally addressed the issue of [[Political party|political parties]], primarily because the [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Fathers]]—[[Alexander Hamilton]], [[James Madison]],<ref>In [[Federalist No. 9|Federalist Papers No. 9]] and [[Federalist No. 10|No. 10]], respectively</ref> [[George Washington]]—opposed them as domestic [[political faction]]s leading to domestic conflict<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shmoop.com/political-parties/founding-fathers-political-parties.html |title=Political Parties - The Founding Fathers & Political Parties |website=Shmoop |date= |access-date=2022-02-25 |archive-date=January 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190112023032/https://www.shmoop.com/political-parties/founding-fathers-political-parties.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and stagnation.<ref>{{cite WS|title=Washington's Farewell Address|link=Washington's Farewell Address#20}}</ref> Nevertheless, the beginnings of the American [[two-party system]] emerged from Washington's immediate circle of advisers, including Hamilton and Madison. By the 1790s, different views of the new country's proper course had already developed, with those holding the same views banding together. The followers of [[Alexander Hamilton]] (the "[[Federalist Party|Federalist]]") favored a strong central government that would support the interests of commerce and industry. The followers of [[Thomas Jefferson]], ("[[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republicans]]") preferred a decentralized [[Agrarianism|agrarian]] republic. By 1828, the Federalists had disappeared as an organization, replaced first by the [[National Republican Party]] and then by the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whigs]], while the Democratic Republicans evolved into the Democrats led by [[Andrew Jackson]], and known for celebrating "the common (white) man" and the expansion of suffrage to most of them. In the 1850s, it was the Whigs' turn to disappear, undone by the issue of whether slavery should be allowed to expand into the country's new territories in the West. The Whigs were eventually replaced by the Republican Party which opposed slavery expansion and whose first successful candidate for the presidency was [[Abraham Lincoln]]. ====Democratic and Republican==== In the 150+ years since the Democratic and Republican parties have been America's two major parties, though their policies, base of support and relative strength have changed considerably. Some eras in American politics include: * [[Reconstruction era]] (1865—1877) and [[Gilded Age]] (1870s—1900s). After the defeat of the Confederacy, the Republican Party, associated with the successful military defense of the Union and often known as "the Grand Old Party", became the dominant party in America.<ref>Lewis L. Gould, ''The Republicans: A History of the Grand Old Party'' (Oxford University Press, 2014).</ref> The Democrats were dominant in the "[[Solid South]]" (i.e. solidly Democratic) where "repressive legislation and physical intimidation" of [[Jim Crow]] prevented the "newly enfranchised African Americans from voting". They celebrated "state's rights", a key principle of segregationists. Nationwide democrats supported [[Easy money|cheap-money]], and opposed banking and tariffs.<ref name="britannica-dem">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Democratic-Party |title=Democratic party |website=Britannica |access-date=September 28, 2022}}</ref><ref>Jules Witcover, ''Party of the People: A History of the Democrats'' (2003)</ref> Another element in its coalition were mostly urban Catholics. {{main|Third Party System}} * The [[Progressive Era]] (1896—1917). Progressive programs —municipal reforms, civil service reform, corrupt practices acts, and presidential primaries to replace the power of politicians at national conventions—strove to clean up politics, revitalize democracy, bringing to bear scientific solutions to social problems. Progressive leaders included Republicans [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[Robert M. La Follette]], and [[Charles Evans Hughes]]; Democrats [[William Jennings Bryan]], [[Woodrow Wilson]], and [[Al Smith]]. {{Main|Fourth Party System}} * The [[New Deal]] (1933—1938). These programs of Democratic president [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] designed to deal with the disruption and suffering of the [[Great Depression]] — raising of the minimum wage, the establishment of the [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] and other federal services — created a dramatic political shift in America. Roosevelt "forged a broad coalition—including small farmers, Northern city dwellers, organized labor, European immigrants, liberals, intellectuals, and reformers". The Democratic party became the dominant party—retaining the presidency until 1952 and controlling both houses of Congress for most of the period until the mid-1990s.