by Ronald P. Formisano (Get the Book)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. --Booklist
