Fixing Elections: The Failure of America's Winner Take All Politics [Paperback]

Steven Hill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0415931940 | ISBN-13: 978-0415931946 | Edition: 1

While US voter turnout plummets to single digits (even episodes of Survivor drew larger audiences than cast votes for either Gore or Bush), analysts have blamed the growing apathy of the American electorate. But as provocative political critic Steven Hill so eloquently argues, we're not a lazier, less civic-minded people than our grandparents. Voting just seems pointless to many citizens because they recognize the truth: their votes really DON'T count. Fixing Elections shows our whole 18th-century Winner Take All political system, including the way we elect our legislatures. In 2000, a vote for Nader may have been a wasted vote, but so was a vote for Gore in solidly GOP Texas, or Bush in Democratic New York, where the state's winner was a foregone conclusion. In legislatures, rigged district lines render impotent the votes of millions of Americans, Democrat, Republican and independent alike. Steven Hill argues that the US geographic-based, Winner Take All political system is at the root of many of America's worst political problems, including poor minority and majority representation, low voter turnout, expensive mudslinging campaigns, congressional gridlock, regional balkanization and the growing divide between city-dwellers and middle-America. Fixing Elections is a refreshing blueprint to resurrect the democratic vision of America's founders by adopting common-sense changes already instituted in other democracies. It will change the way you think about American politics.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The cofounder and associate director of the Center for Voting and Democracy (www.fairvote.org) and author of Whose Vote Counts and numerous articles on the electoral system, Hill here presents an analysis of the current winner-take-all electoral system in the United States. He examines how this two-party system affects voter participation, legislative representation, political campaigns, and legislative policies. Hill's argument that the United States should change its electoral arrangement to a proportional system is convincing, but the narrative style and "cute" phrasing (e.g., Bushlandia) is not only awkward but detracts from the seriousness of the subject. The book contains an excellent bibliography and notes section. Academic libraries with strong political science collections may want to add this title to their collections. Others may prefer books that are easier to understand, such as Frances Fox Piven and Richard A. Cloward's Why American's Don't Vote or Why American's Still Don't Vote: And Why Politicians Want It That Way. Joyce Cox, Nevada State Lib. and Archives, Reno
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Here's the eye-opening news from Steven Hill's new book: our 'winner-take-all' electoral system is a mug's game that makes losers of us all. He explains why-convincingly. And he tells us what we can do about it. -- Hendrik Hertzberg, Senior Editor, The New Yorker
Fixing Elections is the most important book on American democracy that has come out in many years. -- Michael Lind, author of Made In Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics
In this powerfully argued and engaging book, Steven Hill successfully demonstrates how our Winner-Take-All electoral system produces highly undemocratic results. His work should inspire serious and widespread discussion of alternative electoral arrangements that are far more democratic and have long been employed in almost all of the other advanced democratic countries. -- Robert A. Dahl, Sterling Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Yale University
Fixing Elections is a provocative reminder that we desperately need to re-invigorate our democracy. By cataloguing the elements of the crisis facing our divided polity, from orphaned voters to a far-reaching political depression, Steven Hill shows how crucial it is to explore the unfairness of our electoral system's underlying structure rather than simply working to reform the mechanics of voting. -- Lani Guinier, Bennett Boskey Professor of Law, Harvard University
What's wrong with politics in America? What explains our abysmal voter turnouts -- down, according to one international study, to 138th in the world, sandwiched between Botswana and Chad? Why are vast segments of the country political wastelands for one party or the other?Why are so many million voters orphaned in states where the candidates they prefer are likely never to win? Political analyst Steven Hill offers up a single answer in his new book, Fixing Elections --it's the winner-take-all system of elections. -- Neal Peirce, Houston Chronicle
Steven Hill is making the case for real reform of America's decayed democracy -- changes that will actually give weight to every vote cast and begin the hard process of convincing Americans of every persuasion that their votes really can matter. -- William Greider, National Affairs Correspondent, The Nation
For the past decade, Steven Hill's analysis, commentary and activism have helped shape pro-democracy work in the United States. -- Katrina vanden Heuvel
As the pamphlet Common Sense was to the American revolution, so Fixing Elections could be to the movement for alternative voting systems in our day...It deserves the widest readership possible. -- Richard Winger, Ballot Access News

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (October 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415931940
• ISBN-13: 978-0415931946
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,464,305 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steven Hill is a writer, columnist and political professional based in the United States with two decades of experience in politics. He is a frequent speaker at academic, government, NGO and business events, speaking on a wide range of topics related to politics, economics, climate change, global complexity, geo-strategy and trends.