<ref name=britannica-dem/> {{Main|Fifth Party System}} * The Break up of New Deal coalition. The [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]]—driven by Democratic president [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]—began the breaking off of the white segregationist Solid South from the Democratic party. [[Richard M. Nixon]]'s "[[Southern strategy]]" began the process of winning white Southerners away to the G.O.P., and within a few decades created a solidly Republican south. Republican conservatives became victorious with the [[1980 United States presidential election|1980 victory]] of [[Ronald Reagan]], who campaigned on a theme of smaller government, free trade and tax cuts. These would stimulate economic growth which would then "[[Trickle-down economics|trickle down]]" to the middle and lower classes (who might not benefit initially from these policies). The Republican party was now said to rest on "[[The Three Leg Stool (GOP)|three legs]]" of [[Christian right]]/[[Social conservatism]], [[fiscal conservatism]]/[[Libertarian conservatism|small government]], and strong anti-communist military policy. [[File:Political Polarization in the United States.png|thumb|366x366px|One year after the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, American Facebook users on the political right and political left shared almost no common interests.]] * [[Political polarization in the United States]] (1990s—present). Since the 1990s, the U.S. has experienced more "[[partisan sorting]]" (i.e. liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats began to disappear);<ref>{{cite web |title=Political Polarization in the American Public | publisher=Pew Research Center |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/ |date=12 June 2014}}</ref> as well as a greater surge in ideological polarization, and affective polarization than comparable democracies,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Boxell|first1=Levi|last2=Gentzkow|first2=Matthew|last3=Shapiro|first3=Jesse M.|date=2022|title=Cross-Country Trends in Affective Polarization|journal=The Review of Economics and Statistics|volume=106 |issue=2 |pages=557–565|doi=10.1162/rest_a_01160|s2cid=246583807|issn=0034-6535|url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w26669.pdf }}</ref><ref name=Draca>{{Cite web |last1=Draca |first1=Mirko |last2=Schwarz |first2=Carlo |date=2021-05-11 |title=How Polarized Are Citizens? Measuring Ideology from the Ground-Up |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3154431 |publisher=[[Social Science Research Network]] |ssrn=3154431 |language=en}}</ref> with a shift away from focus on political success, toward the abhorrence and domination ("owning") of supporters of the opposing party.<ref name="sectarian">{{Cite journal |last1=Finkel |first1=Eli J. |last2=Bail |first2=Christopher A. |last3=Cikara |first3=Mina |last4=Ditto |first4=Peter H. |last5=Iyengar |first5=Shanto |last6=Klar |first6=Samara |last7=Mason |first7=Lilliana |last8=McGrath |first8=Mary C. |last9=Nyhan |first9=Brendan |last10=Rand |first10=David G. |last11=Skitka |first11=Linda J.|author-link6 = Samara Klar |date=2020-10-30 |title=Political sectarianism in America |journal=Science |language=en |volume=370 |issue=6516 |pages=533–536 |doi=10.1126/science.abe1715 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=33122374 |doi-access=free}}</ref> This move away from the center and change in ideology has not been symmetrical, with Republicans moving farther to the right than Democrats have moved to the left (based on rankings of congressional roll-call votes).<ref name="Desilver-Pew-10-3-2022">{{cite web |last1=Desilver |first1=Drew |title=The polarization in today's Congress has roots that go back decades |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/03/10/the-polarization-in-todays-congress-has-roots-that-go-back-decades/ |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=10 November 2022 |date=March 10, 2022}}</ref> {{NoteTag|see also Sahil Chinoy: the Republican Party "leans much farther right than most traditional conservative parties in Western Europe and Canada", based on its party manifestos, while the Democratic Party is still close to other left-of-center parties in developed democracies.<ref name="Chinoy-NYT-26-6-2019">{{cite news |last1=Chinoy |first1=Sahil |title=What Happened to America's Political Center of Gravity? