THE PEOPLE ENGAGE IN POLITICAL LIFE: THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICAN STORY

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Using unique archives of individual level political information, this study explores the idea of political identities and the ways ordinary citizens in nineteenth century America established their place in political life. Nine carefully chosen case studies allow examination of political participation and partisanship in settings traditional and modern, urban and rural. The project asks how, and whether, a democratic theory arising from a politics of rural localism retained meaning for citizens in very different social settings. Understanding how political identities were created in the past may help us identify ways to increase the saliency of politics in ordinary lives today.