The Politics of Voter Suppression

Tova Wang explains how, across the twentieth century, the issue of access to the ballot was transformed from a largely practical matter of electoral advantage into an ideological difference between the Democrat and Republican Parties.

Tova Andrea Wang is Senior Democracy Fellow at Demos and Fellow at The Century Foundation.

This well-researched and well-argued book succeeds in illustrating how, for short-term partisan gain, some political leaders have undermined America's bid for 'universal suffrage' and what can be done to significantly broaden the electorate.

Laughlin McDonald, Director, ACLU Voting Rights Project:

Tova Wang has written a well researched and balanced account of past and modern-day voter suppression, the scope and extent of which will no doubt come as a surprise, and shock, to many readers.

Bob Herbert, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Demos, and former Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times:

Tova Andrea Wang nails it! The great promise of America loses all meaning when roadblocks are placed between citizens and the voting booth. This important book drives that point home with clarity and enormous insight. It will both enlighten and disturb you.

E. J. Dionne, Jr., author of Our Divided Political Heart and syndicated columnist:

It is one of our country's great achievements that since our founding, we have become steadily more democratic, extending the right to vote to those without property, to African Americans, to women, and to others previously excluded from the joys and responsibilities of self-rule. But there is a constant and often insidious pushback against broad political participation, and Tova Andrea Wang tells the story of voter suppression efforts with passion, care and great shrewdness. The Politics of Voter Suppression is an essential book at a time when efforts to keep citizens from the polls have intensified. And it offers a highly practical recipe for making our nation more democratic and our elections a truer reflection of the will of all the people.

Daniel Tokaji, Robert M. Duncan/Jones Day Designated Professor of Law, The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law:

In The Politics of Voter Suppression, Tova Andrea Wang skillfully weaves together historical and contemporary examples of voter suppression. The picture that emerges should worry anyone who believes that all citizens should have an equal voice in our democracy. Wang amasses a formidable body of evidence against those who would impair the fundamental right to vote. She also makes a compelling case for reforms like Election Day Registration that would promote a more inclusive democracy.

Alexander Keyssar, Stirling Professor of History and Social PolicyKennedy School of GovernmentHarvard University, author of The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the U.S.:

If you care about the current state of American democracy, you should read The Politics of Voter Suppression. Tova Wang's bold and passionate book explains how and why 'voter suppression' came to be such a visible, and partisan, issue. It also offers a compelling vision of 'inclusion' as a principle that ought to govern our electoral practices.