that is michael berman. >> spencer overton, what role to computers play in our current system? >> a good role or not so good? >> computers are up tool. they can be great and they can also cause problems. now with redistricting, incumbents and people like michael berman can do more than ever to have much more data. they can map things much more easily. before people use to guess and estimate about, you know, the census and where people live to and taking data from lists and putting it on the map and that kind of thing. now politicians are much more efficient in terms of trying maps. so on one hand it empowers politicians and on the other hand people can actually draw their own maps. i mean, there is -- you know, technology democratizes this to a certain extent because people can draw their own maps. there are other uses of technology. for example, many countries in the world have voter registration modernization which means that the government register's people. you don't have to turn and some paper form, and it is not on the individual to be because it is automatic more people

. >> host: professor spencer overton, in your books, "stealing democracy," what's the voting matrix about? >> guest: there's a movie, "matrix," and basically in that movie, computers are in control, but people think they are in control, but really computers are in control, and i was fascinated by unseen factors that control our live, invisible systems that control our live, and that's how it is really with regard to our election system. we don't think about it. we think that, you know, the people select the politicians, but actually, in fact, this matrix of election laws and systems and regulations, you know, they shape who gets legislated. they shape the policy in our country. they determine, or at least they shape, you know, the level of mercury in the air that we breathe, how many kids are in a classroom in the city of detroit, so they have a huge impact that we don't always appreciate. >> host: and explain how that matrix of laws work. where do they start, and how far down do they go? >> guest: right. well, one unique thing about the united states is that, you know, we don't have a ce

. >> spencer overton is a professor at george washington university and the author of this book, "stealing democracy: the new politics of voter suppression". here is the hardcover, and here is the paperback. thank you for joining us on book tv. >> thanks you so much. i appreciate it. >> every weekend book tv offers 48 hours of programming focused on nonfiction authors and books. watch it here on c-span2. >> book tv is here at george washington university in washington d.c. talking with some professors who are also offers. what you are seeing on your screen now is that cover a professor elizabeth saunders book leaders -- "leaders at war: how presidents shape military interventions" professor saunders, why did you use the word intervention? >> this is a but primarily dealing with a very particular question about the use of military force in american foreign policy and specifically how presidents use military intervention as a tool in american foreign policy first. this is using military force to intervene in the internal affairs of another state, usually quite a distance away. the book is de

. >> host: spencer overton, a professor at george washington university and author of this book "stealing democracy, the new politics of voter suppression." here's the hard cover, and here's the paperback. we thank you for joining us. thank you for joining us on booktv. >> guest: thank you so much, peter. >> host: book tv is here at george washington university in washington, d.c. talking with professors who are authors, and on the screen now 1 the cover of professor elizabeth saunders' book, "leaders at war, how presidents shaped military interventions." why use the word "interjengses"? >> guest: this is a book dealing with a particular question about the use of military force in american foreign policy and how they used military intervention as a tool in american foreign policy. these are wars of choice, not situations where you are dealing with a direct attack on your borders. these are using -- this is use military force to intervene in the internal affairs of another state, usually quite a distance away from the united states. the book is really dealing with the question of why we se