Who has the right to vote in the United States?
Americans have long celebrated descriptions of the U.S. as a nation that has always grown more democratic over time. Historians, however, know that the history of American voting rights is a far more complicated story of gains and often losses. The explanation lies in the U.S. constitution, both what it says, and what it does not. The Election Clause (Article 1, Section 4), gives state governments the responsibility to decide the details of who can vote, and when, and how, but nowhere does the Constitution guarantee anyone an affirmative right to vote. This talk explores why, perhaps, it should.
The 2024 Thompson Distinguished Lecturer
Liette Gidlow is an expert on U.S. politics since the Civil War. Her scholarship focuses on voting rights, women's rights, and African American political activism. She is the author of The Big Vote (2007) and Obama, Clinton, Palin (2012). Her work has been noted in many media outlets including New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and the BBC.
This event is jointly sponsored by Siena College's McCormick Center for the Study of the American Revolution and the Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lectureship Program. 