Title The right to vote : the contested history of democracy in the United States / Alexander Keyssar

Published New York : Basic Books, ©2000

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Description 1 online resource (xxiv, 467 pages) : illustrations Contents Part I: The road to partial democracy. In the beginning -- Democracy ascendant -- backsliding and sideslipping -- Part II: Narrowing the portals. Know-nothings, radicals, and redeemers -- The redemption of the north -- Women's suffrage -- Part III: Toward universal suffrage--and beyond. The quiet years -- Breaking barriers -- Conclusion: the project of democracy Summary Most Americans take for granted their right to vote, whether they choose to exercise it or not. But the history of suffrage in the U.S. is, in fact, the story of a struggle to achieve this right by our society's marginalized groups. In The Right to Vote, Duke historian Alexander Keyssar explores the evolution of suffrage over the course of the nation's history. Examining the many features of the history of the right to vote in the U.S.--class, ethnicity, race, gender, religion, and age--the book explores the conditions under which American democracy has expanded and contracted over the years. Keyssar presents convincing evidence that the history of the right to vote has not been one of a steady history of expansion and increasing inclusion, noting that voting rights contracted substantially in the U.S. between 1850 and 1920. Keyssar also presents a controversial thesis: that the primary factor promoting the expansion of the suffrage has been war and the primary factors promoting contraction or delaying expansion have been class tension and class conflict.--Publisher description Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 403-452) and index Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL English digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL Print version record Subject Suffrage -- United States -- History Voting -- United States -- History Voter registration -- United States -- History POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Process -- Elections. Voter registration Suffrage Voting Demokratie Frauenwahlrecht Wahlrecht Wahlverhalten Kiesrecht. United States USA Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 0585417679 9780585417677

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