Download or read book Rethinking American Electoral Democracy written by Matthew J. Streb and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2008-02-19 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is the cure for the ills of democracy more democracy? Is it possible to have too much democracy in a well-functioning government? What should a model electoral democracy look like? In this critical examination of the state of American electoral process, Matthew Streb analyzes the major debates that embroil scholars and reformers on subjects ranging from the number of elections we hold and the use of nonpartisan elections, to the presidential nominating process and campaign finance laws. Ultimately, Streb makes an argument for a less burdensome democracy, a democracy in which citizens can participate more easily. This book is designed to get students of elections and American political institutions to think critically about what it means to be democratic and how democratic the United States really is. Part of the Controversies in Electoral Democracy and Representation series, edited by Matthew J. Streb. Matthew J. Streb is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Northern Illinois University. He is the author The New Electoral Politics of Race, and the editor or co-editor of five other books including Running for Judge.
Download or read book Rethinking American Electoral Democracy written by Matthew Justin Streb and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Matthew Streb provides an analysis of the major debates that rage among scholars and reformers on subjects as diverse as the number of elections we hold, the use of nonpartisan elections, and the presidential primary process.
Download or read book Rethinking American Electoral Democracy written by Matthew J. Streb and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2011-02-01 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While frustration with various aspects of American democracy abound in the United States, there is little agreement over—or even understanding of—what kinds of changes would make the system more effective and increase political participation. Matthew J. Streb sheds much needed light on all the major concerns of the electoral process in this timely book on improving American electoral democracy. This critical examination of the rules and institutional arrangements that shape the American electoral process analyzes the major debates that embroil scholars and reformers on subjects ranging from the number of elections we hold and the use of nonpartisan elections, to the presidential nominating process and campaign finance laws. Ultimately, Streb argues for a less burdensome democracy, a democracy in which citizens can participate more easily in transparent, competitive elections. This book is designed to get students of elections and American political institutions to think critically about what it means to be democratic and how democratic the United States really is. Part of the Controversies in Electoral Democracy and Representation series, edited by Matthew J. Streb.
Download or read book Rethinking US Election Law written by Steven Mulroy and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent U.S. elections have defied nationwide majority preference at the White House, Senate, and House levels. This work of interdisciplinary scholarship explains how “winner-take-all” and single-member district elections make this happen, and what can be done to repair the system. Proposed reforms include the National Popular Vote interstate compact (presidential elections); eliminating the Senate filibuster; and proportional representation using Ranked Choice Voting for House, state, and local elections.
Download or read book Electoral Democracy written by Michael MacKuen and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Top scholars in the field survey the study of elections and democracy
Download or read book The Fundamental Voter written by Pfizer-Pratt University Professor of Political Science John H Aldrich and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2024-06-11 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Fundamental Voter, John H. Aldrich, Suhyen Bae, and Bailey K. Sanders explain why the notion that we are divided into tribal loyalties is, at best, only partially correct, and discuss how the divisions rest on much more substantive politics than they once did. In the past, the American public based voting primarily on partisan loyalties; today they do so on five fundamental forces: party, ideology, issues, race, and economics. Since the 1980s, these fundamentals have grown increasingly important, such that voters are now sorted into two bitterly divided sides. Voters have come to deeply dislike the opposition, a state of affairs that threatens the peaceful progress of democratic politics in the United States.
Download or read book Rethinking the Vote written by Ann N. Crigler and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2004 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maintaining the perception of fairness and equal access during elections assures the legitimacy of a democratic system. The U.S. in particular prides itself on its open and honest voting laws and procedures. However, the extraordinary closeness of the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore triggered a rare scrutiny of the election process. This highly disputed contest revealed problems with ballot design and order; access to the polls; voting machines; absentee, military, and overseas ballots; election laws and the Electoral College; and judicial oversight of the voting process. It brought to light issues regarding political polling in general, exit polls in particular, media projections and reporting, and even the election night "calling" of outcomes. Rethinking the Vote: The Politics and Prospects of American Election Reform centers on what can and should be learned about the processes of voting. Using the 2000 presidential election as a starting point, this collection of essays puts forth a constructive effort to learn from what transpired and to offer potential solutions for the future. Featuring work by leading academics and participants in the real-world drama of the 2000 election, it examines the legal, political, and institutional problems of administering elections in the U.S. The book begins and ends with questions about the prospects and possibilities for reform. It takes a consistently pragmatic approach that recognizes both the constraints on and the opportunities for change in America's elaborate constitutional and political structures. Providing a useful mix of quantitative and qualitative data, Rethinking the Vote is ideal for undergraduate courses in American politics, American elections, public opinion and voting behavior, American political thought, campaigns and elections, presidential politics, and media and politics.
