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The Resource Ballot battles : the history of disputed elections in the United States, Edward B. Foley

Ballot battles : the history of disputed elections in the United States, Edward B. Foley

Creator
Summary
  • "The 2000 presidential election, with its problems in Florida, was not the first major vote-counting controversy in the nation's history--nor the last. Ballot Battles traces the evolution of America's experience with these disputes, from 1776 to now, explaining why they have proved persistently troublesome and offering an institutional solution"--
  • "The 2000 presidential race resulted in the highest-profile ballot battle in over a century. But it is far from the only American election determined by a handful of votes and marred by claims of fraud. Since the founding of the nation, violence frequently erupted as the votes were being counted, and more than a few elections produced manifestly unfair results. Despite America's claim to be the world's greatest democracy, its adherence to the basic tenets of democratic elections-the ability to count ballots accurately and fairly even when the stakes are high-has always been shaky. A rigged gubernatorial election in New York in 1792 nearly ended in calls for another revolution, and an 1899 gubernatorial race even resulted in an assassination. Though acts of violence have decreased in frequency over the past century, fairness and accuracy in ballot counting nonetheless remains a basic problem in American political life. In Ballot Battles, Edward Foley presents a sweeping history of election controversies in the United States, tracing how their evolution generated legal precedents that ultimately transformed how we determine who wins and who loses. While weaving a narrative spanning over two centuries, Foley repeatedly returns to an originating event: because the Founding Fathers despised parties and never envisioned the emergence of a party system, they wrote a constitution that did not provide clear solutions for high-stakes and highly-contested elections in which two parties could pool resources against one another. Moreover, in the American political system that actually developed, politicians are beholden to the parties which they represent - and elected officials have typically had an outsized say in determining the outcomes of extremely close elections that involve recounts. This underlying structural problem, more than anything else, explains why intense ballot battles that leave one side feeling aggrieved will continue to occur for the foreseeable future. American democracy has improved dramatically over the last two centuries. But the same cannot be said for the ways in which we determine who wins the very close races. From the founding until today, there has been little progress toward fixing the problem. Indeed, supporters of John Jay in 1792 and opponents of Lyndon Johnson in the 1948 Texas Senate race would find it easy to commiserate with Al Gore after the 2000 election. Ballot Battles is not only the first full chronicle of contested elections in the US. It also provides a powerful explanation of why the American election system has been-and remains-so ineffective at deciding the tightest races in a way that all sides will agree is fair."--Publisher's description
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
xii, 479 pages
Contents
  • Hayes v. Tilden : to the edge of the constitutional cliff
  • The Gilded Age: an era of hypercompetitive elections
  • The progressive era : missed opportunities at a time of reform
  • America in the middle of its century : a tarnished ideal
  • The sixties and their legacy : the rise of democratic expectations
  • The eighties and nineties : reemergence of intensified partisanship
  • Florida 2000 : avoiding a return to the constitutional brink
  • After Bush v. Gore : reinvigorated demand for electoral fairness
  • Conclusion:
  • The enduring quest for a fair count
  • Prologue:The
  • missing institution of impartiality
  • Introduction:
  • Understanding the past for the sake of the future
  • Uncertain vote-counting in the founding era
  • The novelty of chief executive elections
  • The entrenchment of two-party competition
  • Counting votes at times of crisis
Isbn
9780190235277
Instance
Label
Ballot battles : the history of disputed elections in the United States
Title
Ballot battles
Title remainder
the history of disputed elections in the United States
Statement of responsibility
Edward B. Foley
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
  • "The 2000 presidential election, with its problems in Florida, was not the first major vote-counting controversy in the nation's history--nor the last. Ballot Battles traces the evolution of America's experience with these disputes, from 1776 to now, explaining why they have proved persistently troublesome and offering an institutional solution"--
