Fixing elections : the failure of America's winner take all politics / Steven Hill.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hill, Steven, 1958-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Elections--United States.

Elections.

Voting--United States.

Voting.

Representative government and representation--United States.

Representative government and representation.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (256 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2002.

Summary:

In the face of cynicism about the American political system, Fixing Elections is a blueprint to resurrect the US founders' democratic vision by adopting common-sense changes already instituted in other democracies.

Fixing Elections shows our whole 18th-century Winner Take All political system, including the way we elect our legislatures. Steven Hill argues our geographic-based, Winner Take All political system is at the root of many of our worst political problems, including poor minority and majority representation, low voter turnout, expensive mudslinging campaigns, congressional gridlock, regional balkanization, and the growing divide between city-dwellers and middle-America. Fixing Elections shows our whole 18th-century Winner Take All political system, including the way we elect our legislatures. Steven Hill argues our geographic-based, Winner Take All political system is at the root of many of our worst political problems, including poor minority and majority representation, low voter turnout, expensive mudslinging campaigns, congressional gridlock, regional balkanization, and the growing divide between city-dwellers and middle-America.

Contents:

Preface - The Landscape of Post-Democracy SECTION ONE - GEOGRAPHY IS DESTINY Chapter 1: "A House Divided . . ." Chapter 2: Ex Uno Plures: "One System, Two Nations" Chapter 3: The Technology of Democracy SECTION TWO - THE PEOPLE'S CONGRESS? Chapter 4: The People's House Chapter 5: Behind Closed Doors: The Haunting Specter of Redistricting Chapter 6: The Gravity of the Prize Chapter 7: Worse than Winner Take All: Affirmative Action for Low-Population States SECTION THREE - THE DEATH OF DISCOURSE Chapter 8: Of Pollster-geists and Consultants: The Mad Science of Winner Take All Campaigns Chapter 9: The Wizards Behind the Curtain Chapter 10: The Winner Take All Media: The Fourth Estate Sells Out Chapter 11: Caught Between a Poll and a Hard Focus Group: The Loss of Political Ideas SECTION FOUR - MAJORITY RULE? OR MAJORITY FOOLED? Chapter 12: Winner Take All Policy: Where Majority does not always Rule Chapter 13: The Roller Coaster Policy Ride of Winner Take All Chapter 14: The Gatekeepers of Winner Take All Chapter 15: "Winner Takes Nothing."

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [349]-350) and index.

ISBN:

0-203-60289-7

0-203-48536-X

1-135-95474-7

1-280-10175-X

1-283-83760-9

1-135-95475-5

9780203485361

OCLC:

57447197