Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Election Law

Selected Works

Constitutional Law

Articles 1 - 13 of 13

Full-Text Articles in Law

Democratic Inclusion, Cognitive Development, And The Age Of Electoral Majority, Vivian E. Hamilton Sep 2019

Democratic Inclusion, Cognitive Development, And The Age Of Electoral Majority, Vivian E. Hamilton

Vivian E. Hamilton

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Applying Citizens United To Ordinary Corruption: With A Note On Blagojevich, Mcdonnell, And The Criminalization Of Politics, George D. Brown Dec 2014

Applying Citizens United To Ordinary Corruption: With A Note On Blagojevich, Mcdonnell, And The Criminalization Of Politics, George D. Brown

George D. Brown

Federal criminal law frequently deals with the problem of corruption in the form of purchased political influence. There appear to be two distinct bodies of federal anticorruption law: one concerning constitutional issues in the prevention of corruption through campaign finance regulation, and one addressing corruption in the form of such crimes as bribery, extortion by public officials, and gratuities to them. The latter body of law primarily presents issues of statutory construction, but it may be desirable for courts approaching these issues to have an animating theory of what corruption is and how to deal with it. At the moment, …

Go to article

Political Advocacy And Taxable Entities: Are They The Next "Loophole"?, Donald B. Tobin Jun 2014

Political Advocacy And Taxable Entities: Are They The Next "Loophole"?, Donald B. Tobin

Donald B. Tobin

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Instead Of Government Truth Police, A Wiser Course Is Informed Citizenry, Alan E. Garfield Apr 2014

Instead Of Government Truth Police, A Wiser Course Is Informed Citizenry, Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.

Go to article

High Courts And Election Law Reform In The United States And India, Manoj Mate Dec 2013

High Courts And Election Law Reform In The United States And India, Manoj Mate

Manoj S. Mate

Over the past decade, the push for electoral reform in India and the United States – the world’s two largest democracies – has been promi- nent in the politics and governance of both nations. The supreme courts in each country have played important, but distinct, roles in recent electoral reform efforts, responding to different facets and regimes of political corruption. In the 1990s, the Indian Supreme Court became increasingly assertive in requiring greater levels of dis- closure and transparency for political parties in India. In a series of decisions in 2002 and 2003, the Indian Supreme Court challenged the Central …

Go to article

Tools To Fight Voter Suppression Still Are Needed, Alan E. Garfield Feb 2013

Tools To Fight Voter Suppression Still Are Needed, Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Shelby County, Alabama V. Holder: Must Congress Update The Voting Rights Act’S Coverage Formula For Preclearance?, Michael Dimino Jan 2013

Shelby County, Alabama V. Holder: Must Congress Update The Voting Rights Act’S Coverage Formula For Preclearance?, Michael Dimino

Michael R Dimino

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Defining Corruption And Constitutionalizing Democracy, Deborah Hellman Mar 2012

Defining Corruption And Constitutionalizing Democracy, Deborah Hellman

Deborah Hellman

The central front in the battle over campaign finance laws is the definition of corruption. The Supreme Court has allowed restrictions on giving and spending money in connection with elections only when they serve to avoid corruption or its appearance. The constitutionality of such laws, therefore, depends on how the Court defines corruption. Over the years, campaign finance cases have conceived of corruption in both broad and narrow terms, with the most recent cases defining it especially narrowly. While supporters and critics of campaign finance laws have argued for and against these different formulations, both sides have missed the more …

Go to article

The Supreme Court As Prometheus: Breathing Life Into The Corporate Supercitizen, Robert Sprague, Mary Ellen Wells Dec 2011

The Supreme Court As Prometheus: Breathing Life Into The Corporate Supercitizen, Robert Sprague, Mary Ellen Wells

Robert Sprague

This article examines the legal status of the corporation in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations have political free speech rights equivalent to natural persons. In Citizens United, Justice Kennedy wrote that corporations were disadvantaged persons because the government had intruded upon their freedom of speech. The Citizens United majority portrays a misleading image of corporations. It is true most corporations are owned by small groups of individuals, managed by their owners, and limited in size and revenues. But what the Citizens United majority conveniently ignores is one particular attribute …

Go to article

The Structural Constitutional Principle Of Republican Legitimacy, Mark D. Rosen Dec 2011

The Structural Constitutional Principle Of Republican Legitimacy, Mark D. Rosen

Mark D. Rosen

Democracy does not spontaneously occur by citizens gathering to choose laws. Instead, representative democracy takes place within an extensive legal framework that determines such matters as who gets to vote, how campaigns are conducted, and what conditions must be met for representatives to make valid law. Many of the “rules of the road” that operationalize republicanism have been subject to constitutional challenges in recent decades. For example, lawsuits have been brought against partisan gerrymandering—which is partly responsible for the fact that most congressional districts are no longer party competitive, but instead are either safely Republican or safely Democratic—and against onerous …

Go to article

The Natural And The Familiar In Politics And Law, Michael R. Dimino Dec 2011

The Natural And The Familiar In Politics And Law, Michael R. Dimino

Michael R Dimino

The most direct influence on my style as a teacher was my experience as a law student. In my last semester, I took the course on the Law of Democracy and was forever smitten with the subject. I had already been interested in politics and constitutional law, so it was not surprising that I would enjoy a subject that combined them. But the class itself—the areas of the law that were covered and the way in which they were covered—showed me how
exciting law could be. Here was a subject that was crucial to every substantive area of law because …

Go to article

Voter Equality & Other Canadian Values: Finding The Right Balance, Sujit Choudhry, Matthew Mendelsohn Sep 2011

Voter Equality & Other Canadian Values: Finding The Right Balance, Sujit Choudhry, Matthew Mendelsohn

Sujit Choudhry

Representation by population (rep-by-pop) was one of the principal forces behind the creation of Canada and is a key pillar of democracy. The principle that all votes have equal weight reflects the democratic norm that all citizens should have an equal say in who will be elected, who will raise issues in Parliament and who will have the right to use the legitimate power of the state to make decisions on our behalf. Although some deviations from the norm of voter equality are acceptable, they should be grounded in principles that are widely accepted and viewed as legitimate. Canada’s federal …

Go to article

Voting Rights And Election Law, Michael Dimino, Bradley Smith, Michael Solimine Dec 2009

Voting Rights And Election Law, Michael Dimino, Bradley Smith, Michael Solimine

Michael R Dimino

Voting Rights and Election Law is a law school text book covering the law surrounding the electoral system. Coverage begins with voting qualifications and barriers to exercise of the franchise. The book covers the authority of the courts to remedy violations of the right to vote. Other topics include the One-Person/One Vote Doctrine under the Federal Constitution and the effects of the Voting Rights Act. The book also covers the role of political parties and term limits for federal and state office. Campaign finance and political speech each receive treatment. The book concludes with a chapter on methods for remedying …

Go to article