Alexander Keyssar
Matthew W. Stirling, Jr., Professor of History and Social Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
Chapter Member: Boston SSN
Areas of Expertise:
- American Democracy
- Voting
- Economic Security
- Unemployment Insurance
Connect with Alexander
About Alexander
Keyssar writes and teaches about the history of democratic institutions in the United States and (occasionally) elsewhere in the world. Much of this work has focused on the evolution of voting rights, although he is now writing a book that deals with the Electoral College, districting systems, and campaign finance rules. He has worked frequently with advocacy groups that promote democratic reform, such as Common Cause and FairVote.
Contributions
What Struggles over the Right to Vote Reveal about American Democracy
SSN Key Findings Brief,
In the News
Alexander Keyssar's research on electoral college reforms discussed in , "2020 Democrats are Calling for Abolishing the Electoral College - It Nearly Happened a Few Decades Ago," Newsweek, March 24, 2019.
Alexander Keyssar quoted on government-sponsored unemployment insurance in Sean McElwee, "The Economic Plan That Could Save America (but Scares Conservative Billionaires Senseless)" Salon, June 29, 2015.
Alexander Keyssar quoted on the undemocratic nature of property requirements for voting in Kay Steiger, "The Problem with Yoho's Property Owner Vote Idea" Talking Points Memo, May 23, 2014.
Alexander Keyssar quoted on the constitutional right to vote in Isaac Buck, "Piecemeal Suffrage" Harvard Political Review, April 20, 2014.
"The Strange Career of Voter Suppression," Alexander Keyssar, The New York Times, February 12, 2012.
"Short-Circuiting the Vote," Alexander Keyssar, Newsweek Online Edition, November 13, 2008.
overview
Publications
The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States (Basic Books, 2009).
Traces the history of voting rights from the American Revolution through the 2008 election.
"Shoring Up the Right to Vote for President: A Modest Proposal" Political Science Quarterly 118, no. 2 (2003): 181-190.
Discusses the absence of a right to vote in Presidential elections and a proposal to correct this glaring problem.
Out of Work: The First Century of Unemployment in Massachusetts (Cambridge University Press, 1986).
A history of the emergence of unemployment as an important social problem and the policy responses to it.