LibGuides: Curated Lists 2020: Election and Voting

eBooks

Presidential Elections by Nelson W. Polsby and Aaron Wildavsky
Publication Date: 2019
Polsby and Wildavsky's classic text argues that the institutional rules of the presidential nomination and election processes, in combination with the behavior of the mass electorate, structure the strategic choices faced by politicians in powerful and foreseeable ways. We can make sense of the decisions made by differently situated political actors—incumbents, challengers, Democrats, Republicans, consultants, party official, activists, delegates, journalists, and voters—by understanding the ways in which their world is organized by incentives, regulations, events, resources, customs, and opportunities.
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Plutocrats United by Richard L. Hasen
Publication Date: 2016
Campaign financing is one of today's most divisive political issues. The left asserts that the electoral process is rife with corruption. The right protests that the real aim of campaign limits is to suppress political activity and protect incumbents. Meanwhile, money flows freely on both sides. In Plutocrats United, Richard Hasen argues that both left and right avoid the key issue of the new Citizens United era: balancing political inequality with free speech.
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Electoral Dysfunction by Victoria Bassetti; Mo Rocca
Publication Date: 2012
Electoral Dysfunction illuminates a broad array of issues, including the Founding Fathers' decision to omit the right to vote from the Constitution—and the legal system's patchwork response to this omission; the battle over voter ID, voter impersonation, and voter fraud; the foul-ups that plague Election Day, from ballot design to contested recounts; the role of partisan officials in running elections; and the anti-democratic origins and impact of the Electoral College. The book concludes with a prescription for a healthy voting system by Heather Smith, president of Rock the Vote.
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Stealing Elections by John Fund
Publication Date: 2009
John Fund explores the real divide the country faces with the looming election. Through wary thoughts on voting integrity, he shows how eletions can be decided by the votes of dead people, illegal felon voters, and absentee voters that simply don't exist. If nothing is done to address the growing cynicism about vote counting, rest assured that another close presidential election that descends into bitter partisan wrangling is just around the corner.
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The Rise and Fall of the Voting Rights Act by Charles S. Bullock; Keith Gåddie; Justin J. Wert
Publication Date: 2016
On June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Shelby County v. Holder, invalidating a key provision of voting rights law. The decision—the culmination of an eight-year battle over the power of Congress to regulate state conduct of elections—marked the closing of a chapter in American politics.
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Films

The War Room (1993)

The 1992 presidential election was a triumph not only for Bill Clinton but also for the new breed of strategists who guided him to the White House--and changed the face of politics in the process. For this thrilling, behind-closed-doors account of that campaign, renowned cinema verite filmmakers Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker captured the brainstorming and bull sessions of Clinton's crack team of consultants--especially James Carville and George Stephanopoulos. (97 mins.)

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Dark Money: The Influence of Corporate Money in our Elections (2018)

This documentary examines one of the greatest present threats to American democracy: the influence of untraceable corporate money on our elections and elected officials. The film takes viewers to Montana -a frontline in the fight to preserve fair elections nationwide - to follow a local journalist working to expose the real-life impacts of the US Supreme Court's Citizens United decision. (98 mins)

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Voting Matters (2018)

More than 50 years after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most extensive pieces of civil rights legislation, people of color across the United States still are engaged in a battle to protect their right to vote. VOTING MATTERS follows one dynamic woman working tirelessly on the ground and in the courts to ensure that they are not denied this right. (27 mins)

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Podcasts

Election College

Election College is a podcast by two cousins (Jason Goff and Ben Smith) with a passion for learning and history.

Join us as we take a fun and informative look at the history of presidential elections in the United States of America as well as all sorts of topics related to how our government and elections work! We also delve into the reasons and policies (constitutional or otherwise) behind exactly what make the highest offices in the land tick.

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The Chuck ToddCast: Meet the Press

Chuck Todd at his best – unscripted, informed and focused on what really matters in the 2020 presidential race. Join Chuck each Wednesday as he talks with top reporters from the nation’s capital, plus exclusive sit-down interviews and on-the-ground dispatches from across the campaign trail.

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Curated Lists 2020

eBooks

Films

Podcasts

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