Scholars’ Circle – Voter Suppression acts on marginalized communities ; In the name of Majoritarian democracy – November 13, 2022

Since 2020 many states have passed legislation, making it more difficult to vote. Fears of voter suppression in the disenfranchisement of marginalized communities proliferated the 2022 midterms. But were these fears realized? [ dur: 42mins. ] Bertrall Ross is Justice Thurgood Marshall Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy at the University of Virginia School of Law. He is the author of Voter Data, Democratic Inequality, and the Risk of Political Violence, Passive Voter Suppression: Campaign Mobilization and the Effective Disfranchisement of the Poor and Partisan Gerrymandering as a Threat to Multiracial Democracy. Jeremi Suri is Professor in the Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. He holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the co-author of “Problems with President Records are Not Just About Trump” with Kenneth Osgood, the author of The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office and the book we are discussing today, Civil War by Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight For Democracy. He is host of the podcast This is Democracy. Dan Tokaji is the Fred W. & Vi Miller Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School. He is the author of True Threats: Voter Intimidation and the Constitution, Election Law, Democracy, and Legal Education and the co-author of Election Law: Cases and Materials. When does democracy have a dark side? Our guest says that majorities can and do oppress minorities in the name of majoritarian democracy. [ dur: 16mins. ] On this post election week, from our archives we bring you this discussion on the dark side of democracy. Michael Mann is Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology at UCLA. He is the author of the four volume The Sources of Social Power, Fascists and The Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing. This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin, Mihika Chechi, and Sudd Dongre.