Download or read book Why Americans Still Don t Vote written by Frances Fox Piven and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2000-09-22 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Americans take for granted that ours is the very model of a democracy. At the core of this belief is the assumption that the right to vote is firmly established. But in fact, the United States is the only major democratic nation in which the less well-off, the young, and minorities are substantially underrepresented in the electorate. Frances Fox Piven and Richard A. Cloward were key players in the long battle to reform voter registration laws that finally resulted in the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (also known as the Motor Voter law). When Why Americans Don't Vote was first published in 1988, this battle was still raging, and their book was a fiery salvo. It demonstrated that the twentieth century had witnessed a concerted effort to restrict voting by immigrants and blacks through a combination of poll taxes, literacy tests, and unwieldy voter registration requirements. Why Americans Still Don't Vote brings the story up to the present. Analyzing the results of voter registration reform, and drawing compelling historical parallels, Piven and Cloward reveal why neither of the major parties has tried to appeal to the interests of the newly registered-and thus why Americans still don't vote.
Download or read book A Citizen s Guide to U S Elections written by Costas Panagopoulos and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Political observers routinely lament that American democracy is broken, and many of them blame electoral malfunction. But is the system really broken? Panagopoulos and Weinschenk make the case that citizens are empowered to fix what’s wrong with electoral politics and renew democracy in America, all within the institutional setup and framework of the existing system. Put simply, much of what is broken can be fixed if people stop throwing up their arms and start rolling up their sleeves to do the hard work of building our democracy. This book provides an overview of the basic features that characterize contemporary elections in the United States and includes discussions about voter participation and decision-making patterns, money in elections, and the role of parties and the media in presidential, congressional and state and local races. It also outlines some of the most important trends and challenges in the current system. As a call to action, each chapter features potential solutions to the challenges that exist in U.S. elections.
Download or read book Law and Election Politics written by Matthew J. Streb and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Though the courts have been extremely active in interpreting the rules of the electoral game, this role is misunderstood and understudied—as, in many cases, are the rules themselves. Law and Election Politics illustrates how election laws and electoral politics are intertwined, analyzing the rules of the game and some of the most important—and most controversial—decisions the courts have made on a variety of election-related subjects. More than a typical law book that summarizes cases, Mathew Streb has assembled an outstanding group of scholars to place electoral laws and the courts‘ rulings on those laws in the context of electoral politics. They comprehensively cover the range of topics important to election law—campaign finance, political parties, campaigning, redistricting, judicial elections, the Internet, voting machines, voter identification, ballot access, and direct democracy. This is an essential resource both for students of the electoral process and scholars of election law and election reform.
Download or read book Why Bother written by S. Erdem Aytaç and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-01-10 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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? The authors of Why Bother? offer a new theory of why people take part in collective action in politics, and test it in the contexts of voting and protesting. They develop the idea that just as there are costs of participation in politics, there are also costs of abstention - intrinsic and psychological but no less real. That abstention can be psychically costly helps explain real-world patterns that are anomalies for existing theories, such as that sometimes increases in costs of participation are followed by more participation, not less. The book draws on a wealth of survey data, interviews, and experimental results from a range of countries, including the United States, Britain, Brazil, Sweden, and Turkey.
Download or read book American Democracy in Crisis written by Jeanne Sheehan and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Public disenchantment with and distrust of American government is at an all-time high and who can blame them? In the face of widespread challenges-everything from record levels of personal and national debt and the sky high cost of education, to gun violence, racial discrimination, an immigration crisis, overpriced pharmaceuticals, and much more-the government seems paralyzed and unable to act, the most recent example being Covid-19. It's the deadliest pandemic in over a century. In addition to an unimaginable sick and death toll, it has left more than thirty million Americans unemployed. Despite this, Washington let the first round of supplemental unemployment benefits run out and for more than a month were unable to agree on a bill to help those suffering. This book explains why we are in this situation, why the government is unable to respond to key challenges, and what we can do to right the ship. It requires that readers "upstream," stop blaming the individuals in office and instead look at the root cause of the problem. The real culprit is the system; it was designed to protect liberty and structured accordingly. As a result, however, it has left us with a government that is not responsive, largely unaccountable, and often ineffective. This is not an accident; it is by design. Changing the way our government operates requires rethinking its primary goal(s) and then restructuring to meet them. To this end, this book offers specific reform proposals to restructure the government and in the process make it more accountable, effective, and responsive. Jeanne Zaino is Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Iona College, USA. She is the author of three previous books and appears regularly as a commentator in the national and international media. In addition to her teaching and research, she is currently serving as a political contributor at Bloomberg News. Research in the field of political science stretches into an impressive number of areas, but it seems that most examines the personal aspects of governing. Perhaps it is human nature to want to connect a face to a problem, but much of the recent scholarship has focused on how individual actors or political groups have influenced American politics. In this wonderful book, Jeanne Zaino makes the compelling argument that much of our national frustration with gridlock, polarization, and low levels of political efficacy are the fault of the very system that confounds us. -Alison Dagnes, Professor, Shippensburg University, USA.
