Down for the Count: Dirty Elections and the Rotten History of Democracy in America

Andrew Gumbel

Eph 2016 · Tantor Media Inc · Kuchazwe ngu-Chris MacDonnell

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Down for the Count explores the tawdry history of elections in the United States-a chronicle of votes bought, stolen, suppressed, lost, miscounted, thrown into rivers, and litigated up to the U.S. Supreme Court-and uses it to explain why we are now experiencing the biggest backslide in voting rights in more than a century. This thoroughly revised edition, first published to acclaim and some controversy in 2005 as Steal This Vote, reveals why America is unique among established Western democracies in its inability to run clean, transparent elections. And it demonstrates, in crisp, clear, accessible language, how the partisan battles now raging over voter ID, out-of-control campaign spending, and minority voting rights fit into a long, largely unspoken tradition of hostility to the very notion of representative democracy. Down for the Count is a multifaceted, deeply researched, and engaging critical assessment of a system whose ostensible commitment to democratic integrity often falls apart on contact with race, money, and power. In an age of high-stakes electoral combat, billionaire-backed candidacies, and bottom-of-the-barrel campaigning, there can be no better time to listen to this troubling and revealing book.

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Andrew Gumbel has won awards for his work as an investigative reporter, a political columnist, and a feature writer. He is the author of several books, including Oklahoma City, Down for the Count, and Won't Lose This Dream. Andrew lives in Los Angeles.

Chris MacDonnell is a classically trained actor who holds a degree from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. His theater credits include London's West End and the Royal National Theatre, and he has been featured in British TV shows, BBC radio-drama, commercials, and films. Chris now lives in Southern California.