American political parties have long existed in a gray area of constitutional law because of their uncertain status. Parties in this country are neither fully public nor fully private entities. This constitutional ambiguity has meant that political parties are considered private organizations for some purposes and public ones for others. This “public-private entity” problem has arisen in many different legal contexts over the years. However, given their case-by-case method of judicial review, courts have typically dealt with only very discrete parts of this larger problem. This work is an endeavor to describe and analyze the constitutional status of political parties in this country by synthesizing the best judicial and scholarly thinking on the subject. In the final chapter, I draw on these ideas to propose my own scheme for how political parties might be best accommodated in a democracy.

In this book, primary source documents, including Constitutional provisions, federal and state laws, and U.S. court decisions, explain our voting rights and show how the law governs disputed elections and electoral reforms. The hotly disputed election of 2000 roused a generally complacent electorate to recognize the erosion of a basic rite of citizenship many had long taken for granted: the exercise of their right to vote. Since then, controversial technology for casting and counting ballots, as well as numerous initiatives intended to increase voter participation (or, in the case of voter identification laws, arguably to restrict it), have ensured that possible flaws in our electoral system are never far from public consciousness. We perceive these troubling developments as new, yet from the colonial period onward, our history has been marked by fierce political battles over who is entitled to vote and how. With over 100 documents, this book presents and analyzes the documentary record of this ongoing struggle. Organized chronologically, this volume traces the legislative evolution of the franchise in America, as well as the significant federal and state court decisions that interpret the law to either extend or contract access to the vote. In each chapter a distinctive section offers examples of disputed elections (presidential and congressional) and the reform proposals that resulted, such as proposed constitutional amendments to eliminate the Electoral College.