Mr. Hill is the author, most recently, of Europe's Promise: Why the European Way Is the Best Hope for an Insecure Age (www.EuropesPromise.org), published in January 2010. His previous books include 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy, Whose Vote Counts (with Rob Richie) and Fixing Elections: The Failure of America's Winner Take All Politics, which has been called "the most important book on American democracy that has come out in many years." Mr. Hill is a prolific writer and commentator who has been widely published and quoted in media around the world. His articles and opeds have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Financial Times, Guardian, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, Christian Science Monitor, The Nation, Washington Monthly, Salon.com, TruthDig, American Prospect, Die Zeit, International Politik (Germany), Prospect (UK), ESharp (Brussels), Le Monde Diplomatique, Hürriyet Daily News (Turkey), Prague Post, Courrier Japon, Taiwan News, Korea Herald, Toronto Star, India Times, Burma Digest, Egypt Daily News, Roll Call, The Hill, Sierra, Ms., San Francisco Chronicle, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, and many other leading publications. He writes a monthly column for Social Europe Journal.

Mr Hill has appeared on international, national and local radio and television programs, including the BBC, NPR, Pacifica, Sirius, Fox News and others, and he has lectured widely in the United States and Europe. He has extensive experience in political consulting and organizing, including strategic planning, policy analysis, government relations, media outreach, project management, community organizing, event production, and fundraising. He is a co-founder of FairVote and former director of the political reform program at the New America Foundation. Mr. Hill, who is a graduate of Yale University and Western Washington University/Fairhaven College, lives in San Francisco, CA.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fixing Elections: The Failure of America's Winner Take All P, August 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Fixing Elections: The Failure of America's Winner Take All Politics (Hardcover)

Fixing Elections hits the nail right on the head! Steven Hill is an insightful, clever, and engaging writer who reveals in page after page, the many faultlines in the way we elect our public officials.

Hill's analysis is unique and refreshing -- and accessible. He dissects the American political and election system with the acumen of a political scholar, the tenacity of a man on a mission, but most importantly, with the clarity of a popular writer. Fixing Elections is an engaging and lively book that points to deep flaws in our elections and important directions for reformers to take.

This should be required reading for U.S. political science classes, and should be offered in our high schools as well. If you care about creating an engaged citizenry, a strong democracy and an accountable government, READ THIS BOOK!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars READ THIS BOOK!!! A real eye opener!, July 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Fixing Elections: The Failure of America's Winner Take All Politics (Hardcover)

This book is the "Silent Spring" of our political system. It's full of facts and anecdotes that will make you astonished and wondering why everyone is not apalled and talking about these failures of our system and how we can change it. Everyone knows that something is very wrong with our flailing democracy and the people at the helm, but Hill has really exposed the under belly that rarely gets talked about. He is helping us to see how the U. S. electoral system's failure has permeated the very fabric of our policy decisions and lead to citizen non-participation and despair. Each chapter is well written, compelling, eye opening and revelatory. I am still thinking deeply about the implications of Fixing Elections' arguments and know that this is essential information for the future if we are to survive as a democracy.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most amazing book, July 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Fixing Elections: The Failure of America's Winner Take All Politics (Hardcover)

I would give it six stars if I could. This is the most insightful book on American politics I have ever read. It transformed how I look at politics in this country. So much of what ails our democracy -- low participation, poor representation, poor quality of campaigns, policy that doesn't reflect what the majority of Americans want, partisan bickering and polarization,on and on -- the author brilliantly shows how it can all be traced back to the Winner Take All political system we use in the U.S. ONe of the most interesting riffs was how much of what we usually attribute to a lack of campaign finance reform -- lack of political competition, or choice for voters, or accountability -- is really more directly impacted by the incentives of the Winner Take All system. Fascinating.

If you read one book on politics this year, make it this one.