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/26/opinion/sunday/republican-platform-far-right.html |access-date=5 November 2022 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 26, 2019}}</ref>}} Republican strategist [[Newt Gingrich]] introduced a "Take No Prisoners"<ref name="Krauss-bank-1992">{{cite news |last1=Krauss |first1=Clifford |title=The House Bank; Gingrich Takes No Prisoners in the House's Sea of Gentility |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/17/us/the-house-bank-gingrich-takes-no-prisoners-in-the-house-s-sea-of-gentility.html |access-date=9 November 2022 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 17, 1992 |quote=Newt Gingrich of Georgia, the Republican whip, who is described even by his friends as a bomb thrower, a pit bull, a guerrilla. ... the triumph of a militant style of Republican leadership that the House has not seen for decades.}}</ref> or "no-holds-barred" style in congress,<ref name="Beauchamp-conquered">{{cite news |last1=Beauchamp |first1=Zack |title=How conservatism conquered America — and corrupted itself |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/7/6/23144343/end-of-conservatism-roe |access-date=5 November 2022 |website=Vox |date=July 6, 2022}}</ref> that abandoned the norm whereby Democrats were opponents in elections but primarily colleagues to negotiate with in making good legislation. Gingrich taught that they were the enemy to be defeated, attacked as "traitors ... liars ... cheaters".<ref name=dana-8-9-22>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/08/09/1116281152/how-the-republican-party-came-to-embrace-conspiracy-theories-and-denialism |title=How the Republican Party came to embrace conspiracy theories and denialism [Interview by Terry Gross of Dana Milbank, author of ''The Destructionists: The Twenty-Five-Year Crack-Up Of The Republican Party'' |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=August 9, 2022 |access-date=October 3, 2022}}</ref> [[Karl Rove]] emphasized that elections are won by energizing the party "base" (core supporters), not reaching out to the persuadable or swing voter in the middle; attacking opponents strong points (for example running ads implying decorated veterans—[[Max Cleland]] and [[John Kerry]]—were actually treasonous).<ref name=dana-8-9-22/> Conspiracy theories also began to become mainstream among Republicans during this time (for example accusing then Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] of ordering the military to not protect Americans at the [[2012 Benghazi attack|U.S. compound in Benghazi]]).<ref name=dana-8-9-22/> * [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Presidency of Donald Trump]] (2017—2021). After decades of dominance, "Reagan Revolution" rhetoric and policy, began to be replaced by new themes [[Political positions of Ronald Reagan|Reaganism]] had not emphasized, (cultural/attitudinal conservatism such as opposition to gay marriage, transgender rights). Themes it had not objected to (immigration from non-European countries) or had unequivocally supported (economic globalization and especially big business) were abandoned or attacked. Populism replaced gentility,<ref name="lurched-2020-economist">{{cite news |title=The Republican Party has lurched toward populism and illiberalism |url=https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/10/31/the-republican-party-has-lurched-towards-populism-and-illiberalism |access-date=November 9, 2022 |newspaper=The Economist |date=October 31, 2020}}</ref> and prudent [[Edmund Burke]] conservatism.<ref name="NYer-Lizza-met-11-11-15">{{cite magazine |last1=Lizza |first1=Ryan |title=When Donald Trump Met Edmund Burke |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/when-donald-trump-met-edmund-burke |access-date=9 November 2022 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=11 November 2015 |quote=The Burkeans have been losing ground in the Republican Party for a while now. Too often their old conception of conservatism strikes others in the G.O.P. as a form of surrender or, at the very least, an acceptance of the liberal status quo.}}</ref> In the party base, not only had conservative (white) blue collar workers migrated to the Republican Party, but a business class that had been part of the Republican Party since the post-Civil War [[Gilded Age]], began to leave.