Description: Ostler shows that economic conditions alone cannot explain why populism flourished or foundered. Through a study of populism in Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa, Ostler demonstrates that the strength or weakness of the two dominant political parties within a state had a significant effect on the success of a third party challenge.
Review Quotes:
"Ostler's study is analytically sophisticated and crisply executed. It is required reading for anyone interested in the relationships between social movements and political parties and underscores, in a subtle and refreshing way, the nonobvious role that federalism has played and still plays in the American party system's development."--Richard M. Valelly, author of Radicalism in the States: The Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party and the American Political Economy
"A fresh interpretation of political history. Ostler writes with equal sophistication on the economic conditions of midwestern agriculture, the social dynamics of farm organizations, and the nuances of state politics. The work is also significant because so little has been written on Populism in Iowa and other states where the third-party movement was a failure."--Robert C. McMath Jr., author of American Populism