The Fight to Vote

March 1, 2016

Americans' power to effect social reform, to hold their government accountable, and to create a vision of political equality is in peril, according to Waldman (president, Brennan Ctr. for Justice, New York Univ. Sch. of Law; The Second Amendment). The right to vote in the United States, which is the essential process for determining the vox populi, seems to be under siege. Plunging voter turnout for elections, pervasive gerrymandering of legislative districts, Republican state lawmakers' generation of voter identification laws that effectively disenfranchised African American and Hispanic voters, and recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that opened political campaigns to vast sums of secretly donated money and that struck down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act are events that confirm this assessment. As this history demonstrates, vested interests have constantly sought to constrict the pool of voters for their advantage. The fight to broaden the vote has been an ongoing process since Americans declared their independence in 1776. VERDICT Using a wealth of solid historical scholarship and political biography, Waldman's work makes the contemporary issues concerning the right to vote accessible to the average American. When read along with Robert E. Mutch's Buying the Vote, any citizen concerned about the health of America's democracy will be well informed. [See Prepub Alert, 8/10/15.]--Glen Edward Taul, Campbellsville Univ. Lib., KY

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2015

With the Voting Rights Act under threat, it's good to have a book that clarifies how tough getting--and keeping--that right has sometimes been. President of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and author of The Second Amendment, Waldman starts with the Constitution, examines efforts to secure voting rights for propertyless males, free blacks, women, and 18-year-olds, and ends by considering current concerns like gerrymandering, voter ID laws, the Citizens United ruling, and the battle to restrict polling times and places cap the conversation.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2016

Waldman admonishes that our democracy, "the world's oldest," is premised on the right of each citizen to vote. Yet, as he shows in this lucid historical narrative, this right has been challenged from its inception at the 1776 Continental Congress. Events such as the 2010 Citizens United ruling mean the fight to preserve the essence of our democracy must continue. (LJ 3/1/15)

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 1, 2016
Waldman (The Second Amendment, 2014) follows the American struggle over voting rights from the 1787 Constitutional Convention to June 2013, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Waldman makes clear in this important book, the fight to vote has been at the heart of U.S. history, as have the countless debates over how to expand democracy even as some fought to gain a voice in their government while others fought just as hard to silence them. He discusses significant figures in the battle, from Benjamin Franklin to Abraham Lincoln to Frederick Douglass to Lyndon Johnson. And he focuses on key developments, including the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment, which extended voting rights to black men; the suffragist movement, which gained the vote for women; the civil rights movement; and the Twenty-sixth Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18. Waldman analyzes Bush v. Gore and the Florida 2000 recount debacle and also the controversial Citizens United case, in which the Supreme Court allowed unlimited election spending by corporations. In 2016, he notes, new restrictive voting laws will be in effect in 14 states. Waldman's bracing account of voting rights and political equality arrives right on time for the 2016 presidential campaign.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

December 15, 2015
A history of the right to vote in America. Since the nation's founding, many Americans have been uneasy about democracy. Law and policy expert Waldman (The Second Amendment: A Biography, 2014, etc.), president of New York University's Brennan Center for Justice, offers a compelling--and disheartening--history of voting in America, from provisions of the Constitution to current debates about voting rights and campaign financing. In the Colonies, only white male property holders could vote and did so in public, by voice. With bribery and intimidation rampant, few made the effort. After the Revolution, many states eliminated property requirements so that men over 21 who had served in the militia could vote. But leaving voting rules to the states disturbed some lawmakers, inciting a clash between those who wanted to restrict voting and those "who sought greater democracy." That clash fueled future debates about allowing freed slaves, immigrants, and, eventually, women to vote. In 1878, one leading intellectual railed against universal suffrage, fearing rule by "an ignorant proletariat and a half-taught plutocracy." Voting corruption persisted in the 19th century, when adoption of the secret ballot "made it easier to stuff the ballot box" by adding "as many new votes as proved necessary." Southern states enacted disenfranchising measures, undermining the 15th Amendment. Waldman traces the campaign for women's suffrage; the Supreme Court's dismal record on voting issues (including Citizens United); and the contentious fight to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which "became a touchstone of consensus between Democrats and Republicans" and was reauthorized four times before the Supreme Court "eviscerated it in 2013." Despite increased access to voting, over the years, turnout has fallen precipitously, and "entrenched groups, fearing change, have...tried to reduce the opportunity for political participation and power." Waldman urges citizens to find a way to celebrate democracy and reinvigorate political engagement for all. A timely contribution to the discussion of a crucial issue.

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