{{notetag|[[Ross Douthat]] explained the shift:<ref>Ross Douthat. "What Does the Right Do When Big Business Turns Against Republicans?" [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/27/opinion/desantis-musk-disney.html ''New York Times'' April 27, 2022]</ref><blockquote>The Republican Party in the Trump era remained a mostly pro-business party in its policies but its constituencies and rhetoric have tilted more working class and populist ... much of corporate America has swung culturally into liberalism's camp. ... accelerated by anti-Trump backlash, the more left-leaning commitments of big business's younger customers and (especially) younger employees, ... As a consequence, today's G.O.P. is most clearly now the party of local capitalism—the small-business gentry, the family firms.... Much of the party elite wish to continue doing business with big business as before. But the party's base regards corporate institutions—especially in Silicon Valley, but extending to more traditional capitalist powers—as cultural enemies ...</blockquote> In the words of Republican Senator [[Marco Rubio]]: "Big Business is not our ally. They are eager culture warriors who use the language of [[woke]]ness to cover free-market capitalism." Journalist [[David Brooks (commentator)|David Brooks]] argued that "the information age is transforming the American right. Conservatives have always inveighed against the cultural elite—the media, the universities, Hollywood. But in the Information Age, the purveyors of culture are now corporate titans".<ref name=terrifying>{{cite magazine |title=The Terrifying Future of the American Right |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/scary-future-american-right-national-conservatism-conference/620746/ |first1=David |last1=Brooks |magazine=Atlantic |date=18 November 2021}}</ref>}} Added to the louder and growing number of conspiracy theories{{NoteTag|When conspiracy theories started appearing after the intruder attack with a hammer of 82-year-old Paul Pelvis, Chris Cillizza of CNN described them as "unfortunately, ... par for the course for the former president and the movement that he leads. The embrace of conspiracy theories sits at the very heart of Trumpism. Remember that Trump once suggested, without evidence, that Texas Sen. [[Ted Cruz]]'s father might have been involved in the [[assassination of John F. Kennedy]]. And that the Iowa caucuses had been stolen from him. And that the 2020 election was stolen from him. And that the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago might have really been an effort to reclaim Hillary Clinton's email server. Conspiracy theories have a special appeal to Trump because they speak to the underlying appeal he has to his followers: The elites in the country are always up to something nefarious and they are trying to keep that fact from you. They want to keep you in the dark, but you are too smart for that, so you see through the stories they are telling you."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/01/politics/donald-trump-paul-pelosi-reaction/index.html |title=Donald Trump joins the Paul Pelosi conspiracy caucus |author=Chris Cillizza |publisher=CNN |date= 1 November 2022 |access-date=2 November 2022}}</ref>}} were "[[alternative facts]]". The "bedrock principle of democracy, that losing candidates and their supporters accept the results" was no longer supported by the majority of Republicans.<ref name="Benen-data-MSMBC-2-11-2021">{{cite news |last1=Benen |first1=Steve |author-link1=Steve Benen|title=Data shows GOP voters skeptical of 'bedrock principle of democracy' |url=https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/data-shows-gop-voters-skeptical-bedrock-principle-democracy-n1282947 |access-date=9 November 2022 |publisher=MSNBC |date=2 November 2021 |quote= When looking ahead to the 2024 presidential election, it is remarkable that a bedrock principle of democracy — that losing candidates and their supporters accept the results — is not held by nearly two in three Republicans who say they will question the results if their candidate does not win. (pollster Lee Miringoff)}}</ref> Not only did white southerners leave the Democratic party but eventually a large majority of rural and working class whites nationwide became the base of the Republican Party.<ref name="Bauman-2020">{{cite news |last1=Bauman |first1=Anna |last2=Clayson |first2=Jane |title=Tracing The Path Of The Modern GOP, From Reagan To Trump |url=https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2020/08/28/gerald-seib-tracing-modern-gop |publisher=WBUR |website=On Point |access-date=September 28, 2022 |date=August 28, 2020}}</ref> Whereas for decades the college-educated voters skewed heavily toward the Republican party, eventually high educational attainment was a marker of Democratic support, (leading [[Donald Trump]] to proclaim to supporters, "I love the poorly educated!"). Post-2012 has also been characterized by even political division and a lack of a dominant political party.