About this item
Americans have fought and died for the right to vote. Yet the world's oldest continuously operating democracy guarantees no one, not even citizens, the opportunity to elect a government. In this rousing work, the best-selling author of The Case for Impeachment calls attention to the founders' crucial error: leaving the franchise to the discretion of individual states.For most of U.S. history, America's political leaders have considered suffrage not a natural right but a privilege restricted by wealth, sex, race, residence, literacy, criminal conviction, and citizenship. As a result, the right to vote has both expanded and contracted over time, depending on political circumstances. In the nineteenth century, states eliminated economic qualifications for voting, but the ideal of a white man's republic persisted through much of the twentieth century. And today, voter identification laws, political gerrymandering, registration requirements, felon disenfranchisement, and voter purges deny many millions of American citizens the opportunity to express their views at the ballot box.We cannot blame the founders alone for America's embattled vote. Allan Lichtman, who has testified in more than ninety voting rights cases, notes that subsequent generations have failed to establish suffrage as a universal right. The players in the struggle for the vote have changed over time, but the arguments remain familiar. Voting restrictions impose a grave injustice on the many disenfranchised Americans and stunt the growth of our democracy.
About the Author
Allan J. Lichtman received his PhD from Harvard University in 1973 and is currentlyDistinguished Professor of History at American University in Washington, D.C. He specializesin American political history and the presidency. Dr. Lichtman has authored or co-authored ninebooks, and hundreds of scholarly and popular articles. His latest book is The Case forImpeachment (Dey Street books, 2017) , was an independent book store best seller, anAmazon.com bestseller in several academic categories, and a Newsweek, best new book release.Dr. Lichtman's book FDR and the Jews (Harvard, 2013, with Richard Breitman) , wonthe National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish History. It was a 2013 New York Timeseditor's choice, and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History. His book, WhiteProtestant Nation: The Rise of the American Conservative Movement (Grove/Atlantic 2008) , wasa finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in non-fiction. The Teaching Companyproduced his video lectures on Great Presidents as part of their "Great Courses" series.Dr. Lichtman is the co-developer of the Keys system that has successfully predicted theoutcome of every presidential election since 1984. In September 2016, he defied theconventional wisdom to predict the election of Donald Trump. In early 2016, Rowman &Littlefield published the sixth edition of his Keys book series, Predicting the Next President: TheKeys to the White House 2016.Dr. Lichtman has lectured extensively in the United States and abroad. He has providedcommentary for all major television and radio outlets and is regularly quoted by leadingnewspapers and magazines worldwide. He has served as an expert witness in more than 90federal civil rights cases, including recent landmark cases challenging restrictive voting laws inNorth Carolina and Texas. As an expert for the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights Dr. Lichtmandiscovered that the outcome of the 2000 presidential election turned on the vast disparity in ratesat which officials rejected ballots cast by blacks and whites in Florida. Dr. Lichtman received theAmerican University Scholar/Teacher of the year award for 1992-3, the University's highestacademic honor.
