ABSTRACT
Long before elections are stolen at the ballot box, in the redistricting backroom, or in late-night five-to-four decisions of the Supreme Court, they are stolen in your mind. This is because our political expectations are structured by the ballot choices offered and suppressed by the mysterious operation known as the “two-party system.” Even if everyone had a right to vote, even if this right were not racially double-crossed, even if majorities had a right to prevail, the electoral process would not be democratic unless all parties were allowed to compete on a free and equal basis.
