Down for the Count

Dirty Elections and the Rotten History of Democracy in America

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Government, Elections, Reference & Language, Law, History, Americas, United States
Cover of the book Down for the Count by Andrew Gumbel, The New Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Andrew Gumbel ISBN: 9781620971697
Publisher: The New Press Publication: April 7, 2015
Imprint: The New Press Language: English
Author: Andrew Gumbel
ISBN: 9781620971697
Publisher: The New Press
Publication: April 7, 2015
Imprint: The New Press
Language: English

The updated edition of Steal This Vote—a rollicking history of US voter suppression and fraud from Jacksonian democracy to Citizens United and beyond.

In Down for the Count, award-winning journalist Andrew Gumbel explores the tawdry history of elections in the United States. From Jim Crow to Tammany Hall to the Bush v. Gore Florida recount, it is a chronicle of votes bought, stolen, suppressed, lost, miscounted, thrown into rivers, and litigated up to the Supreme Court. Gumbel then uses this history to explain why America is now experiencing the biggest backslide in voting rights in more than a century.

First published in 2005 as Steal This Vote, this thoroughly revised and updated edition reveals why America faces so much trouble running clean, transparent elections. And it demonstrates how the partisan battles now raging over voter IDs, campaign spending, and minority voting rights fit into a long, largely unspoken tradition of hostility to the very notion of representative democracy.

Interviewing Democrats, Republicans, and a range of voting rights activists, Gumbel offers an engaging and accessible analysis of how our democratic integrity is so often corrupted by racism, money, and power. In an age of high-stakes electoral combat, billionaire-backed candidacies, and bottom-of-the-barrel campaigning, this book is more important than ever.

“In a riveting and frightening account, Gumbel . . . traces election fraud in America from the 18th century to the present . . . [the issues he] so winningly addresses are crucial to the future of democracy.” —Publishers Weekly, on Steal This Vote

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The updated edition of Steal This Vote—a rollicking history of US voter suppression and fraud from Jacksonian democracy to Citizens United and beyond.

In Down for the Count, award-winning journalist Andrew Gumbel explores the tawdry history of elections in the United States. From Jim Crow to Tammany Hall to the Bush v. Gore Florida recount, it is a chronicle of votes bought, stolen, suppressed, lost, miscounted, thrown into rivers, and litigated up to the Supreme Court. Gumbel then uses this history to explain why America is now experiencing the biggest backslide in voting rights in more than a century.

First published in 2005 as Steal This Vote, this thoroughly revised and updated edition reveals why America faces so much trouble running clean, transparent elections. And it demonstrates how the partisan battles now raging over voter IDs, campaign spending, and minority voting rights fit into a long, largely unspoken tradition of hostility to the very notion of representative democracy.

Interviewing Democrats, Republicans, and a range of voting rights activists, Gumbel offers an engaging and accessible analysis of how our democratic integrity is so often corrupted by racism, money, and power. In an age of high-stakes electoral combat, billionaire-backed candidacies, and bottom-of-the-barrel campaigning, this book is more important than ever.

“In a riveting and frightening account, Gumbel . . . traces election fraud in America from the 18th century to the present . . . [the issues he] so winningly addresses are crucial to the future of democracy.” —Publishers Weekly, on Steal This Vote

More books from The New Press

Cover of the book Sleepwalking to Armageddon by Andrew Gumbel
Cover of the book The Big Eddy Club by Andrew Gumbel
Cover of the book Pushout by Andrew Gumbel
Cover of the book A People's History of the Civil War by Andrew Gumbel
Cover of the book Vision and Communism by Andrew Gumbel
Cover of the book Game Over by Andrew Gumbel
Cover of the book Pride & Joy by Andrew Gumbel
Cover of the book The New Jim Crow by Andrew Gumbel
Cover of the book Evil Paradises by Andrew Gumbel
Cover of the book Sundown Towns by Andrew Gumbel
Cover of the book Before the Frost by Andrew Gumbel
Cover of the book The Jewish Gospels by Andrew Gumbel
Cover of the book Special Envoy by Andrew Gumbel
Cover of the book Digital Disconnect by Andrew Gumbel
Cover of the book Uncle Swami by Andrew Gumbel
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy