This book explores the fascinating and puzzling world of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American elections. It examines the strategic behavior of nineteenth-century party politicians and shows how their search for electoral victory led them to invent a number of remarkable campaign practices. Why were parties dedicated to massive voter mobilization? Why did presidential nominees wage front-porch campaigns? Why did officeholders across the country tie their electoral fortunes to the popularity of presidential candidates at the top of the ticket? Erik J. Engstrom and Samuel Kernell demonstrate that the defining features of nineteenth-century electoral politics were the product of institutions in the states that prescribed how votes were cast and how those votes were converted into political offices. Relying on a century's worth of original data, this book uncovers the forces propelling the nineteenth-century electoral system, its transformation at the end of the nineteenth century, and the implications of that transformation for modern American politics.

Co-Winner, 2015 J. David Greenstone Book Prize, Politics and History Section, American Political Science Association

‘For many years to come, I expect this will be an important source of information on election law, the impact of ballot design on the ‘coordination' of party control of offices, and hypotheses concerning structural manipulation of voter behavior. The analysis is carefully and skilfully executed, the findings are convincing, and the implications are well drawn.'

Richard Bensel - Cornell University, New York

‘In this book, Engstrom and Kernell give us a cogently theorized account, based on the most comprehensive data, of the dramatic transformations of American electoral politics over the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This is both a landmark study and an invaluable reference source.'

Gary W. Cox - Stanford University, California

‘This is a landmark book. Engstrom and Kernell draw on a rich dataset of elections to offer a bracing account of the origins of divided government. The nineteenth century, they show, was characterized by party-centered voting, with the fortunes of officeholders in every town and hamlet connected to the popularity of the president or governor. That party system ended unexpectedly with Progressive-era reforms, as ballots changed and districts grew less competitive.'

Gerald Gamm - University of Rochester, New York

‘An instant classic in the field of American electoral history. A must-read.'

Jerrold G. Rusk - Rice University, Houston

‘Engstrom and Kernell offer an important new interpretation of American electoral history. By collecting and analyzing a trove of new data on election rules and outcomes, they demonstrate how and why the American electoral system was transformed at the turn of the last century. It sets a new standard for the historical study of American elections.'

Eric Schickler - University of California, Berkeley

'Erik Engstrom and Samuel Kernell have written a study that is remarkable in its scope, comprehensiveness, and depth of research. Very few works on the history of American elections examine the topic with such authority and detail. With this book, Professors Engstrom and Kernell join such luminaries as Walter Dean Burnham and Richard Bensel in breaking new ground in the study of American elections, providing fresh insights into a multitude of electoral practices - some long-gone, others that we take for granted even today.'

Matthew N. Green Source: Congress and the Presidency

'Party Ballots, Reform, and the Transformation of America's Electoral System is an impressive piece of research that will have long-lasting significance for the study of parties and elections in the United States.'

Source: Perspectives in Politics