Law and Politics Commons^™

Can Minority Voting Rights Survive Miller V. Johnson, Laughlin Mcdonald

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Part I of this Article reviews the congressional redistricting process in Georgia, particularly the State's efforts to comply with the Voting Rights Act and avoid the dilution of minority voting strength. Part II describes the plaintiffs' constitutional challenge and the State's asserted defenses, or more accurately its lack of asserted defenses. Part III argues that the decision of the majority rests upon wholly false assumptions about the colorblindness of the political process and the harm caused by remedial redistricting. Part IV notes the expansion in Miller of the cause of action first recognized in Shaw v. Reno. Part V …

The Empitness Of Majority Rule, Luis Fuentes-Rohwer

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

In this Note, the author steers away from the current substantive debates surrounding the Voting Rights Act, its various amendments, and the "correct" way of interpreting its intended benefits and constitutionally accepted mandates. Instead, indirectly joins the many "radical" voices advocating for a departure from the majoritarian stranglehold-the decision-making process where fifty percent plus one of the voting population carry the election. The author does so not by suggesting yet another mechanism by which representatives may be elected, but by critiquing the perceived underpinnings of our democratic system of government. The author does not profess to delineate a definitive interpretation …

States' Repeal: A Proposed Constitutional Amendment To Reinvigorate Federalism, Aaron J. O'Brien

Cleveland State Law Review

The lack of both legislative and judicial integrity led to a governmental system which is federalist in name but centrally planned in reality. Congress regularly passes laws which stretch the conceivable bounds of its powers. By failing to overturn such legislation, the Supreme Court ignores the benefits of federalism and the significance of dual sovereignty. These changes render the individual citizen's opinion rather meaningless while attacking the roots of democracy and threatening the liberties early Americans so earnestly tried to preserve. The People are left without a mechanism through which to speak on a national level. Because of this dissolution …

Libertarianism, Natural Rights And The Constitution: A Commentary On Recent Libertarian Literature, David Bergland

Cleveland State Law Review

This commentary takes a look at recent Libertarian literature, specifically: Harry Browne's Why Government Doesn't Work, Charles Murray's What It Means To Be a Libertarian, and David Boaz' Libertarianism: A Primer. These books critique federal government programs and specific policy proposals, and in the process they raise several questions that are fundamental to the American experiment with human liberty within the constitutional framework bequeathed to us by Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, the other founders, and the People who ratified the Constitution. Section II seeks to figure out how to describe Libertarians. Section III discusses the fallacy of legislative omnipotence, including the …

The Implications Of National Security Safeguards On The Commercialization Of Remote Sensing Imagery, Youssef Sneifer

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment offers a critique of the national security restrictions contained in the United States policy and regulations and the uncertainty they inject into the commercialization of remote sensing imagery. After providing a brief technical description of remote sensing technology and the market realities associated with remote sensing imagery, this Comment analyzes the legislation and regulations affecting the private sector's commercialization and dissemination of remote sensing imagery with a special emphasis on national security concerns. Specifically, it reviews the Clinton Administration's policy with regard to the commercialization of remote sensing imagery, tracing its origins to the international obligations of the …

Doubting Thomas: Confirmation Veracity Meets Performance Reality, Joyce A. Baugh, Christopher E. Smith

Seattle University Law Review

At the close of the United States Supreme Court's 1994 term, Justice Clarence Thomas became the center of news media attention for his important role as a prominent member of the Court's resurgent conservative bloc. More frequently than in past terms, Thomas's opinions articulated the conservative position for his fellow Justices. According to one report, "The newly energized Thomas has shown little hesitancy this term in leading the conservative charge. Another article referred to Thomas's "full-throated emergence as a distinctive and articulate judicial voice." Thomas's new prominence, assertiveness, and visibility have been attributed to his emergence from the shadows of …

Separation Of Powers And The 1995-1996 Budget Impasse, Henry L. Chambers, Jr.

Law Faculty Publications

Separation of powers doctrine will have implications for any budget regime which contemplates explicit power sharing. This Article examines the possible separation of power pitfalls which threaten to undermine the emergence of a relatively healthy new budget regime and the creative mechanisms necessary to make that regime work. The Constitution does not provide many explicit instructions regarding the federal budgeting process. Thus, whether a particular budget arrangement is a good one requires a largely political analysis. Whether a particular budget arrangement is constitutional must be answered by the Supreme Court. On what basis the Court should make such a decision, …

Staking Their Claim: The Impact Of Kentucky Women In The Political Process, Penny M. Miller

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Term Limits Dissent: What Nerve, Robert F. Nagel

Publications

No abstract provided.

Judge Wisdom And The 1952 Republican National Convention: Ensuring Victory For Eisenhower And A Two-Party System For Louisiana, Joel William Friedman

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

From Expertise To Politics: The Transformation Of American Rulemaking, Peter L. Strauss

Faculty Scholarship

In this speech to be given on November 15, 1996, as the American contribution to the week-long conference on administrative law sponsored by the Fundaci6n Estudios de Derecho Administrativo in Caracas, Venezuela, Professor Peter L. Strauss addresses the history and developing political character of rulemaking in federal law over the fifty years since enactment of the Administrative Procedure Act. As a framework, Professor Strauss sets forth a hierarchy of institutional rulemaking, from constitution through informal advising. He then develops his discussion of rulemaking by tracing the federal process of rulemaking through time, beginning with the enactment of the Administrative Procedure …

Three Models Of Affirmative Action Beneficiaries, Thomas W. Merrill

Faculty Scholarship

What has caused the affirmative action debate to become so acrimonious? Perhaps some insight may be gained By considering three competing models of affirmative action beneficiaries that underlie this debate: (1) the outsider group model; (2) the interest group model; and (3) what I will call the adversity group model.

