One Person, One Vote, Nick Seabrook
One Person, One Vote, Nick Seabrook
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One Person, One Vote
A Surprising History of Gerrymandering in America

Author: Nick Seabrook

Narrator: Reynaldo Piniella

Unabridged: 12 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/14/2022


Synopsis

A redistricting crisis is upon us. This surprising, compelling book tells the history of how we got to this moment—from the Founding Fathers to today’s high-tech manipulation of election districts—and shows us how to protect our most sacred, hard-fought principle of one person, one vote. Here is THE book on gerrymandering for citizens, politicians, journalists, activists, and voters.

“Seabrook’s lucid account of the origins and evolution of gerrymandering—the deliberate and partisan doctoring of district borders for electoral advantage—makes a potentially dry, wonky subject accessible and engaging for a broad audience.” —The New York Times

Gerrymandering is the manipulation of election districts for partisan and political gain. Instead of voters picking the politicians they want, politicians pick the voters they need to get the election results they’re after. Surprisingly, gerrymandering has been around since before our nation’s founding. And with technology, those drawing the redistricting lines have, now more than ever, been able to microtarget their electoral manipulations with unprecedented levels of precision.

Nick Seabrook, an authority on constitutional and election law and an expert on gerrymandering, has written an illuminating, urgently needed book on how our elections have been rigged through redistricting, beginning with the Founding Fathers, Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, and extending to the twentieth century’s gerrymandering battles at the Supreme Court and today’s high-tech manipulations of election districts.

Seabrook explores the rise of the most partisan gerrymanders in American history, put into place by the Republican Party after the 2010 census, and how the battle has shifted to the states via REDMAP—the GOP’s successful strategy of the last decade to control state governments and rig the results of state legislative and congressional elections.

A vast new redistricting is already here, and as Seabrook makes clear in order to safeguard our republic, action is needed before it is too late.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Porter on August 01, 2022

This is one of those niche books that if you are interested in election history and politics, but don't know too much about the subjects will enjoy. It is well written and fun. It covers a lot of territory, it is a solid primer on the subject.......more

Goodreads review by William on October 30, 2022

I found this thanks to Sharon McMahon of @SharonSaysSo, whose platform I feel is essential content for all Americans. Gerrymandering in the States is more frequently evoked these days but growing up I received the impression in school that the gerrymander was mostly a historic curiosity of its names......more

Goodreads review by Nathaniel on November 18, 2022

Well-written, well-researched, but incredibly dense. I learned a lot about the history and context of redistricting that I didn't know before; the parts about colonial-era proto-gerrymandering and the H.W. Bush DOJ's role in creating majority-minority districts in the 1990's in order to "pack" adjac......more

Goodreads review by Jarrod on December 08, 2022

A solid read weaving the history of gerrymandering with solutions. Takes both sides to task and dives deep into the subject.......more

Goodreads review by Scott on July 13, 2022

(Audiobook) This work looks at the long and winding (so to speak) history of Gerrymandering and the processes whereby politicians can pick their voters. It goes beyond Eldridge Gerry, for whom the process is named. Starting in England in the mid-1700, the process of drawing voting districts could be......more


Quotes

A New Yorker Best Book of the Year

“Seabrook’s lucid account of the origins and evolution of gerrymandering—the deliberate and partisan doctoring of district borders for electoral advantage—makes a potentially dry, wonky subject accessible and engaging for a broad audience.” The New York Times
 
“[An] excellent and cogent account of election boundary manipulation proves that political power knows few bounds and explains gerrymandering’s history and effects and ways to combat it . . . A timely and powerful book that should be read by everyone interested in preserving American democracy.” Library Journal (starred)
 
“A sweeping study of gerrymandering, the process of manipulating the boundaries of political districts to ensure an election’s outcome … Seabrook urges readers to pressure their state legislatures to establish independent commissions and other nonpartisan redistricting procedures. Dense yet entertaining, this comprehensive survey is a worthy introduction to a high-stakes political issue.” Publishers Weekly
 
“A study of the practice of shaping electoral districts … Seabrook shows how gerrymandering has been practiced by both major parties in recent years, with procedural road maps now followed by the GOP often laid out by their Democratic predecessors … [a] call to action … valuable reading for voting rights advocates.” Kirkus