Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich: Vote Buying and the Corruption of Democracy - Rilegato

“As the former chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the author has seen expansion of voting rights lead to more voter suppression and actually cause vote counts to decline...Berry helpfully exposes disturbing facts from across the country.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Thank goodness for Mary Frances Berry. At 78, the former chairperson of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights shows no signs of slowing down. In her latest book, Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich: Vote Buying and the Corruption of Democracy, Berry exposes election fraud, from vote buying to absentee ballots in communities that we call home.”
—Essence Magazine

“Dr. Mary Frances Berry states in this urgent book that ‘free and fair elections are a democratic ideal.’ Laying out the history and nature of vote buying, voter suppression, voter intimidation, and turnout, Dr. Berry shows that, rather than being a lock-step march toward greater ‘inclusion’ in voting, the United States exemplifies a push-pull phenomenon—sometimes expanding the franchise and other times restricting it. Above all, Dr. Berry’s work instructs us to be vigilant: if we are to have our democracy live up to its potential, it is up to us to stop restrictive laws and work to expand the franchise fairly at the local, state, and federal levels.”
—Donna Brazile, veteran Democratic strategist and Democratic National Committee’s vice chair for Voter Registration and Participation

“Mary Frances Berry uncovers a type of voter suppression that many readers will be shocked and outraged to learn exists in twenty-first-century America. Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich is an urgent, timely, and nonpartisan book that is vital to our democracy.”
—Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union

Mary Frances Berry (PhD and JD) is the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of eleven books and the recipient of thirty-five honorary degrees. She has been the chair of the US Commission on Civil Rights and has appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher,The Daily Show, Tavis Smiley, PBS NewsHour, CBS Evening News,Al Jazeera America News, and various MSNBC and CNN shows.