Distorting Democracy

Distorting Democracy paints an engaging story about the inception and evolution of the Electoral College. The historical characters, including the framers of the U.S. Constitution, come to life and offer windows intothe past you didn't know existed. A great read for emerging historians or history enthusiasts who seek to understand the nuances, complications, and distortions of the American political system. --Celina Stewart, Chief Counsel, League of Women Voters Carolyn Dupont has done us an important service with a well-written and well-informed analysis of the Electoral College, detailing in a highly readable manner some of its more egregious anti-democratic flaws. --George C. Edwards III, Distinguished Fellow, University of Oxford, and University Distinguished Professor and Jordan Chair Emeritus, Texas A&M University, Author, Why the Electoral College is Bad for America Every American should read this book. It brings facts and clarity to a debate that too often relies on conjecture about the Electoral College's purposes and ill-informed arguments about how it actually operates. The lessons herein are immense. --Joshua A. Douglas, Ashland, Inc-Spears Distinguished Research Professor of Law, University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, Author, The Court v. The Voters: The Troubling Story of How the Supreme Court Has Undermined Voting Rights In vivid, compelling, and easily accessible prose, Carolyn Dupont tells how America ended up with a method of electing presidents that no one intended. Full of interesting and illuminating details, Dupont debunks the myth that the Electoral College operates as its authors intended. Instead, America has inherited an accident, a series of historical mistakes over the centuries. All Americans would benefit from reading this superb book and understanding the reality of our problematic presidential election system and how to fix it. --Edward B. Foley, Ebersold Chair in Constitutional Law, The Ohio State University, Author, Presidential Elections and Majority Rule and Ballot Battles: The History of Disputed Elections in the United States The Electoral College is a crisis waiting to happen, a flawed, anti-democratic approach to electing the president that the founders themselves had to alter within two decades of creating it. In Distorting Democracy, Carolyn Dupont dispenses with a false and romantic view of the Electoral College's origins. She demystifies its creation, explaining how an inelegant, pragmatic compromise came to pass, and traces its development into a system that has little to do with either its original purpose or contemporary democratic aspirations. May this fascinating, thoughtful and important book help spark a movement to end a system that distorts political campaigns, violates the basic principle of political equality, and undercuts majority rule. --E. J. Dionne Jr., W. Averell Harriman Chair and Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, Distinguished University Professor, Georgetown University, Author of Why Americans Hate Politics and co-author of 100% Democracy