[EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/20/12

JBoppjr at aol.com JBoppjr at aol.com
Fri Dec 21 06:23:23 PST 2012


Regarding this comment in the Fixing Washington post:
 
A 2011 Gallup poll found that sixty-four percent of voters had low or  very 
low trust in members of Congress, the lowest percentage ever recorded by  
Gallup for a profession and below trust ratings for lobbyists, telemarketers, 
 and car salespeople.
 
Despite hundreds of pages of federal campaign finance laws and thousands of 
 pages of FEC regulations, the promise of campaign finance "reform" has 
failed.  Most importantly, federal contribution limits -- the flagship of 
"reform" --  first adopted after Watergate and McCain-Feingold's prohibition on 
soft money to  political parties, which were justified to fight actual 
corruption and the  public's perception of corruption, has done no such thing. 
Instead, the  money that would have (mostly) gone to candidates and political 
parties goes  elsewhere into much less accountable and in some cases much 
less  transparent places.
 
But once again the answer is more campaign finance restrictions -- as  if 
doing the same thing over and over again will yield a different  result.
 
Or it could be that the original restrictions just missed the mark.   In 
any event, there is no justification for the original restrictions and  they 
should be repealed.  But alas some people prefer just doing the same  thing 
over and over again.  Jim Bopp
 
 
In a message dated 12/20/2012 7:48:54 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
rhasen at law.uci.edu writes:




_Light Blogging through  the Holidays_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45619)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 4:47 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45619)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
Blogging will be intermittent over the next two weeks. Happy holidays and a 
 happy new year to all my ELB readers! 
Here’s to a happy, healthy and safe 2013. 
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45619&title=Light%20Blogging%20through%20the%20Holidays&description=) 