<ref>{{cite news |author=Jamelle Bouie |date=November 11, 2022 |title=A Shock to the System Is Coming. Which Party Will Be Ready for It? |department=Opinion |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/11/opinion/midterms-republicans-democrats-history.html}}</ref> ===Development of voting=== In pre-colonial and post-revolutionary American times, voters went to the polls and publicly stated which candidate they supported, rather than voting secretly, which was considered "cowardly" and "underhanded".<ref name="Lepore-NYer-2008"/> Originally, state laws required voters to be property owners, but "by the time Andrew Jackson was elected President, in 1828, nearly all white men could vote".<ref name="Lepore-NYer-2008"/> Later in the 19th century, voting was done by written paper ballot. A broadened franchise where many voters were illiterate or misspelling disqualified a vote, led to the use of printed ballots. Each political party would create its own ballot—preprinted "party tickets"—give them to supporters, and who would publicly put the party's ballot into the voting box, or hand them to election judges through a window.<ref name="Lepore-NYer-2008"/> The tickets indicated a vote for all of that party's slate of candidates, preventing "ticket splitting".<ref name="Lepore-NYer-2008"/> (As of 1859 "nowhere in the United States ... did election officials provide ballots", i.e. they all came from political parties.) In cities voters often had to make their way through a throng of partisans who would try to prevent supporters of the opposing party from voting, a practice generally allowed unless it "clearly" appeared "that there was such a display of force as ought to have intimidated men of ordinary firmness."<ref name="Lepore-NYer-2008">{{cite magazine |last1=Lepore |first1=Jill |title=Rock, Paper, Scissors |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/10/13/rock-paper-scissors |access-date=September 26, 2022 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=October 6, 2008}}</ref> The practice was dangerous enough that in "the middle decades of the nineteenth century," several dozen (89) were killed in Election Day riots.<ref name="Lepore-NYer-2008"/> It was not until the late nineteenth century that states began to adopt the [[secret ballot|Australian secret-ballot method]] (despite fears it "would make any nation a nation of scoundrels"),<ref name="Lepore-NYer-2008"/> and it eventually became the national standard. The secret ballot method ensured that the privacy of voters would be protected (hence government jobs could no longer be awarded to loyal voters), and each state would be responsible for creating one official ballot. ====Suffrage==== [[File:U.S. Vote for President as Population Share.png|thumb|upright=2|U.S. presidential election popular vote totals as a percentage of the total U.S. population grew from 1-2% in the first American elections to over 40% by the 21st century. Note the surge in 1828 ([[Jacksonian democracy|extension of suffrage to non-property-owning white men]]), the drop from 1890 to 1910 (when Southern states [[Disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction Era|disenfranchised most African Americans and many poor whites]]), and another surge in 1920 ([[Women's suffrage in the United States|extension of suffrage to women]]).]] Some key events of suffrage expansion are: * 1792–1856: Abolition of property qualifications for white men were abolished.<ref name=NBER2005>{{cite web|author1=Stanley L. Engerman|author2=Kenneth L. Sokoloff|title=The Evolution of Suffrage Institutions in the New World|date=February 2005|url=http://economics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Workshops-Seminars/Economic-History/sokoloff-050406.pdf|pages=16, 35|quote=By 1840, only three states retained a property qualification, North Carolina (for some state-wide offices only), Rhode Island, and Virginia. In 1856 North Carolina was the last state to end the practice. Tax-paying qualifications were also gone in all but a few states by the Civil War, but they survived into the 20th century in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310102314/http://economics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Workshops-Seminars/Economic-History/sokoloff-050406.pdf|archive-date=2016-03-10|access-date=2022-09-29}}</ref> * 1868: Citizenship was guaranteed to all persons born or naturalized in the United States by the Fourteenth Amendment, although [[Jim Crow laws]] prevented most African Americans from voting. * 1920: Women are guaranteed the right to vote in all US states by the Nineteenth Amendment. * 1964-66: Civil Rights laws and Supreme Court rulings eliminate tax payment and wealth requirements and protect voter registration and voting for racial minorities. * 1971: Adults aged 18 through 20 are granted the right to vote by the Twenty-sixth Amendment.
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