With a PoD of at least 1865, how would the Socialist Party of America (or really, any American socialist party) be able to arise to, at least, coming in second in a national election, and remaining in the upper echelons of power alongside the two major parties?
AHC: Strong Socialist party?
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Would social-democratic (in the modern sense) and/or social-liberalism count? Or we're more about socialism as understood in XIXth, evolving no further than modern left socialist parties?
I'm mostly referring to socialist parties as they were viewed at the time. To be more specific, the Social Democratic Party and anything to the left of them are fair game. Moderate reformists within these parties are included.
Woodrow Wilson effectively destroyed the Socialist Party when he locked up Debs, and fuelled the first red scare
personally though, I cant see how an openly socialist party could ever win a US election, just because of the American mindset. I mean it took a depression before the American public found the New Deal palatable, so what would it take for them to accept public ownership?
personally though, I cant see how an openly socialist party could ever win a US election, just because of the American mindset. I mean it took a depression before the American public found the New Deal palatable, so what would it take for them to accept public ownership?
You might want to start with the Panics of 1873 or 1893. I'm not sure how related they are to the rise of socialism in the United States, but perhaps by making them worse you could probably swing enough people to consider public ownership a viable option and thus make the Socialist Party more powerful.