ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Fourth Party System

Okay kiddo, imagine you have a party at your house with your friends. You have different groups of friends and some of them like different things. Some like playing games, some like eating pizza, and some like dancing.

Now, imagine this same thing but on a bigger level. In the United States, there are four big “parties” or groups of people who like different things and have different ideas about how things should be done. These are the Democrats, Republicans, Populists, and Progressives.

Not everyone likes everything in one of these parties, so sometimes people form smaller groups within a party or they leave a party and join another one. This is like your friends at your party splitting up into different groups to do different things.

The fourth party system happened a long time ago, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and it was a time when the Populists and Progressives were becoming more influential in politics. They wanted to change things in the government to make it more fair for everyone.

So, just like you might try to make sure everyone at your party is having a good time, the Populists and Progressives wanted to make sure everyone in the country was being treated fairly. They had ideas like making it easier for people to vote, regulating big businesses so they couldn't take advantage of people, and making sure that people who worked could earn a fair wage.

So, the fourth party system was a time when these groups were trying to make changes and get their ideas heard. It was a time of a lot of debate and discussion about what was best for the country. Just like at a party, there were lots of different opinions and ideas, but everyone was trying to have a good time and make things better for everyone.