Down for the count : dirty elections and the rotten history of democracy in America / Andrew Gumbel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gumbel, Andrew, author.

Standardized Title:

Steal this vote

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Elections--Corrupt practices--United States--History.

Elections.

Voting-machines--United States--History.

Voting-machines.

Elections--Corrupt practices.

History.

United States.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

293 pages ; 21 cm

Edition:

Revised and updated edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : New Press, The, 2016.

Summary:

"Down for the Count explores in an accessible, engaging style the tawdry continuing history of votes bought, stolen, suppressed, lost, miscounted, thrown into rivers, and litigated up to the Supreme Court in the world's most powerful democracy. First published to great acclaim and controversy in 2005 as Steal this Vote, this thoroughly revised edition lifts the lid off the largely undiscussed corruption at the core of our democracy-elections so poorly regulated and administered they fall short of standards the United States routinely imposes on emerging democracies. The problem has only grown worse in the last decade, as campaign spending has gone hog wild, partisan battles rage over voter ID, and a key provision of the Voting Rights Act has been shredded. As award-winning journalist Andrew Gumbel shows, we need proper oversight and regulation of elections, reliable voting machines, and a keener understanding of where private interests infringe on the public good. Now that Citizens United, super PACs, and the Koch brothers have turned the electoral process into an increasingly squalid lottery for billionaires, there is no better time for Gumbel's revision of his acclaimed book"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 The Antidemocratic Tradition and the New Right 19

2 Slavery and the System 35

3 Patronage, Liquor, and Graft: The Ascent of Machine Politics 47

4 The Theft of the Century 61

5 The 1896 Watershed and the Paradox of Reform 73

6 The Long Agony of the Disenfranchised South 89

7 Chicago: The Other Kind of Mob Rule 107

8 The Fallacy of the Technological Fix 121

9 Democracy's Frangible Connections: Florida 2000 139

10 Miracle Cure 159

11 Election 2004: The Shape of Things to Come 177

12 The 3 Percent Solution 189

13 Pope and Abbott: The New Religion of Buying and Suppressing Votes 205

14 The Super-Rich and the Democratic Future 223.

Notes:

Revised edition of: Steal this vote. New York : Nation Books, c2005.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781620971680

1620971682

OCLC:

921870482

Publisher Number:

99967530681