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Agrarian Politics And The American Tradition, Jeff Taylor

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Agrarianism is a political philosophy and way of life known and prac­ticed among peoples of diverse nationalities and religions. While having ancient, medieval, and early-modern roots, agrarian politics blossomed most dramatically in America, during both its colonial and republican periods. Notable spokesmen for American agrarianism include Thomas Jefferson, William Jennings Bryan, and Robert La Follette. It has been in steady decline for the past century as cosmopolitan and centralizing forc­es have displaced tradition and smallness of scale. Still, there have been natural voices lamenting losses in the face of"progress": Distributists and Southern Agrarians, the Counterculture and the Green Party, Wendell …