Is This Any Way to Run a Democratic Election?
- Stephen J. Wayne - Georgetown University, USA
The 2012 election is over, but the debate over the fairness and accuracy of our electoral system continues. The courts are dealing with the alleged discriminatory impact of voter ID requirements on minority voters; privacy and vote manipulation are concerns as political campaigns utilize new technology to target voters; the news media are contending with harsh public criticism of their elections coverage; the campaign finance floodgates were opened with vast resources spent on negative advertising; and the Electoral College continues to undermine a national, democratic electoral system—Is this any way to run a democratic election?
This fully updated fifth edition answers that important question by looking at both recent events and recent scholarship focused on the democratic electoral process, including new data and timely illustrations from the 2012 elections.
“One of the reasons I like Wayne’s book as a supplement is that I always have students do class debates on reforms to the electoral system, and this book fit in well with that because not only does it speak directly to critical thinking about the system, it also has suggestions about debate topics. Wayne does a good job of writing succinctly and clearly. His framing of everything as a controversy or question, helps students focus on what the big issues are, and the concluding ‘now it’s your turn’ elements help provoke critical thinking.”
“I think Is This Any Way to Run a Democratic Election? is an accessible book and can be taught on many levels, which is key. You can use this book in an introductory or upper-division course. I think the book is extremely well written and really great for many levels of pedagogy.”
