This book provides a new theoretical perspective to election law showing how alignment theory would operate in practice, in both litigation and legislation.

Election law doctrine has long been dominated by rights-and-interests balancing: the weighing of the rights burdens imposed by electoral regulations against the state interests that the regulations serve. For the last generation, the election law literature has emphasized structural values that relate to the functional realities of the electoral system, competition chief among them. This Article introduces a new structural theory - the alignment approach - that has the potential to reframe and unify many election law debates. The crux of the approach is that voters' preferences ought to be congruent with those of their elected representatives. Preferences as to both party and policy should correspond, and they should do so at the levels of both the individual district and the jurisdiction as a whole.The areas the alignment approach could reorient include franchise restriction, party regulation, campaign finance, redistricting, and minority representation. For instance, measures that hinder voting could be conceived not as rights violations or efforts to suppress competition, but rather as partisan distortions of the electorate. Similarly, campaign finance regulations could be assessed based on their capacity to shift candidates' preferences toward those of their constituents (and away from those of their donors). And the key issue for district plans could be whether they properly align the jurisdiction's median voter with the legislature's median member.The alignment approach is attractive because it stems from the core meaning of democracy itself. If it is the people who are sovereign, then it is their preferences that should be reflected in the positions of their representatives. The approach also is appealing because of the support it finds in the Supreme Court's case law. While the Court has never embraced the approach explicitly, it has often recognized the significance of preference congruence. However, it is important not to overstate the approach's utility. Other election law values matter too and cannot be disregarded. Moreover, many of the factors that produce misalignment are non-legal and thus cannot be addressed by law reform alone.

The third edition of Election Law in the American Political System pivots to place front and center the profound challenges to American democracy posed by the emergence of a political environment in which repeated, partisan attempts to undermine longstanding democratic processes have become a new norm of political contestation. Like prior editions, it offers an easy to teach, student-friendly, intellectually rich casebook with comprehensive coverage of the legal rules and doctrines that shape democratic participation in the 21st century American political system. New to the Third Edition: Addresses the perils currently facing American democracy including democratic backsliding, authoritarianism, and election denialism Contextualizes the problem of democratic backsliding as a global phenomenon Provides important intellectual framework and scaffolding by explaining the joint pathologies of illiberalism and populism and how they affect American democracy Updated caselaw with partisan gerrymandering: Rucho v. Common Cause; the Voting Rights Act: Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee; racial gerrymandering: Cooper v. Harris; and political speech: Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky Professors and students will benefit from: Organization that tracks the lifecycle of the democratic process from distribution of the franchise to processes and relationships of representation and through parties, candidate selection, campaign speech and spending, to electoral administration. Multidisciplinary coverage of theories of voting behavior, alternative electoral systems, evolution of judicial review of democratic processes, and developments concerning the advent of “fake news” in election campaigns. Comprehensive coverage of developments in partisan gerrymandering, the Voting Rights Act, judicial campaigning, campaign finance, and electoral administration. A focus on the current problems facing American democracy. A rich set of theoretical materials to help facilitate teaching and engagement of doctrine Well-organized and self-contained units that allow professors to cover topics in the depth and breadth they prefer. Clear, concise, and informative notes to help focus student attention on the issues that are relevant.

Recent U.S. elections have defied nationwide majority preference at the White House, Senate, and House levels. This work of interdisciplinary scholarship explains how “winner-take-all” and single-member district elections make this happen, and what can be done to repair the system. Proposed reforms include the National Popular Vote interstate compact (presidential elections); eliminating the Senate filibuster; and proportional representation using Ranked Choice Voting for House, state, and local elections.

The purchase of this ebook edition does not entitle you to receive access to the Connected eBook on CasebookConnect. You will need to purchase a new print book to get access to the full experience including: lifetime access to the online ebook with highlight, annotation, and search capabilities, plus an outline tool and other helpful resources. Election Law and Litigation: The Judicial Regulation of Politics

This book is a snapshot of America's voting and electoral practices, problems, and most current issues. The book addresses a variety of fundamental areas concerning election law from a federal perspective such as the Help America Vote Act, lessons learned from the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, voter identification, and demographic and statistical experts in election litigation, and more. It is a useful guide for lawyers as well as law school professors, election officials, state and local government personnel, and election workers.