Ballard Campbell's presidential address, "Economic Causes of Progressivism," which begins this issue, represents a tendency in recent writing on the political history of the period covered by this journal that will manifest itself in several essays over the coming months. The explanatory structure that prevailed in political history from around 1970 until a few years ago—the New Political History of party systems, realignments, critical elections, and ethnocultural patterns—seemed to set electoral politics in a geological time frame that interacted with events, governance, and public policy mainly in moments of great upheaval, such as the Sectional Crisis or the depression of the 1890s. Twenty-five years ago, historians such as Richard L. McCormick began to notice the problem posed by this conceptual separation between electoral politics and the substance of government.¹ Gradually, writings have appeared that attempt to reconnect elections and governance, resulting in a more fluid political history, contingent on policy decisions and on medium-term and short-term events. Perhaps the detour through the New Political History will result in political history that is more sensitive to entrenched voting patterns but still attentive to personalities and situations.