Download or read book Reporting Elections written by Stephen Cushion and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-03-02 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How elections are reported has important implications for the health of democracy and informed citizenship. But, how informative are the news media during campaigns? What kind of logic do they follow? How well do they serve citizens?e Based on original research as well as the most comprehensive assessment of election studies to date, Cushion and Thomas examine how campaigns are reported in many advanced Western democracies. In doing so, they engage with debates about the mediatization of politics, media systems, information environments, media ownership, regulation, political news, horserace journalism, objectivity, impartiality, agenda-setting, and the relationship between media and democracy more generally. Focusing on the most recent US and UK election campaigns, they consider how the logic of election coverage could be rethought in ways that better serve the democratic needs of citizens. Above all, they argue that election reporting should be driven by a public logic, where the agenda of voters takes centre stage in the campaign and the policies of respective political parties receive more airtime and independent scrutiny. The book is essential reading for scholars and students in political communication and journalism studies, political science, media and communication studies.
Download or read book Election Meltdown written by Richard L. Hasen and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2020-02-04 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A hard-hitting critique of the American election process as timely as it is frightening. . . . Required reading for legislators and voters.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review "A must-read. It's well-written, easy to read, informative and fair. But it doesn't pull punches."—Mark Caputo, on Twitter From noted election law expert Rick Hasen comes a stark warning on the threats to American democracy in a time of foreign election interference and the coronavirus pandemic As the 2020 presidential campaign begins to take shape, there is widespread distrust of the fairness and accuracy of American elections. In this timely and accessible book, Richard L. Hasen uses riveting stories illustrating four factors increasing the mistrust. Voter suppression has escalated as a Republican tool aimed to depress turnout of likely Democratic voters, fueling suspicion. Pockets of incompetence in election administration, often in large cities controlled by Democrats, have created an opening to claims of unfairness. Old‑fashioned and new‑fangled dirty tricks, including foreign and domestic misinformation campaigns via social media, threaten electoral integrity. Inflammatory rhetoric about “stolen” elections supercharges distrust among hardcore partisans. Taking into account how each of these threats has manifested in recent years—most notably in the 2016 and 2018 elections—Hasen offers concrete steps that need to be taken to restore trust in American elections before the democratic process is completely undermined. This is an indispensable analysis, from the nation’s leading election-law expert, of the key threats to the 2020 American presidential election.
Download or read book Electoral Integrity in America written by Pippa Norris and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-23 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Concern about the integrity of American elections did not start with Trump's election; flaws in procedures have gradually grown during recent decades. The contemporary "tipping point" that raised public awareness was the 2000 Bush v. Gore Florida count, but, the 2016 campaign and its aftermath clearly worsened several major structural weaknesses. This deepened party polarization over the rules of the game and corroded American trust in the electoral process. Disputes over elections have proliferated on all sides in Trump's America with heated debate about the key problems--whether the risks of electoral fraud, fake news, voter suppression, or Russian interference--and with no consensus about the right solutions. This book illuminates several major challenges observed during the 2016 U.S. elections, focusing upon concern about both the security and inclusiveness of the voter registration process in America. Given the importance of striking the right balance between security and inclusiveness in voter registration, this volume brings together legal scholars, political scientists, and electoral assistance practitioners to provide new evidence-based insights and policy-relevant recommendations.
Download or read book You Call This an Election written by Steven E. Schier and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2003-02-10 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Those who do not have their heads buried too deeply in partisan sands will know that there is something awry with the American form of electoral democracy. Florida's continuing ability to misplace votes recently and in the 2000 Presidential election is only part of the iceberg we have been made privy to-and Steven Schier takes a good, hard, evaluative look not only at what is there in plain sight, but that which lurks below the surface (and not only in Florida and not only with the electoral college). He further proposes practical improvements that will make our surprisingly peculiar democratic processes healthy, whole, and responsive again. Identifying four essential evaluative criteria for a democracy that genuinely works, Schier asks us to examine the degree to which our system promotes political stability, the degree to which our elected officials are held accountable, what the problems are with voter turnout and how to improve it, and asks for a meaningful scrutiny of governmental policy. No look at our peculiar democracy would be complete without an examination of other established democracies, nor a look at how special interests warp political parties and the concept of majority rule. The solution to many of our electoral problems, Schier argues, lies in enhancing the roles and influence of political parties. Schier proposes reforms that include broadening voter registration; giving parties large blocks of free TV time; adopting one-punch partisan ballots, making it easier for voters to cast a straight-party vote; abandoning initiatives which clutter up the ballot; and utilizing party-based financing to boost voter turnout. With these proposals, he encourages the creative consideration of election reform, and shows how the Florida 2000 race may have played out had these suggestions been in place. Schier's book appeals to any and every citizen interested in our electoral system and its role in governmental politics. It is invaluable for professionals in political science and ideal for students in American government, political parties, elections, and political behavior courses, as well for political scientists. Any citizens concerned about the conduct of American elections will discover here a fresh and focused analysis of our problems at the ballot box.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of American Elections and Political Behavior written by Jan E. Leighley and published by Oxford University Press (UK). This book was released on 2012-02-16 with total page 796 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbooks of American Politics are the essential guide to the study of American political life in the 21st Century. With engaging contributions from the major figures in the field The Oxford Handbook of American Elections and Political Behavior provides the key point of reference for anyone working in American Politics today
