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Full-Text Articles in Law
Deliberation Or Tabulation? The Self-Undermining Constitutional Architecture Of Election Campaigns, James A. Gardner
Deliberation Or Tabulation? The Self-Undermining Constitutional Architecture Of Election Campaigns, James A. Gardner
Buffalo Law Review
Perhaps the one completely uncontested truth in the shared public ideology of American politics is that an election campaign ought to be a serious occasion in the life of a democratic polity, a time when citizens reflect maturely on the great public issues of the day. On this view, the ultimate purpose of election campaigns is to offer voters and candidates a meaningful opportunity for deliberation and persuasion. Of course, the typical modern American election campaign does not seem seriously reflective and deliberative so much as shallow and unengaging. Reasoned persuasion seems to play a minor role, if that. The …
What Is "Fair" Partisan Representation, And How Can It Be Constitutionalized? The Case For A Return To Fixed Election Districts, James A. Gardner
What Is "Fair" Partisan Representation, And How Can It Be Constitutionalized? The Case For A Return To Fixed Election Districts, James A. Gardner
Journal Articles
A recent outpouring of public and academic criticism of gerrymandering raises difficult questions about when and under what circumstances the representation of political parties and their supporters can be considered fair. The difficulty is not, as Justice Kennedy recently suggested, that we lack consensual standards for evaluating the fairness of partisan representation. Such standards exist, but they tend to be subverted by the use of territorial districts. This occurs routinely because party and territory are conflicting and for the most part incommensurable principles upon which to found a system of legislative representation. The real question raised by gerrymandering is therefore …