Ballot battles : the history of disputed elections in the United States / Edward B. Foley.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780190235277
- ISBN: 0190235276
- Physical Description: xii, 479 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
- Publisher: New York : Oxford University Press, 2016.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 377-466) and index. |
Formatted Contents Note: | 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 -- 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. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Elections > Corrupt practices > United States > History. Contested elections > United States. Election law > United States. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Kirtland Community College.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kirtland Community College Library | JK 1994 .F65 2016 | 30775305525314 | General Collection | Available | - |
CHOICE_Magazine Review
Ballot Battles : The History of Disputed Elections in the United States
CHOICE
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
The book is a thoroughly researched, detailed, and lively account of disputed elections in the US. In examining these elections chronologically, Foley (Ohio State Univ. College of Law) shows that our inability to accurately and fairly count ballots has and remains a fundamental challenge to our election system. The problem stems from the fact that the framers of the Constitution did not set up a system to adequately handle disputed elections, because they did not envision the development of the two-party system and the us-versus-them battle that characterizes elections. As a result, partisans are the ones usually making decisions on the interpretation of election law and competing claims, and they almost always rule in favor of party interests. Such nakedly partisan pursuits are often justified by claiming that the other party would have done the same thing if it had been in the position to do so. Foley hopes that by showing our shortcomings in handling disputed elections and the reasons behind them, we will not only see the need but understand the procedures that should be adopted to produce fair and accurate results. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty. --Reed L. Welch, West Texas A&M University
Publishers Weekly Review
Ballot Battles : The History of Disputed Elections in the United States
Publishers Weekly
Foley, professor of law at Ohio State University, exhaustively documents how ballots were counted and the results adjudicated in very close municipal, statewide, and national elections from the 18th through the 21st century. Some elections in this country's first century resulted in violence, as happened in some of New York and Philadelphia's mayoral contests in the 1830s. The principle of judicial review of ballot counting became more widespread after it was first upheld in the 1856 Wisconsin case of Bashford v. Barstow; however, it was only applied to presidential elections by the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore (2000). Addressing the tight presidential elections of 1876, 1960, and 2000, Foley notes that all three represented "disturbing... instances in which the nation has lacked the institutional capacity to identify accurately the winner of the presidency." The first of these was particularly problematic because Congress had to deal with two sets of Electoral College vote certificates from some of the disputed states, a subject on which the Twelfth Amendment is silent. Foley concludes by transcending his historian's role to recommend potential remedies for contested results and lingering disputes. Given the length and technical detail of Foley's clearly written and well-researched book, it will appeal mainly to legal scholars and policy wonks. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.