Hot Topics: Voting & Elections: Book, Article, and Web resources

"This book examines the role local party organizations play in the electoral process. It draws on dozens of in-person interviews with local party chairpersons, as well as findings from a national survey of these local elites."

Contents: The paradox of a crisis : how a pandemic sparked election reform and record turnout -- Democracy sausages, required voting, and high turnout : learning from Australia (again) -- Establishing justice, securing the blessings of liberty : why civic duty voting is constitutional -- The need for persuasion : why the public is skeptical about universal civic duty voting -- Answering the critics : responding to objections to civic duty voting -- Paving the way for universal voting : the urgency of gateway reforms -- Getting from here to there : how to implement universal voting -- From the impossible to the inevitable : a strategy for universal participation -- Securing rights, embracing responsibilities -- Appendix A: A model universal civic duty voting bill -- Appendix B: The Working Group on Universal Voting.

Description of Contents: Introduction: Rethinking political participation -- Theories of voter participation : a review and a new approach -- Testing the costly abstention theory of turnout -- Theories of protest -- Participation : a review and a new approach -- Testing the costly abstention theory of protest participation -- The emotional origins of collective action -- Conclusions: Criticisms, extensions, and democratic theory.

"...provides an in-depth examination and history of American political parties and their critical role in representative democracy at the local, state, and national levels. Focused on the continued evolution and significance of parties in the American political system, separate chapters are devoted to key topics such as the impact of social media in the electoral process, and recent developments in campaign finance

"Effectively disentangling misunderstandings and deliberate distortions from reality, The Myth of Voter Fraud provides rigorous empirical evidence for those fighting to make the electoral process more efficient, more equitable, and more democratic."

"Meade argues how, state by state, America can do better. His efforts in Florida present a compelling argument that creating access to democracy for those living on the fringes of society will create a more vibrant and robust democracy for all. He is the winner of the 2021 Brown Democracy Medal for his continuing work to restore voting rights and connect Americans along shared social values."

Is the American Dream of upward mobility accessible in a society so fragmented and economically unequal? Does the American Dream still exist in a country experiencing an anti-immigration trend? Have economic policies had an impact on American striving? The volume will explore the relationship between education and jobs, technological displacement of workers, downward mobility among certain groups, labor mobility and home ownership as indicators of the health of the idea of the American Dream."