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Who Will Be the Next President?

Alexander S. Belenky
Publisher: 
Springer
Publication Date: 
2016
Number of Pages: 
165
Format: 
Hardcover
Edition: 
2
Price: 
59.99
ISBN: 
9783319446950
Category: 
Monograph
[Reviewed by
Fernando Q. Gouvêa
, on
12/8/2016
]

This is the second edition of a book first published in the Springer Briefs series. It is closely related to (but seems more accessible than) Belenky’s earlier Understanding the Fundamentals of the U.S. Presidential Election System. Since this is a Springer Open title, it is freely available online. The second edition includes several corrections and new examples.

Also, it adds to the Conclusion a brief description of (a) fundamental merits, (b) particular deficiencies embedded in the system via the Constitution, and (c) some urgent problems of this system as the author views them.

Finally it offers a new topic on the election system to discuss. This topic deals with national televised presidential debates. It covers current requirements for presidential candidates to participate in the debates, and what the candidates from both established non-major political parties and independent ones need to demonstrate these requirements. In addition, a new proposal on how to organize and hold televised presidential debates that would allow all these candidates to participate.

As those paragraphs indicate, Belenky is not afraid to make suggestions for change, which may make his book particularly interesting to those who would like to consider whether such changes are desirable.


Fernando Q. Gouvêa is Carter Professor of Mathematics at Colby College and the editor of MAA Reviews.

See the table of contents in the publisher's webpage.