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Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America Paperback – August 2, 2016

4.7 out of 5 stars 283

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A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist, Nonfiction

Named a Notable Book of the Year by

The New York Times Book Review and The Washington Post

Named a Best Book of the Year by
NPR, The Boston Globe, and Kirkus Reviews (Best Nonfiction)

Countless books have been written about the civil rights movement, but far less attention has been paid to what happened after the dramatic passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and the turbulent forces it unleashed. In this groundbreaking narrative history, Ari Berman charts both the transformation of American democracy under the VRA and the counterrevolution that has sought to limit it from the moment the act was signed into law. The VRA is widely regarded as the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement, and yet―more than fifty years later―the battles over race, representation, and political power continue, as lawmakers devise new strategies to keep minorities out of the voting booth, while the Supreme Court has declared a key part of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional.

Through meticulous research, in-depth interviews, and incisive on-the-ground reporting,
Give Us the Ballot offers the first comprehensive history of its kind, and provides new insight into one of the most vital political and civil rights issues of our time.


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Editorial Reviews

Review

“An engrossing narrative history . . . Berman vividly shows that the power to define the scope of voting rights in America has shifted from Congress to the courts.” ―Jeffrey Rosen, The New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice)

“[
Give Us The Ballot] should become a primer for every American, but especially for congressional lawmakers and staffers, because it so capably describes the intricate interplay between grass-roots activism and the halls of Congress . . . Congress must fix the Voting Rights Act, and Berman’s book explains why, without passion or favoritism. It is the first history of the contemporary voting rights movement in the United States. It is long overdue, but Berman’s extensive reporting makes it well worth the wait.” ―John Lewis, The Washington Post

“Ari Berman’s important recent book,
Give Us the Ballot, explores the struggle over voting rights unleashed by the civil-rights revolution, and how it continues to this day . . . Berman has performed a valuable public service by illuminating this history.” ―Eric Foner, The Nation

“Fifty years after passage of the Voting Rights Act,
Give Us the Ballot makes a powerful case that voting rights are under assault in 21st century America. Current events underscore the book's timeliness.” ―Wendy Smith, The Los Angeles Times

“Ari Berman’s
Give Us the Ballot, a history of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, makes for an excellent extended example of the mechanisms by which race in the South becomes race in the nation.” ―Nicholas Lemann, The New Yorker

“An urgent, moving, deeply important history of the modern right to vote in the United States” ―Michael O'Donnell,
The Christian Science Monitor

“Comprehensive . . . The value of
Give Us the Ballot lies in illustrating that the [Voting Rights Act] has never been universally accepted . . . Ari Berman convincingly shows that the fight for voting rights is far from over.” ―Jordan Michael Smith, The Boston Globe

“An extremely valuable and terribly timely history of the Voting Rights Act . . . Berman deftly weaves together the politics, the intellectual and legal arguments, the legislative battles, the counterrevolutionary schemes, and the tragic and ironic turns in the story.” ―Harvey J. Kaye,
The Daily Beast

“Illuminating . . .
Give Us the Ballot is a smart compendium of election "reforms." Berman removes the facade of intellectual honesty--where voting-rights opponents even bothered to make an argument--and lays bare the many, many ways to game the outcome of an election.” ―Scott Porch, The Chicago Tribune

“The voting rights struggle of the 1960s produced several moments that remain seared in the nation’s memory . . . Ari Berman tells the story of these stirring moments, and tells it well. But unlike many civil rights chronicles, his account begins rather than ends in the 1960s. Via a series of vivid anecdotes, he describes the tumultuous history of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) from its enactment all the way to the present day. It’s an important and absorbing tale.”
―Nicholas Stephanopoulos,
The New Rambler

“Berman's reporting is expertly balanced.” ―Walton Muyumba,
The Dallas Morning News

“Just in time for the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act comes this deep dive into the legacy of the civil rights movement and why we're still fighting for the right for everyone to have a slice of the political power pie.” ―Lara Zarum,
The Village Voice

“The Voting Rights Act was signed into law 50 years ago, but according to journalist Berman, the fight for equality in voting is still taking place” ―
The Los Angeles Times

“Ari Berman's
Give Us the Ballot explains that the VRA's 50 years have seen great gains but also consistent opposition. The specifics may have changed. The campaign to suppress turnout among minorities has not . . . Read Give Us the Ballot.” ―Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Ari Berman's
Give Us the Ballot is a fascinating, if also infuriating, chronicle of the modern era in voting rights - a time when those hard-won rights are suddenly in great jeopardy. Comprehensive, fair-minded and wise, the book tells a haunting story of rights won and rights lost.” ―Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Oath and The Nine

“Ari Berman's
Give us the Ballot is a must read for anyone who cares about the health of American democracy. Written with a deep respect for history, a keen journalistic sensibility, and a visceral passion for fairness, Berman's book takes us on a swift and critical journey through the last fifty years of voting in America. He begins on the Edmund Pettus bridge with the foot soldiers of Selma and concludes in the rotunda of the North Carolina statehouse with the protestors of Moral Mondays. All the critical figures of American voting rights appear in this book, but Berman allows no one story to dominate the narrative. His book is about the people, the ballot box, and our as yet unrealized ideal of fully free and fair elections. We have not yet arrived at the healthy democracy the 1965 Voting Rights Act promises is possible, but we have not given up hope. The struggle continues.” ―Melissa Harris-Perry, host of MSNBC's Melissa-Harris Perry Show and Presidential Professor of Politics and International Studies at Wake Forest University

