For Immediate Release
October 2, 2026
Contact:
James Schneider: Princeton University Press, [email protected]
Jessica Krakoski for Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law: Jessica Krakoski PR, [email protected]
On October 6, An American Problem: How the Country Built — and the Supreme Court Broke — the Voting Rights Act will be published by Princeton University Press. Authors Michael Miller and Kevin Morris provide historical, legal, and statistical evidence of the Voting Rights Act’s importance as a protector of voting rights for Americans of color. Using advanced research techniques to trace the devastating effect of the 2013 Shelby County decision, Miller and Morris prove that the ruling unleashed racially discriminatory voting policies and increased the nationwide gap in turnout between white voters and voters of color.
Miller and Morris are political scientists — Miller is a professor of political science at Barnard, and Morris is a Senior Researcher at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law. Along with their Shelby County findings, Miller and Morris provide deep historical and political context about the Voting Rights Act. An American Problem covers the conditions leading to the law’s passage in 1965, its rise as an effective tool against racial discrimination in voting, and the blows it has taken from the Supreme Court.
The authors argue that demolishing the Voting Rights Act has left the 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution largely unenforced, to the detriment of millions of Americans’ ability to participate in democracy.
The Brennan Center published Miller and Morris’s early findings on the Shelby County effect on voter turnout in 2024. An American Problem expands on that work with more analysis on the historical roots of the Voting Rights Act and its preclearance condition, along with preclearance’s efficacy between 1965 and 2013.
Before the Supreme Court struck down preclearance in Shelby County, states and localities with a history of racial discrimination in voting had to get federal permission to change their election rules to ensure that the change wouldn’t be discriminatory. Morris and Miller prove that the loss of preclearance has caused hundreds of thousands of ballots to go uncast by voters of color in the places once covered by the requirement.
What’s more, Miller and Morris show that Shelby County has made the votes that are cast by minority voters less effective at translating into representation, from small city councils in the South to the halls of Congress.
Praise for An American Problem:
“When gutting the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court has told one story. This book tells another — of the true fight for our most fundamental right and of the discriminatory forces that continue to weigh down our democracy.” — Vanita Gupta, former United States Associate Attorney General
“This is a tour de force of investigative research, rigorous fact-finding, and compelling storytelling that might even convince the conservative supermajority that they’ve taken the nation down a dark, dangerous path. Miller and Morris are the historians and truth-tellers we need. Everyone who has a sense that the slow shredding of the VRA signals a broader problem with the Court needs to read it — and demand action.” — David Daley, author of Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right’s50-Year Plot to Control American Elections and Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count
“Offers a deep understanding of today’s stresses on democracy by drilling into the story of America’s foundational freedom: the right to vote.” — Congressman Chris Deluzio
“Miller and Morris, using hard data not hyperbole, demonstrate America’s backsliding on voting rights: why and how it happened, and what comes next. A readable but rigorous volume.” — Richard L. Hasen, UCLA Law
“The Roberts court promised that gutting the Voting Rights Act wouldn’t harm minority voters. Miller and Morris prove how catastrophically wrong that was.” — Ari Berman, author of Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America
“Miller and Morris offer the clearest evidence yet of the ongoing need for federal voting rights protections. Their comprehensive and methodical analysis reveals a sad truth for our democracy: after Shelby eliminated preclearance racially discriminatory policies flourished not only across the South, but the country as a whole. This book should be required reading for the U.S. Supreme Court because it makes clear the inequalities that lie ahead as voting rights continue to crumble in America.” — Matt A. Barreto, UCLA Voting Rights Project
“Miller and Morris brilliantly trace the rise and fall of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act—and its consequences for American democracy. With a nuanced and detailed analysis of election policy and administrative changes since the Shelby decision, An American Problem is a must-read for scholars, practitioners, and anyone who cares about voting rights.” — Jake Grumbach, University of California, Berkeley
Events (in formation; for full list and updates, see here)
- Greenlight Bookstore at LAPC in conversation with Ari Berman, Brooklyn, NY (in person), October 5 at 7 pm ET
- Brennan Center event at The Greene Space in conversation with Michael Waldman, New York City (in person), October 6 at 6 pm ET
- Brennan Center conference: Reimagining Voting Rights in America at National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta, GA (in person), October 8, 9 am – 3:45 pm ET
- Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in conversation with Barry McNeally, Birmingham, AL (in person), October 10 at 12 pm CT
- The NewSouth Bookstore & The Rosa Parks Museum in conversation with Alison Mollman, Montgomery, AL (in person), October 13 at 5:30 pm CT
- Lemuria Books in conversation with Rep. Zakiya Summers, Jackson, MS (in person), October 14 at 5 pm CT
- Zocalo Public Square, Los Angeles, CA (in person), October 24 at 9 am PT
- Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA (in person), October 25 at 1 pm PT
About the Authors
Michael G. Miller is professor of political science at Barnard College of Columbia University. He is the coauthor of Small Power and the author of Subsidizing Democracy (both from Oxford University Press). His full bio can be found here.
Kevin T. Morris is senior research fellow and voting policy scholar at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. His full bio can be found here.
