Politics

Bush v. Gore: The Fight for Florida's Vote by Robert M. Jarvis, Phyllis Coleman, Johnny C. Burris (Kluwer Law International) On Tuesday, November 7, 2000, 100 million Americans went to the polls to elect a new president. By early the next morning it was clear Florida would determine the election. For without the state, neither candidate had the 270 Electoral College votes needed to claim the White House.

Within days, attorneys for Texas Governor George W. Bush, the Republican Party's nominee, and Vice President Albert A. Gore, Jr., the Democratic Party's nominee, were battling each other in courtrooms stretching from Miami to Tallahassee. By the time the skirmishing ended five weeks later, dozens of lawsuits had been filed and an astonishing array of state and federal judges had weighed in on the dispute by issuing a series of ground-breaking opinions.

In recognition of the worldwide significance of the 2000 United States presidential election, Kluwer Law International commissioned three Florida law professors to gather together the key judicial rulings generated by this remarkable test of participatory democracy. Their efforts have resulted in an indispensable masterpiece. The editors have carefully chosen the top 31 opinions, including the Palm Beach County "butterfly ballot" case, the Florida Supreme Court's "let the count continue" decision, and the United States Supreme Court's infamous December 9th stay order, which effectively ended Al Gore's quest to become president.

The most remarkable aspect of the book, however, is its Introduction. In clear and concise terms, the editors identify the principal legal issues at stake in Florida, the strategies employed by the candidates in addressing them, and the means by which the courts resolved them. This superb analysis is must reading for anyone who hopes to understand what really happened in the weeks following November 7th.

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: An Investigative Reporter Exposes the Truth about Globalization, Corporate Cons, and High Finance Fraudsters by Greg Palast (Pluto Press) Award-winning investigative journalist Greg Palast digs deep to unearth the ugly facts that few reporters working anywhere in the world today have the courage or ability to cover. From East Timor to Waco, he has exposed some of the most egregious cases of political corruption, corporate fraud, and financial manipulation in the US and abroad. His uncanny investigative skills as well as his no-holds-barred style have made him an anathema among magnates on four continents and a living legend among his colleagues and his devoted readership.

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