This book explores how the United States institutions of democracy have affected a citizen's ability to participate in politics. The 2000 election and the ensuing decade of research demonstrated that that the institutions of elections vitally affect participation. This book examines turnout and vote choice, as well as elections as an institution, administration of elections and the intermediaries that affect a citizen's ability to cast a vote as intended. Kropf traces the institutions of franchise from the Constitutional Convention through the 2012 election and the general themes of how institutions have changed increasing, democratization and production federal growth over time in the United States.

An important contribution to field of election reform, drawing on the author's multi-year original research Aimed at students of elections, voting and voting behavior, public policy, and American politics Puts discussion of the franchise in historical context from the Constitutional Convention through today, giving students a thorough grasp of the topic Tackles the subject of modern institutions and their effects on voting in 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012

Autorentext
Martha E. Kropf is Professor of Political Science and Interim Director of the Public Policy Program at University of North Carolina, Charlotte, USA. She has authored numerous scholarly articles concerning elections, election reform, and voting. She is the coauthor, along with David C. Kimball, of Helping America Vote: The Limits of Election Reform (2012).

Inhalt
Chapter 1: Introduction .- Chapter 2: Institutions and the Norms That Help Maintain Stability .- Chapter 3: Chapter 3: The Multiple Laboratories of Democracy .- Chapter 4: The Federal Part of the Institution .- Chapter 5: Acquiring Voting Rights .- Chapter 6: Exercising the Right to Vote .- Chapter 7: Finding the Time and Place to Vote .- Chapter 9: Choosing Voters: Redistricting and Re-Apportionment .- Chapter 10: Implications of Institutionalism for Democracy .- Sources Cited.