The Tea Party

February 6, 2012
Though perhaps premature, University of Kentucky history professor Formisano merits attention for providing even-handed perspective on and clarifying misconceptions about America’s recent political phenomenon. The group’s roots, as Formisano suggests, can be found in protest movements dating back to the Whiskey Rebellion, and parallels third parties as recent as those of George Wallace and Ross Perot. Formisano (For the People: American Populist Movements from the Revolution to the 1850s) makes valuable clarifications: the Tea Party and the religious right are not synonymous, and there are factional disputes within. While the billionaire Koch brothers are among the group’s wealthy advocates, Formisano convincingly argues that “the enterprises of many global corporations based in the United States clearly are in implicit conflict with Tea Party positions.” He notes that the group’s relations with the mainstream Republican Party are prickly, with about half holding an unfavorable view of the conservative establishment. However, party supporters are not isolated zealots, and may, like other Americans, only want to gain control over their destinies. His most trenchant observation might have emerged from a Pirandello play: “Its partisans and critics alike, as if reading tea leaves, often see in it what they wish to see.”

April 1, 2012

One of the biggest questions regarding the Tea Party is its authenticity--is it a real, honest-to-goodness grassroots movement or an "Astroturf" one, with conservative elites pulling the strings? This question takes center stage here. In contrast to Foley's philosophical approach (see above), Formisano (William T. Bryan Chair of American History, Univ. of Kentucky; For the People: American Populist Movements from the Revolution to the 1850s) focuses on the Tea Party movement as a historical and sociological phenomenon, discussing its intellectual underpinnings only when they are pertinent to his larger discussion. He compares the Tea Party to related events in recent American history, e.g., Ross Perot's candidacies for president in 1992 and 1996, finding parallels and contradictions that may help predict the Tea Party's ultimate impact. VERDICT Written in a brisk, journalistic fashion, this informative book is an excellent snapshot of the Tea Party as it seeks to make further inroads in the political arena. Despite its decidedly left-wing point of view, it raises questions that informed voters from all parts of the political spectrum ought to consider as the election season ramps up.--Brett Rohlwing, Washington Park Branch, Milwaukee P.L., WI

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2012
Some 40 to 45 percent of Republican primary voters are Tea Party members seeking to direct the course of this year's presidential election. Yet the group that has been at the center of politics since 2009 is still not clearly defined in terms of objectives and message. Is it more concerned about shrinking the government or prodding the nation toward more conservative social values? The Tea Party has clearly pushed the political agendas of both major parties to the right, but will it have an enduring effect on American politics? Formisano offers a historical perspective, comparing the Tea Party to similar populist movements, both progressive and reactionary, of the past, from the original Boston Tea Party to the People's Party of the 1890s, from the Progressive Party of the 1920s to the Dixiecrats of the 1940s and, more recently, the parties of George Wallace and Ross Perot. He examines the conditions that gave birth to the Tea Party and whether it is genuinely grassroots or directed by corporate interests and billionaires. A helpful primer on a movement that is changing the American political landscape.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)