Why read The Populist Moment?

Book cover of The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America

Book description

This condensed version of Lawrence Goodwyn's Democratic Promise, the highly-acclaimed study on American Populism which the Civil Liberties Review called "a brilliant, comprehensive study," offers new political language designed to provide a fresh means of assessing both democracy and authoritarianism today.

Explore

Topics

Genres

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Populist Moment as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Tracy Campbell

Author

Although nearly fifty years old, Goodwyn’s book (based on his magisterial Democratic Promise) remains the standard work for understanding how democratic movements originate and develop.

Goodwyn changed the way we think of “populism” and shows that democratic forms can be crushed even at their height. I often use Goodwyn’s concept of a “movement culture” when considering modern politics and the fundamental difference between movements and campaigns.

From Tracy's list on the contested history of democracy.