Voting/Elections: Books & Ebooks

Behind the deeply contentious 2020 election stands a real story of a broken election process. This book explores the reality of the fraud and bureaucratic errors and mistakes that should concern all Americans and offers recommendations and solutions to fix those problems.

Shows how the divergent trajectories of legislation, administration, and judicial interpretation in voting rights policymaking derive largely from efforts by conservative politicians to narrow the scope of federal enforcement while at the same time preserving their public reputations as supporters of racial equality and minority voting rights.

Includes an edited transcript of a conversation hosted by the Library Company of Philadelphia in 2019, as well as the "ten best" articles students and interested citizens should read about voter access and suppression.

The authors analyze depictions of voters in print news coverage over the course of eighteen presidential elections (1948-2016), describe people's reactions to those depictions, and share insights from their interviews with more than fifty elite journalists.

Provides a thought-provoking discussion of issues that influence voter registration and turnout in contemporary America. It covers issues that are consistently in the media, such as gerrymandering; voter ID; and rules pertaining to when, where, and how Americans register and vote.

Explores such topics as campaign finance and the corporate funding of elections in the aftermath of Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission (2010); the effects of the Supreme Court's ruling to roll back various aspects of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; the rise of one-party domination of state government and the subsequent, unprecedented gerrymandering of districts; the use of initiatives and referendums to mobilize political bases; and the changing uses of social media in campaigns and the rise of political dissidents both inside and outside the two major parties.

With the increasing demands for changes in how we vote, the authors analyze the complications of race tied to these proposed policies through historical and contemporary challenges.

Addresses contemporary concerns with judicial elections by investigating factors that influence voters' decisions in the election of state supreme court judges and evaluates the influence of incumbency and other ballot cues on voters' decisions. Data-rich and analytically rigorous, this book shows why voters decide to participate in judicial elections and what factors they consider in casting their votes.

With many Americans despairing over the corrosive influence that private and often anonymous money can have on political platforms, campaigns, and outcomes at the federal and state level, this book considers the impact of state-level public election financing on political campaigns through the eyes of candidates.

Explains how, across the 20th century, the issue of access to the ballot was transformed from a largely practical matter of electoral advantage into an ideological difference between the Democrat and Republican Parties.

Sections present articles on subjects ranging from convict disenfranchisement, voting and race, and the challenges of voting in urban versus rural areas. This issue pays special attention to the debate over voter fraud and voting security and how recent allegations of voter fraud have been used to justify new voter restrictions in many states. Other topics covered include voter ID requirements, voting and transportation for the elderly, and the debate over online voting.

Today, new laws seek to eliminate voters of color, the poor, and the elderly, groups that historically vote for the Democratic Party. Uncounted examines the phenomenon of disenfranchisement through the lens of history, race, law, and the democratic process. argues that voter suppression works in cycles, constantly adapting and finding new ways to hinder access for an exponentially growing minority population. The author warns that a premeditated strategy of restrictive laws and deceptive practices has taken root and is eroding the very basis of American democracy—the right to vote!

An anthology of essays offering a diverse array of perspectives that explore political parties in America, including one about how non-partisan "get out the vote" (GOTV) efforts may offer the most hope in increasing voter turnout.

The authors explore a new theory of why people take part in collective action in politics, and test it in the contexts of voting and protesting, developing the idea that just as there are costs of participation in politics, there are also costs of abstention - intrinsic and psychological. They attempt to answer some of these questions: Why do vote-suppression efforts sometimes fail? Why does police repression of demonstrators sometimes turn localized protests into massive, national movements? How do politicians and activists manipulate people's emotions to get them involved?

With political action committees, special interest groups, and ultra-wealthy donors buying and selling candidates, Americans end up with representatives who may be more beholden to top donors than to the American people. This book offers opposing perspectives of whether campaign finance reform would level the playing field and give Americans the best candidates for the job, or if it is a losing proposition that we must accept?

Traces the development of the Voting Rights Act from its inception by exploring the political and legal aspects of the Jim Crow electoral regime. and details both the subsequent struggle to enact the law and its impact. The authors draw on court cases and election data to bring their discussion to the present with an examination of the 2006 revision and renewal of the act, and its role in shaping the southern political environment in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.

Citizens sometimes lack the knowledge that they need to make competent political choices, and it is undeniable that greater knowledge can improve decision making. The author provides the keys to improving political knowledge and civic competence. He suggests techniques for understanding what information is important to voters and knowing how best to convey it to them.

A riveting and alarming account of the continuing battle over Americans' right to vote, 50 years after the Voting Rights Act was enacted.

Read how black voters overcame centuries of bigotry to secure and preserve one of their most important rights as American citizens. While the Voting Rights Act represented an unqualified victory over forces of hate, the author explains that its achievements remain in jeopardy. Recent years have seen renewed efforts and legal challenges to curb voting rights and deny minorities the act's hard-won protections.