How Urban Democrats Became the Most Powerful Force in U.S. Politics The 150-year history of how a once-rural party became synonymous with density. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/brief-history-how-democrats-conquered-city/597955/ There is no obvious reason why a 19th-century movement led by Irish Catholic noneducated factory workers should become a 21st-century party for college grads, nonwhite voters, and software developers that defends gay rights, women’s rights, and legalized abortion. But it makes sense if you understand the Democratic Party through the lens of the modern city. Starting in the 1970s through today, Democrats and Republicans have been compelled to take sides on issues that hadn’t previously been politicized. And they have routinely sorted themselves along urban-rural lines, creating a pattern where there was once merely a tendency.