“Drunken brawls, coercion, and lace curtains. Believe it or not, how regular people vote was not something the founding fathers thought much about, or planned for. Americans went from casting votes at drunken parties in the town square to private booths behind a drawn curtain. In this episode, the process of voting; how it was originally designed, who it was intended for, moments in our country’s history when we reimagined it altogether, and what we’re left with today.”

NPR’s Throughline episode on the history of “How We Vote” features GC Prof. Andrew Robertson giving the introduction (with beer in the background!) Jill Lepore, Richard Cawardine and Carol Anderson are other historians who contributed.

You can find it here [npr.org].

If you would like to read more on the topic, here’s a list:

• One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy by Carol Anderson
• Rock, Paper Scissors: How We Used To Vote by Jill Lepore (The New Yorker)
• Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power by Richard J. Carwardine
• The Language of Democracy: Political Rhetoric in the United States and Britain, 1790–1900 by Andrew W. Robertson

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