Struggles of Democracy: A Reading List

In the wake of a tumultuous presidential election in the US and as we witness challenges to democracies abroad, we need thoughtful views on democracy and its struggles perhaps now more than ever. UNC Press has always been committed to disseminating excellent work from scholars, writers, and intellectuals across both academic and general audiences and seeks to embody a progressive force in the state and region. To help readers from North Carolina and beyond process the present moment, we compiled a recommended reading list of UNC Press scholarship that focuses on the struggles of democracy in the US.

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Books:

The Vote Collectors, Second Edition: The True Story of the Scamsters, Politicians, and Preachers behind the Nation’s Greatest Electoral Fraud by Michael Graff and Nick Ochsner

“A fascinating narrative of the long clash of racism and electioneering—and a larger story about the challenges to democracy in the rural South.”—WRAL

“Rollicking, deeply reported, and a delight to read.”—David Graham, The Atlantic

Fragile Democracy: The Struggle over Race and Voting Rights in North Carolina by James L. Leloudis, Robert R. Korstad

“As Triangle-area professors James Leloudis and Bob Korstad ably document in their new book Fragile Democracy: The Struggle over Race and Voting Rights in North Carolina . . . arguments over who ‘deserves’ to vote are closely tied to struggles over whose interests government should serve.”—Queen City Nerve

“A researched look at North Carolina’s fraught relationship with race and voting. By looking back, [Leloudis and Korstad] create a framework for the future.”—IndyWeek

Journal Articles and Issues:

Journal of the Early Republic
Volume 44, Number 3, Fall 2024
The Election of 1801 and James A. Bayard’s Disinterested Constitutionalism
James M. Banner Jr.
pp. 319–353

Journal of the Early Republic 
Volume 44, Number 4, Winter 2024 (Forthcoming)
Special Issue: “The Revolution at 250” 
pp. 511–605

Early American Literature
Volume 59, Number 3, 2024
The Bewildering Affect of Representative Democracy: Sheppard Lee’s ‘Confusion of Characters, Propensities, and Associations’
Daniel Diez Couch
pp. 613–639

Early American Literature
Volume 59, Number 2, 2024
Reconciliation in John Winthrop’s History of New England
Adam N. McKeown
pp. 267–291

Early American Literature
Volume 59, Number 1, 2024
The 2023 SEA Common Reading Forum on Toni Morrison’s A Mercy
Anna Brickhouse, April Langley, Kaitlin Tonti, Dana A. Williams, Riché Richardson, Angelyn Mitchell, and Michelle S. Hite