Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Suits That Counted: The Judicialization Of Presidential Elections, Charles Anthony Smith, Christopher Shortell

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The litigation resolving the 2000 election received extensive attention, but there was also an increase in pre-election litigation in 2000, suggesting an increased reliance on courts even prior to Bush v. Gore. Did this trend of judicialization of presidential elections in the United States accelerate in 2004? To answer this question, we collect data on pre-election litigation from 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004. Our findings show that the rate of prospective litigation increased dramatically in the 2004 election, even accounting for state and federal electoral reform from 2001-2004. Beyond the increase in raw numbers, we find that the litigation was …

The Suits That Counted: The Judicialization Of Presidential Elections After Bush V. Gore, Charles Anthony Smith, Christopher Shortell

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

After the litigation of the 2000 presidential election are parties, candidates, and interest groups more likely to utilize pre-election litigation as a part of the normal election strategy? Our findings suggest this is the case, at least when a close election is anticipated. The difference in the political landscape and logic after the 2000 litigation is that the political players now perceive the judiciary as a venue of first rather than last recourse. Using data from all fifty states and the District of Columbia, we show that courts are seen as one of the primary arenas for challenging the rules …

Role Of The Warrant In Presidential Debates : 1960, 1976, & 1996, Aaron Nicole Kaio

Dissertations and Theses

Every four years in America we make a decision about which candidate is best suited to be our next president. Over the past twenty years a standard component of the presidential campaign has been televised debates. These debates are supposed to help the public get a better understanding of the candidates' ideas about government, our future, and to demonstrate analytical skills and their ability to think on their feet.

This study set out to see how the candidates' arguments measured up to some basic argumentation standards. According to several scholars, none of the televised presidential debates qualify as 'true debates', …

An Analysis And Evaluation Of The American Electoral College, Norma N. Williams

Dissertations and Theses

The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was greatly divided over the question of how to select the new nation's chief executive. The method finally adopted was a compromise between direct election and election by the national legislature and provided that individual states, as they saw fit, choose electors equal to the total number of Senators and Representatives. From the beginning, most of delegates considered the proposal awkward and irrational almost to the point of absurdity, but as they argued about it, they became convinced that it was then the only plan which could overcome the objections raised by other methods.

The …