Anti-Essentialism, Relativism, And Human Rights , Tracy E. Higgins

Faculty Scholarship

Confronted with the challenge of cultural relativism, feminism faces divergent paths, neither of which seems to lead out of the woods of patriarchy. The first path, leading to simple tolerance of cultural difference, is too broad. To follow it would require feminists to ignore pervasive limits on women's freedom in the name of an autonomy that exists for women in theory only. The other path, leading to objective condemnation of cultural practices, is too narrow. To follow it would require feminists to dismiss the culturally distinct experiences of women as false consciousness. Yet to forge an alternative path is difficult, …

Ballot Propositions And Campaign Finance Reform, Richard Briffault

Faculty Scholarship

For more than two decades, law and policy in the area of campaign finance reform have been framed by the conflict between the norms of promoting political equality and protecting political participation. Viewing campaign finance as a basic component of political activity, the Supreme Court has generally given political participation priority over equality and has invalidated reforms that would limit spending in order to promote equality. The Court, however, has sustained some restrictions on campaign finance activities of candidates, political parties, and individuals and groups who work with these political professionals. In effect, concern about the capacity of private donations …

The Independent Counsel Statute: Bad Law, Bad Policy, Julie R. O'Sullivan

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Watergate scandal-and the crisis in public confidence in government it spawned-left us many legacies, one of which is the Independent Counsel ("IC") statute. Over twenty years after the fact, the "lessons" of the scandal itself continue to be the dominant reference. It is time to evaluate the "lessons" of Watergate's legacies and, in particular, the IC mechanism.

Paradise Lost, Paradigm Found: Redefining The Judiciary's Imperiled Role In Congress, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Long perceived as acting in splendid isolation, the legislative and judicial branches have become increasingly intertwined. The judiciary is becoming more involved in the legislative province of statutory reform, and Congress has inserted itself more frequently into the judicial territory of procedural rulemaking. In this article, Professor Geyh observes that a new, interactive paradigm has replaced the perceived model of separation and delegation between the brandies. As the judiciary and Congress have grown more enmeshed, the judiciary's reputation has suffered, both from a Watergate-vintage mistrust of all things governmental and from a perception that judicial activism is born of self-interest …

A Text Is Just A Text, Paul F. Campos

Publications

No abstract provided.

This Could Be Your Culture--Junk Speech In A Time Of Decadence, Pierre Schlag

Publications

No abstract provided.

Politics, Institutions, And Outcomes: Electricity Regulation In Argentina And Chile, William B. Heller, Mathew D. Mccubbins

Faculty Scholarship

Risk, whether market or political, is an important determinant of private investment decisions. One important risk, subject to control by the government, is the risk associated with the hold-up problem: governments can force utilities to shoulder burdensome taxes, to use input factors ineffectively, or to charge unprofitable rates for their service. To attract private investment governments must be able to make commitments to policies that are nonexpropriative (either to contracts that guarantee very high rates of return or to favorable regulatory policies). These commitments, of course, must be credible.

Judgments about the credibility of commitments to regulatory policies are based …

Consent Without Consent: Reflections On The Theory And Practice Of Democracy, Noam Chomsky

Cleveland State Law Review

This lecture reflects on core issues of American democracy in light of the upcoming 1996 Presidential election. The piece focuses primarily on the economy and the market throughout its discussion.

Religious Liberty And Democratic Politics, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

Some time ago, President Clinton talked to a gathering of religious journalists about abortion. He said that he did not believe that the biblical passages often cited by those who are "pro-life" indicate· clearly that abortion is wrong and should be prohibited. The reasons many people have for wanting abortion to be prohibited, or for allowing abortion, relate to their religious convictions. These people, for the most part, regard it as perfectly appropriate that religious perspectives help determine public policy on abortion in the United States. Others object. They say that the religious views of some people should not be …

The Local Government Boundary Problem In Metropolitan Areas, Richard Briffault

Faculty Scholarship

Local government boundaries play an important role in the governance of metropolitan areas by defining local electorates and tax bases and the scope of local regulatory powers and service responsibilities. Yet, the close association of local powers with local boundaries generates spillovers, fiscal disparities, and interlocal conflicts. Real local autonomy is constrained but the local government system fails to provide a means for addressing regional problems. Public choice theorists and political decentralizationists oppose regional governments because of the threat to local autonomy that would result from removing powers from local hands. Richard Briffault's solution to the metropolitan governance problem is …

The Future Of Federalism, Robert F. Nagel

Publications

No abstract provided.

Progress And Constitutionalism, Robert F. Nagel

Publications

No abstract provided.

Fooling All Of The People Some Of The Time: 1990s Welfare Reform And The Exploitation Of American Values, Kathleen Kost, Frank W. Munger

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Rationality And The Foundations Of Positive Political Theory, Mathew D. Mccubbins, Michael F. Thies

Faculty Scholarship

In this paper, we discuss and debunk the four most common critiques of the rational choice research program (which we prefer to call Positive Political Theory) by explaining and advocating its foundations: the rationality assumption, component analysis (abstraction), strategic behavior, and theory building, in turn. We argue that the rationality assumption and component analysis, properly understood, can be seen to underlie all social science, despite the protestations of critics. We then discuss the two ways that PPT most clearly contributes to political science (i.e., what distinguishes it from other research programs), namely the introduction of strategic behavior (people do not …

The Emptiness Of Majority Rule, Luis Fuentes-Rohwer

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.