ABSTRACT

Though the courts have been extremely active in interpreting the rules of the electoral game, this role is misunderstood and understudied—as, in many cases, are the rules themselves. Law and Election Politics illustrates how election laws and electoral politics are intertwined, analyzing the rules of the game and some of the most important—and most controversial—decisions the courts have made on a variety of election-related subjects.

More than a typical law book that summarizes cases, Mathew Streb has assembled an outstanding group of scholars to place electoral laws and the courts‘ rulings on those laws in the context of electoral politics. They comprehensively cover the range of topics important to election law—campaign finance, political parties, campaigning, redistricting, judicial elections, the Internet, voting machines, voter identification, ballot access, and direct democracy. This is an essential resource both for students of the electoral process and scholars of election law and election reform.

chapter |5 pages

Introduction

Linking Election Law and Electoral Politics
ByMatthew J. Streb

chapter 1|23 pages

Campaign Finance Law

The Changing Role of Parties and Interest Groups
ByMichael M. Franz

chapter 2|16 pages

Public Financing of Elections

Past, Present, and Future
ByPeter L. Francia

chapter 3|26 pages

The Internet

The Promise of Democratization of American Politics
ByLee E. Goodman

chapter 4|17 pages

Voting Machines

The Question of Equal Protection
ByThad Hall, Lucy Williams Smoot

chapter 5|46 pages

Voter Identification Laws

The Controversy over Voter Fraud
ByLorraine C. Minnite

chapter 6|15 pages

Early Voting

The Quiet Revolution in American Elections
ByPaul Gronke

chapter 7|22 pages

Recounts

Elections in Overtime
ByEdward B. Foley

chapter 8|20 pages

Direct Democracy

Regulating the “Will of the People”
ByDaniel A. Smith

chapter 9|17 pages

Political Parties and Primaries

The Tension between Free Association and the Right to Vote
ByKristin Kanthak, Eric Loepp

chapter 10|22 pages

Third Parties

How American Election Law and Institutions Cripple Third Parties
ByMarjorie Randon Hershey

chapter 11|22 pages

Redistricting

Racial and Partisan Issues Past and Present
ByCharles S. Bullock

chapter 12|20 pages

Judicial Elections

Just Like Any Other Election?
ByMatthew J. Streb