Insurgent Democracy: The Nonpartisan League in North American Politics

In 1915, western farmers mounted one of the most significant challenges to party politics America has seen: the Nonpartisan League, which sought to empower citizens and restrain corporate influence. Before its collapse in the 1920s, the League counted over 250,000 paying members, spread to thirteen states and two Canadian provinces, controlled North Dakota’s state government, and birthed new farmer-labor alliances. Join Minnesota historian Michael Lansing as he talks about his book that sheds new light on this little-known, but extremely important episode of America’s past. Presence of the Past Program Series, March 31, 2016