Populism and Power in Congress, 1890–1895

American farmers faced an economic crisis beginning in 1870. Farmers turned to the Republican and Democratic parties to represent their grievances, to no effect. As a result, farmers launched the Farmers’ Alliances, and then, the People’s Party. As a movement, populism was a resounding success. As a political party, populism was an abject failure. Populists won seats in Congress and arrived with a clear mandate. What they encountered was a legislative order designed to render them inert. Excluded from the committee system, denied recognition on the floor, and unable to caucus with either of the two main parties, Populist representatives could not advance the agenda for which they had been elected. The People’s Party collapsed and fused with the Democrats, undone by the institutional structure of Congress as much as by the verdict of the electorate. American populism in the 1890s is both borne and ultimately terminated by way of obstructed representation.