Introduction -- Note: the case for democracy -- Lessons from the past. Rebellion: how white men won the vote ; A moment in the sun: how black men won the vote, and white men stole it ; Resistance and realpolitik: how women won the vote ; Revolution: how black Americans won the vote, and made America a democracy -- The crisis of the present. Backlash to a black president: the Obama years ; Democracy in descent: the Trump years -- A more perfect future. Making it easier to vote ; Making it harder to suppress the vote ; Saving Congress ; Saving the presidency ; Saving the court.