  • "The 2000 presidential race resulted in the highest-profile ballot battle in over a century. But it is far from the only American election determined by a handful of votes and marred by claims of fraud. Since the founding of the nation, violence frequently erupted as the votes were being counted, and more than a few elections produced manifestly unfair results. Despite America's claim to be the world's greatest democracy, its adherence to the basic tenets of democratic elections-the ability to count ballots accurately and fairly even when the stakes are high-has always been shaky. A rigged gubernatorial election in New York in 1792 nearly ended in calls for another revolution, and an 1899 gubernatorial race even resulted in an assassination. Though acts of violence have decreased in frequency over the past century, fairness and accuracy in ballot counting nonetheless remains a basic problem in American political life. In Ballot Battles, Edward Foley presents a sweeping history of election controversies in the United States, tracing how their evolution generated legal precedents that ultimately transformed how we determine who wins and who loses. While weaving a narrative spanning over two centuries, Foley repeatedly returns to an originating event: because the Founding Fathers despised parties and never envisioned the emergence of a party system, they wrote a constitution that did not provide clear solutions for high-stakes and highly-contested elections in which two parties could pool resources against one another. Moreover, in the American political system that actually developed, politicians are beholden to the parties which they represent - and elected officials have typically had an outsized say in determining the outcomes of extremely close elections that involve recounts. This underlying structural problem, more than anything else, explains why intense ballot battles that leave one side feeling aggrieved will continue to occur for the foreseeable future. American democracy has improved dramatically over the last two centuries. But the same cannot be said for the ways in which we determine who wins the very close races. From the founding until today, there has been little progress toward fixing the problem. Indeed, supporters of John Jay in 1792 and opponents of Lyndon Johnson in the 1948 Texas Senate race would find it easy to commiserate with Al Gore after the 2000 election. Ballot Battles is not only the first full chronicle of contested elections in the US. It also provides a powerful explanation of why the American election system has been-and remains-so ineffective at deciding the tightest races in a way that all sides will agree is fair."--Publisher's description
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Foley, Edward B
Dewey number
324.973
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
index present
LC call number
JK1994
LC item number
.F65 2016
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Elections
  • Contested elections
  • Election law
  • HISTORY
  • LAW
  • LAW
  • Contested elections
  • Election law
  • Elections
  • United States
  • Korruption
  • Wahl
  • Wahlauswertung
  • Wahlbeobachtung
  • Wahlrecht
  • USA
Label
Ballot battles : the history of disputed elections in the United States, Edward B. Foley
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 377-466) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
  • Hayes v. Tilden : to the edge of the constitutional cliff
  • The Gilded Age: an era of hypercompetitive elections
  • The progressive era : missed opportunities at a time of reform
  • America in the middle of its century : a tarnished ideal
  • The sixties and their legacy : the rise of democratic expectations
  • The eighties and nineties : reemergence of intensified partisanship
  • Florida 2000 : avoiding a return to the constitutional brink
  • After Bush v. Gore : reinvigorated demand for electoral fairness
  • Conclusion:
  • The enduring quest for a fair count
  • Prologue:The
  • missing institution of impartiality
  • Introduction:
  • Understanding the past for the sake of the future
  • Uncertain vote-counting in the founding era
  • The novelty of chief executive elections
  • The entrenchment of two-party competition
  • Counting votes at times of crisis
Control code
ocn920551583
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
xii, 479 pages
Isbn
9780190235277
Lccn
2015025434
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other control number
40025574529
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
  • (Sirsi) i9780190235277
  • (OCoLC)920551583
Label
Ballot battles : the history of disputed elections in the United States, Edward B. Foley
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 377-466) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
  • Hayes v. Tilden : to the edge of the constitutional cliff
  • The Gilded Age: an era of hypercompetitive elections
  • The progressive era : missed opportunities at a time of reform
  • America in the middle of its century : a tarnished ideal
  • The sixties and their legacy : the rise of democratic expectations
  • The eighties and nineties : reemergence of intensified partisanship
  • Florida 2000 : avoiding a return to the constitutional brink
  • After Bush v. Gore : reinvigorated demand for electoral fairness
  • Conclusion:
  • The enduring quest for a fair count
  • Prologue:The
  • missing institution of impartiality
  • Introduction:
  • Understanding the past for the sake of the future
  • Uncertain vote-counting in the founding era
  • The novelty of chief executive elections
  • The entrenchment of two-party competition
  • Counting votes at times of crisis
Control code
ocn920551583
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
xii, 479 pages
Isbn
9780190235277
Lccn
2015025434
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other control number
40025574529
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
  • (Sirsi) i9780190235277
  • (OCoLC)920551583

Subject

Genre

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