After the People Vote
A Guide to the Electoral College

  • Title:

    After the People Vote
  • Edited By:

    John C. Fortier
  • Format:

    Paperback
  • Paperback Price:

    15.00
  • Paperback ISBN:

    0844742023
  • Paperback Dimensions:

    6'' x 9''
  • 118 Paperback pages
  • Buy the Book

Download file The preface to this book is available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

The extraordinary presidential election contest in 2000 raised new issues about the electoral process. In the third edition of After the People Vote: A Guide to the Electoral College, leading constitutional, political, and legal scholars use examples from that controversial election and other disputed elections to explain how the electoral college works.

The new edition of this popular guide provides a short history of contested elections, including a fresh essay on the 2000 election. It features all-new essays arguing for and against the electoral college, as well as appendixes that are updated and expanded to include electoral college and popular vote totals from past presidential elections. An added section concentrates on the period between Election Day in November and the casting of votes by electors in December. After the People Vote is the only book of its kind that is keyed to the specific dates between Election Day and the inauguration, which allows the reader to focus on the key procedural issues at each juncture of the election.

After the People Vote is a handbook for students, scholars, journalists, policymakers, political scientists, lawyers, and general readers interested in understanding the workings of the electoral college and other post–Election Day election processes. It explains:

  • how disputed presidential elections are resolved;
  • why we have an electoral college;
  • how electors are selected and bound;
  • what the constitutional provisions are for selecting a president;
  • what the statutory provisions are for selecting a president;
  • how consistent state recount procedures are;
  • why it is important for states to certify their election results by a date before the electors cast their votes;
  • what the presidential succession process is;
  • what the interactions of the Constitution, federal, and state statutes are; and
  • what the party and parliamentary rules are.

John C. Fortier is a research fellow at AEI and executive director of the Continuity of Government Commission. Walter Berns is a resident scholar at AEI. Akhil Amar is Southmayd Professor of Law at Yale University. Vikram Amar is a professor of law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in San Francisco. Martin Diamond, now deceased, was a professor at the University of Chicago. Norman J. Ornstein is a resident scholar at AEI.

About the Author

 

Walter
Berns
  • Walter Berns is also a professor emeritus at Georgetown University. A scholar of political philosophy and constitutional law, he has written extensively on American government and politics in both professional and popular journals. He is the author of numerous books on democracy, the Constitution, and patriotism. His most recent book is Democracy and the Constitution (AEI Press, 2006), a collection of essays. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2005.
  • Phone: 2028625859
    Email: wberns@aei.org

 

Norman J.
Ornstein
  • Norman Ornstein is a long-time observer of Congress and politics. He writes a weekly column for Roll Call and is an election analyst for CBS News. He served as codirector of the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project and participates in AEI's Election Watch series. He also serves as a senior counselor to the Continuity of Government Commission. Mr. Ornstein led a working group of scholars and practitioners that helped shape the law, known as McCain-Feingold, that reformed the campaign financing system. He was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004. His many books include The Permanent Campaign and Its Future (AEI Press, 2000); the coauthored The Broken Branch: How Congress is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track (Oxford University Press, 2006); and, most recently, Vital Statistics on Congress 2008 (Brookings Institution Press, 2008), also coauthored.
  • Phone: 202-862-5893
    Email: nornstein@aei.org
  • Assistant Info

    Name: Jennifer Marsico
    Phone: 202-862-5899
    Email: jennifer.marsico@aei.org

 

John C.
Fortier
AEI on Facebook