“Expertly taking us from the bloody streets of Selma to the current counterrevolution against the voting rights of black and poor Americans, Ari Berman reminds us that democracy can never be taken for granted, especially at a time when the courts are more than willing to abet efforts to limit the right to vote.” ―
Eric Foner, author of Gateway to Freedom

“Ari Berman has written a powerful history of the massive struggle that has taken place since 1965 over the survival of the Voting Rights Act. Berman reveals that from the moment Congress passed the landmark bill, opponents mobilized to dismantle it. The ongoing and sustained assaults on this historic legislation finally started to find success during the 1980s when opponents directed their efforts to the courts. This is a terrific, though troubling, read about the future of American democracy.” ―
Julian E. Zelizer, author of The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society

“Berman does a superb job of making the history of the right to vote in America not only easily understandable, but riveting...This is the best kind of popular history-literate, passionate, and persuasive, balancing detail with accessibility.” ―
Publishers Weekly, starred review

“[I]ncisive... This emotional book runs the gamut... Not just a compelling history, but a cry for help in the recurring struggle to gain what is supposed to be an inalienable right.” ―
Kirkus, starred review

About the Author

Ari Berman is a political correspondent for The Nation and an investigative journalism Fellow at the Nation Institute. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times and Rolling Stone, and he is a frequent commentator on MSNBC and NPR. His first book, Herding Donkeys: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party and Reshape American Politics, was published in 2010. He lives in New York City.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Picador; Reprint edition (August 2, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250094720
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250094728
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.33 x 1.01 x 7.45 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 283

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
283 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2016
I remember the day the Supreme Court effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act and as this election was in full swing, began paying increasing attention to the increasingly stringent laws passing in Republican controlled states in the name of protecting the integrity of elections (eliminating voter fraud) which was just a means of suppressing votes and disenfranchising minorities, the elderly, students and those more economically disadvantaged. I came across an article talking about Ari Berman's book "Give us the Ballot" and began reading it a week before the election and finished it a few days later.

"Give Us the Ballot" is a monumentally critical book for all Americans, not only in light of the 2016 election, but really to understand that the bedrock of democracy, the right to vote, has been under assault. This certainly isn't a new story since it goes back to our founding when essentially only white landowning men could vote. The march of history has certainly led to progress where ostensibly all adults are entitled to vote in theory, yet in practice that is hardly the case. Berman focuses this book on the time period from the modern civil rights movement and one of the most important pieces of legislation, the 1965 Voting Rights Act which was instrumental in eliminating post-Reconstruction barriers like poll taxes and literacy tests that prevented black Americans from exercising the franchise. Berman provides brilliant detail around the progress made because of the VRA, the people and forces that worked to undermine it (John Roberts within the Reagan administration and later as Chief Justice of SCOTUS) and the chicanery undertaken by politicians to promote non-existent voter fraud as a means to "justify" the need for strict voting laws. With the evisceration of section 5 of the VRA, large numbers of Americans across many states now face far more obstacles to vote than ever before. Yes, the election is rigged but not for the reason you PEOTUS wants you to believe. "Give us the Ballot" will make you understand that DJT wouldn't be President if voter suppression wasn't rampant.

This is truly an enlightening and critical book to read about the politicization of what is the most fundamental American right. Berman shines a illuminating and harsh light on voter disenfranchisement.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2015
Ari Berman's recent book, "Give Us the Ballot", is a tour de force when it comes to describing how the Voting Rights Act of 1965 became law and the desperate and vicious attacks since then on that law. It's no surprise that southern states, long in their own history of violence and voter suppression, figure heavily here. It's a shameful record.

While events leading up to the passage of the Voting Rights Act are well documented and narrated by the author, the real interest for me as a reader is what has happened since. The book really begins to crackle when Berman describes the 2000 presidential election and the mischief that occurred in Florida. Leave it to misfits like Katherine Harris to disregard the votes of so many Floridians. Yet unbelievably, it is Chief Justice John Roberts who leads the charge as protagonist to new voting restrictions. Through purges in voter rolls and new restrictions on voter ID and early voting, reading this book makes one think that all or most of the progress that has been made since 1965 has been lost. When Moral Monday protests occurred in North Carolina in 2014 a prescient sign reading "Welcome to North Carolina/turn your watch back 50 years" provided an accurate feeling of how so few in southern state legislatures can cause so much damage in such a short space of time.

"Give Us the Ballot" is an exceptionally well-crafted and documented book. The personal stories of many voters who were not allowed to register and/or vote are presented here and their reflections are all too sad... and yet for them, necessary to be related to readers. I highly recommend "Give Us the Ballot" because it tells the story of how a great country of ours can be reduced by those people in power who can't see the forest for the trees."
11 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2015
I really enjoyed reading Give Us The Ballot. Berman brought the subject of voting rights with all its historic, legal, racial, human, and political implications to life through the stories of the people whose votes were denied, made difficult, or deliberately weakened.

Weaving the story of John Lewis, the great civil rights leader throughout the account created an element that connected me into the struggle, victories, and defeats of voting rights. Understanding the role Chief Justice John Roberts has played in the Voting Rights struggle was new information for me.

This book was an easy, engaging read which helped me develop a better understanding and deeper appreciation for the issue of Voting Rights. I highly recommend this book.
9 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

G Munro
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 13, 2016
Good