The Uninformed Voter

by Robert Levine

Overview

The Uninformed Voter focuses on a major defect in modern democracy: candidates are elected to government offices by voters who have little or no knowledge about the candidates’ backgrounds and stances on the issues, let alone what the issues are and how government can address those issues. Uninformed voters often end up voting against their own interests. Unqualified or even corrupt candidates may be elected, and the cycle of dysfunctional and inefficient government continues. Offering more than just a history lesson, The Uninformed Voter evaluates suggestions by political scientists and philosophers about how to improve democracy to convince citizens that their votes are valuable and the system is capable of change. Author Robert Levine has been a contributing journalist to The Moderate Voice for eight years, specializing in politics, and has published two other books on American politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781977224460
Publisher:	Outskirts Press, Inc.
Publication date:	04/30/2020
Pages:	386
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.86(d)

About the Author

ROBERT LEVINE was most recently executive editor of Billboard mag­azine. His articles on technology, business, and culture have appeared in the New York Times, Fortune, Condé Nast Portfolio, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, and Travel & Leisure. He lives in New York.

Table of Contents

1) Democracy- A System in Peril

2) Brief Philosophic Perspectives and the Evolution of Democracy

3) The Strange Presidential Election of 2016

4) American Political Corruption

5) Additional Rot

6) Corruption in Other Democracies

7) Partisanship and Polarization

8) Recent Partisanship

9) Government Inefficiency

10) Additional Inefficiencies

11) Whither Now

12.) Ideas Regarding Transformation

Editorial Reviews

Important and insightful look at threats to our democracy and what needs to be changed to put us back on the right path.

An almanac of American political history, monumental in its breadth. And it provides novel suggestions on how to deal with democracy's major problem- the uninformed voter.

A well written and well researched book that examines the evolution of, and the decline of democracy. The author clearly traces why and how this has occurred... and what concrete steps can be taken to get our country back on course.

Penetrating and disturbing critique of the American system. Most interesting were his thoughts on creative democratizing: changes we can make in the political structures and voting process to engage the electorate.

This book should be required reading for new voters as well as current voters not to become complacent with our responsibility. How can we unlock the grip both the Democrats and the GOP have on local, state and federal elections?

Timely and insightful view of our democracy today and what can be done to improve it. The book is an eye-opener for the public. It is well written, researched and structured.

A well-written, painstakingly researched book that tells all the things wrong with democratic government-and how uninformed voters perpetuate these problems by continuing to vote for inadequate leaders.

A thoughtful analysis of what ails our democracy with a focus on an apathetic and uninformed public. This highly readable text is built on a deeply researched study. Levine does not shy away from prescribing policies to ameliorate the condition and they are both practical and feasible.

From the Publisher

2020-09-25
A political work warns readers about the costs of an uninformed electorate.

As a prolific author, physician, and clinical professor at Yale University, Levine has produced scholarship mostly centered on aging and health care reform. In this book, he offers a cautionary tale about a rising tide of a “general lack of knowledge of how government works” and “tribalism,” which he considers fundamental threats to America’s democratic tradition. As of 2017, international studies of the globe’s most liberal democracies ranked the United States 31st in the world, a significant decline from previous years. The author convincingly—and shockingly—demonstrates widespread ignorance among Americans toward their elected representatives and the basic organization of government itself. Just as problematic to Levine is political apathy, when a majority of eligible voters fail to even show up in off-year elections. The book’s strength lies in its international approach, placing America within the context of a global shift from democracy to autocracy, with examples of Russia, Turkey, Hungary, and the Philippines serving as warnings against populist and nationalist governments drawn to authoritarianism. The volume’s title and underlying premise may be off-putting to some readers who will be uncomfortable with blaming America’s current political crisis on ignorant voters (the majority of whom cast their ballots against the nationalist, populist candidate Donald Trump in 2016). They instead may place the blame on the undemocratic nature of the Electoral College itself. Though occasionally elitist in their characterization of American voters, some of Levine’s chapters highlight the role of disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, and political corruption as contributing factors to the nation’s democratic decline. Well-researched with ample footnotes that demonstrate a firm grasp of contemporary scholarship on the subject, the work also features excellent chapters on the philosophical origins of democracy and the history of threats to the American system (for instance, contested presidential elections in 1876, 1960, and 2000 and political scandals like Watergate and the Iran-Contra Affair). Deliberately nonpartisan in its approach, the book concludes with a chapter on practical electoral reforms, such as ranked-choice voting and the revamping of primaries.

This superbly researched and well-reasoned case for informed voting deftly emphasizes democratic traditions.

Kirkus Reviews