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Start giftingThe Great Suppression
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Learn moreA deeply reported look inside the new conservative movement working to undermine American democracy.
Control of the country is up for grabs—and Republicans have been rigging the game in their favor. Twenty-two states have passed restrictions on voting. Ruthless gerrymandering has given the GOP a long-term grip on Congress. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has eviscerated campaign finance laws, boosting candidgates backed by big money.
It would be worrying enough if these were just schemes for partisan advantage. But the reality is even more disturbing. As reporter Zachary Roth reveals, a growing number of Republicans distrust the very idea of democracy—and they’re doing everything they can to limit it.
In The Great Suppression, Roth unearths the deep historical roots of this antiegalitarian worldview, and introduces us to its modern-day proponents: the GOP officials pushing to make it harder to cast a ballot; the lawyers looking to scrap all limits on money in politics; the libertarian scholars reclaiming judicial activism to roll back the New Deal; and the corporate lobbyists working to ban local action on everything from the minimum wage to the environment. And he travels from Rust Belt cities to southern towns to show us how these efforts are hurting the most vulnerable Americans and preventing progress on pressing issues.
A sharp, searing polemic in the tradition of Rachel Maddow and Matt Taibbi, The Great Suppression is an urgent wake-up call about a threat to our most cherished values, and a rousing argument for why we need democracy now more than ever.
Zachary Roth is a national reporter for MSNBC. His work has appeared in Slate, Salon, the Atlantic, the Guardian, the Daily Beast, the New Republic, and the Los Angeles Times, among other outlets. He has also worked as a reporter for Yahoo! News and Talking Points Memo, and as an editor and writer for the Washington Monthly.
Zach Villa is a stage, film, and television performer. Classically trained in acting, Villa’s audiobook work includes The World without You by Joshua Henkin and Butterfly Winter by W. P. Kinsella.
Reviews
“According to this grim investigation, when the Supreme Court struck down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, it bolstered ongoing right-wing attempts to limit democracy and voting rights…Roth explains that once-per-decade redistricting will allow the GOP to dominate American electoral politics for years to come. His book should be required reading for understanding the ultimate goals of American conservatism.”
“A blistering account of concerted Republican efforts to quiet the political voices of minorities, students, and the poor… Roth’s succinct, well-written report examines disparate events and rulings of the past decade, arguing that conservative efforts to thwart the popular will have gone beyond partisan politics and are dismissive of the democratic process…Solid reporting combined with engaging stories.”
“Conservative activists have made it easier to buy an election and harder to vote in one. This gutting of democracy is the most important yet overlooked development in American politics, and Roth captures it with great skill in this timely and essential book.”
“A punchy and to-the-point chronicle of the desperate right-wing campaign to hold onto government power by limiting democratic rights.”
“By weaving together lesser known aspects of American history going back to the founding, the politics of today, and real stories, Roth exposes the troubling state of American democracy. He demonstrates the vast range of tactics conservative elites are using to silence Americans’ voices and skew public policy in favor of the one percent. But he also lifts up recent successes in expanding voting rights and reducing money in politics, suggesting hope for a path forward.”
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