'Insurgent Democracy' the demise of The Nonpartisan League

Author Michael Lansing's new book "Insurgent Democracy" is based on The Nonpartisan League, a political organization that had 200,000 before its demise in the 1920s.

The league was made of farmers who sought candidates that supported their platforms, regardless of party.

Lansing told MPR News host Tom Weber that this is one of the few transnational political movements that had reaches into Canada. The Nonpartisan League is also the reason for the large number of co-operatives in the state today.

The Nonpartisan party is no longer in place for a couple of reasons, one being their marked success in states like North Dakota. They've also been absorbed into the current Democratic Party in Minnesota.

Michael Lansing is an associate professor of history at Augsburg College.

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