Summary of Jessamyn Conrad & Martin Garbus's What You Should Know About Politics . . . But Don't, Fourth Edition

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Sample Book Insights:

#1 The American voting system is made up of both national and state elections, and there is a lot of variability between them. The voter registration process is thought to disproportionately affect minority, disadvantaged, and younger voters.

#2 Every election is influenced by the 2000 presidential race between Republican Texas governor George W. Bush and Democratic vice president Albert Al Gore. The Electoral College, which elects the president and vice president, is one of America’s least-loved and least understood institutions.

#3 The Electoral College was created by the founding fathers as a last-ditch compromise on how to choose the president, one of the most hotly debated questions faced by the Constitutional Congress in 1787. Some wanted Congress to choose the president, thinking that they would be best informed and would choose the most qualified candidate, while others argued for direct election by the citizens as a more democratic and egalitarian method.

#4 The Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v. Gore halted the recount, deeming it unconstitutional. The Court stated that there was not enough time to come up with a new result. The real nail in the coffin was the Court’s conclusion that there wasn’t enough time to determine whether or not votes were valid.