Political History

After being overshadowed by rising interest in new subfields of historical study starting in the 1960s, the study of political history has experienced a resurgence in the last several decades.  Interested in the context of social developments, historians began "bringing the state back in" by examining the nature of policy-making at all levels of American government, and often with a comparative, international dimension.  This study viewed government as simply representing constituency interests, but also acting as an independent agent.  Legal and constitutional history constitute part of this field, as does the analysis of foreign and military policy.

More traditional studies of leadership and political power have remained an important part of this field, and political biography of key figures, most notably of presidents, provide a vital means of understanding the nation’s development. The analysis of leadership and groups on state and local levels provide further insights into these issues. The study of political behavior, including quantitative analysis, comprises another important dimension of political history, involving studies of topics such as elections, political careers, and legislative behavior.

The greatest changes in political history have been the increased interest in the social context. Historians have begun looking more closely at the role of women and people of color, noting that besides holding office and voting the organization of interest groups and actions such as lobbying constitute vital elements of politics. Furthermore, new approaches to the study of political ideology, culture, and discourse provide new insights into American politics.

Political History at Arizona State University

The Arizona State University History Department includes a substantial group of scholars who publish and teach on a variety of American political history topics, both traditional and new. Their expertise covers the 19th and 20th centuries, especially the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, and a particular strength in political biography. Their work covers national developments as well as state and local politics.

Building on a strong undergraduate curriculum in American political history, the faculty offer numerous graduate courses. Besides a required course for all graduate students in American history, the faculty regularly offer seminars in the Progressive Era, presidential politics, foreign policy, and 20th century Western politics.

Faculty

Gayle Gullett focuses on how women entered public life, shaped politics, and constructed political identities in the early twentieth century. She has published a history of the women's suffrage movement in California and is currently asking how the political activism of these newly enfranchised citizens shaped modernity.

Catherine Kaplan writes about politics and culture in the early American republic.  Her forthcoming book, Men of Letters in the Early Republic:  Creating Forums of Citizenship, 1795-1811, explores literary culture and politics.

Kyle Longley is the author of a biography of Senator Albert Gore (senior).  He focuses on politics and foreign policy in twentieth-century America, with a special interest in U.S.-Latin American relations and the Vietnam conflict.

Wendy Plotkin is a U.S. political and policy historian who teaches the post-World War II U.S. history courses, and specializes in research on the 19th and 20th century U.S. city and metropolitan area. Her focus is the study of governmental and civic institutions at the federal, state, and local levels. 

Brooks Simpson focuses on nineteenth-century American political and military history, especially the Civil War and Reconstruction, as well as the American presidency.

Philip VanderMeer studies politics after 1880.  His publications include such topics as political careers and legislative behavior, 3rd parties, bosses and political machines, and presidential elections.  He studies the Midwest and the postwar urban West, and both individual and collective biography; he employs both qualitative and quantitative methods. 

Related Faculty

Other faculty members in the department also teach and write about American political history. 

T. J. Davis studies constitutional and legal history

Edward Escobar is a specialist on the Los Angeles police

Peter Iverson has written a biography of Barry Goldwater