Voting Rights: A Reference Handbook is a valuable resource for high school and college students curious about the history of voting rights in the United States. Voting Rights: A Reference Handbook chronicles voting rights in the United States, from the colonial period to the present. Following a historical overview is an examination of current controversies in addition to profiles of key persons and reprint important documents. The book also includes a perspectives chapter featuring ten original essays on various topics related to voting rights, as well as an annotated bibliography and chronology. The variety of resources provided, such as further reading, perspective essays about voting rights, a timeline, and useful terms in the voting rights discourse, allow this book to stand out from others in the field. It is intended for readers at the high school through community college levels, along with adult readers who are interested in the topic. Does not assume prior knowledge about the history of voting rights, fully informing students and other readers on the topic Seeks primarily to explain voting rights, rather than to provide advocacy or criticism Provides a balanced analysis of many of the current controversies surrounding voting rights Rounds out the authors' expertise in perspective essays that give readers a diversity of viewpoints on the topic

This book provides an analytical guide to the modern political campaign, chronologically covering key federal, state, and local campaign laws, election commission rules, and the court decisions interpreting them. While the media and the public tend to focus on the personalities and foibles of the candidates and the horse-race elements of political campaigns, election outcomes often depend as much on the rules that limit candidates' activities and advertising as on the candidates' platforms and personal appeal. How much money may candidates raise? From whom can they accept money? When and how may they spend their campaign funds? What are they allowed to say in their ads? Informed voters who understand the constraints under which campaigns operate can see past the headlines and the hype to assess the quality of the candidates' campaign decisions and their management skills. The approximately 100 documents gathered in this reference guide put the essential information in readers' hands. After introducing 18th- and 19th-century efforts to regulate American election campaigns, this book examines the 20th-century evolution and refinement of election campaign laws in era-by-era chapters and concludes with a chapter on 21st-century developments. Each chapter opens with a short essay highlighting politically relevant historical events of the era to place the subject matter in context. Analytical essays and suggested print and electronic resources accompany every documentary entry