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Off 

 
_Harvard Law Review  Publishes My “Fixing Washington” Piece, Lessig’s 
Reply_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45616)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 4:45 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45616)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
>From the _new  issue_ 
(http://www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/126/december12/index.php)  of the _Harvard  Law Review_ 
(http://www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/126/december12/index.php) : 
_Fixing  Washington_ 
(http://www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/126/december12/Book_Review_9410.php) 
Book Review by Richard L. Hasen :: 
REPUBLIC, LOST: HOW MONEY CORRUPTS POLITICS — AND A PLAN TO STOP IT. By  
Lawrence Lessig. New York, N.Y., and Boston, Mass.: Twelve Press. 2011. Pp.  
xiii, 383. $26.99. 
CAPITOL PUNISHMENT: THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT WASHINGTON CORRUPTION FROM  AMERICA
’S MOST NOTORIOUS LOBBYIST. By Jack Abramoff. Washington, D.C.: WND  Books. 
2011. Pp. iii, 303. $25.95. 
It is a tired cliché that Washington is “broken” and needs fixing. A 2011  
Gallup poll found that sixty-four percent of voters had low or very low 
trust  in members of Congress, the lowest percentage ever recorded by Gallup 
for a  profession and below trust ratings for lobbyists, telemarketers, and 
car  salespeople. The recent economic downturn has not only coincided with  
record-low approval ratings for Congress and with general lack of trust in  
government but also produced two protest movements: the Tea Party on the right 
 and the Occupy movement on the left. Despite the fact that these movements 
 come from the fringes of the Republican and Democratic parties, they share 
 some common critiques of federal lawmaking: they condemn the role of 
lobbyists  in Washington and the “crony capitalists” who hire them. From 
President Obama  to Senator Rand Paul and former Governor Sarah Palin, there is a 
widespread  sentiment that money in Washington skews political outcomes and 
that lobbyists  are the fixers who cut the deals that help insiders benefit 
themselves at the  expense of the public interest. 
In their new and very different books, Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig  
from the left and disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff from the right come to  
similar conclusions about what is wrong with Washington. Lessig’s book is a  
populist call to action for the people to “take back Washington” through  
campaign finance reform. Abramoff’s book is an autobiography that is part  
apology and part justification for a promising career that veered badly off  
track. 
Despite the different starting points, the books end in much the same  
place. Lessig and Abramoff both want to take lobbyists out of the fundraising  
business, breaking the connection between money and lobbyists’ legitimate  
information-providing function. They seek to close the revolving door between  
Congress and lobbying shops because of the inherent conflict that arises 
when  officeholders or staffers start thinking about post-government lobbying 
jobs.  They part company on what else is needed, however: Lessig wants 
publicly  financed campaign finance vouchers to lessen further the power of 
special  interests, while Abramoff wants to shrink the size of government to give 
 lobbyists a smaller target. 
Together, Lessig and Abramoff offer a mostly convincing critique of how  
lobbying skews public policy and can harm the United States. The books  
demonstrate that lobbying can thwart the public interest, especially when  players 
with much at stake use lobbyists to block or alter legislation on  issues 
that lack salience with the general public. Although it is tempting to  focus 
on Abramoff’s admittedly illegal behavior, both books illustrate that  much 
of the problem with the relationship among money, politics, and lobbying  
stems from what is legal, not illegal. Indeed, although both Abramoff and  
Lessig present the problem as one of “corruption,” the real concern should be 
 less with exchanges of dollars for political favors and more with the 
decline  in national economic welfare that occurs thanks to lobbyist-facilitated 
 rent-seeking. Lessig also appears concerned with political inequality,  
although he distances himself from egalitarian arguments for reform. Defining  
the problem as one other than quid pro quo corruption, however, threatens 
the  constitutionality of reforms in a post–Citizens United world. 
Nonetheless, while the critiques of the Washington status quo are well  
made, both books offer incomplete reform agendas and unconvincing paths to  
enacting reform. Much of what is wrong with Washington has nothing to do with  
money in politics. Instead, partisan gridlock and the divergence of  
legislative action from the apparent public interest emerge from the highly  
partisan and ideological nature of Congress and the presidency; polarized  views 
on the nature of the public interest; the breakdown of civility and an  era 
of “gotcha” politics; and structural impediments to enacting legislation,  
such as the Senate filibuster and changes in the House committee  structure. 
The current state of toxic politics and institutions inadequate to  
constrain such politics arose not from an outsized influence of money on  politics 
but from a variety of sources, including the party realignment in the  South 
following the civil rights movement and the resurgence of partisan media  
(and now social media). Even if the authors’ complete reform agendas were  
enacted and the amount of rent-seeking legislation procured by lobbying  
significantly curbed, it is far from clear that Washington would be “fixed.”  
Lessig, for example, claims that money has prevented both the left and the  
right from getting their agendas passed. It is hard to see that money has been 
 the primary stumbling block to enacting competing agendas simultaneously. 
When  it comes to high-salience, big legislative questions such as 
immigration  reform, the primary barriers to reform are partisanship, deadlock, and  
vetogates, not the role of money. In the rare circumstance when major  
legislative reform does pass, as in the case of health care reform, the  passage 
of legislation further fuels partisan recriminations. 
Nor is it clear that the kinds of fundamental campaign finance reforms that 
 Lessig advocates stand any realistic chance of being enacted under current 
 political conditions. Lessig acknowledges the hard road ahead, but even so 
he  seems overly optimistic. For example, he suggests there is a ten 
percent  chance that a call for a constitutional convention to amend the 
Constitution  to allow new campaign finance and lobbying reform could succeed. But 
the same  partisan, sclerotic politics that would make reform of money in 
politics only  a partial solution to a broken Washington would also make the 
chances of  calling a constitutional convention to enact a reform agenda much 
slimmer than  one in ten. Fixing Washington’s money problems may have to 
await widespread  scandal, and fixing its broader problems likely will have to 
await a societal  shift that alleviates the partisanship currently gripping 
national  politics. 
126 Harv. L. Rev. 550 (2012) | _DOWNLOAD  PDF_ 
(http://www.harvardlawreview.org/media/pdf/vol126_hasen.pdf)  | _WESTLAW_ 
(http://www.westlaw.com/find/default.wl?cite=126hvlr550FindType=F&ForceAction=Y&SV=Full&RS=WWMH1.0&VR=2.0"%
20target="_BLANK)  
RESPONSE TO THIS ARTICLE 
_A  Reply to Professor Hasen_ 
(http://www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/126/december12/forum_983.php) 
By Lawrence Lessig 
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45616&title=Harvard%20Law%20Review%20Publishes%20My%20“Fixing%20Washington”
%20Piece,%20Lessig’s%20Reply&description=) 


Posted in _campaign finance_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10) ,  
_chicanery_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12) , _legislation and  legislatures_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27) , _lobbying_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28)   | Comments Off 

 
_“Mass. lawmaker,  member of election committee, pleads guilty to voter 
fraud”_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45613)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 4:37 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45613)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
_Boston  Globe: _ 
(http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/12/20/mass-lawmaker-member-election-committee-pleads-guilty-voter-fraud/g9cBs3OJdeGsaSa9EmUiRI/s
tory.html) “A Democratic state representative from Everett, who served on 
the  Legislature’s election law committee, pleaded guilty to federal charges 
today  that he cast fraudulent absentee ballots to help get himself elected.”
 
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45613&title=“
Mass.%20lawmaker,%20member%20of%20election%20committee,%20pleads%20guilty%20to%20voter%20fraud”&description=) 


Posted in _absentee ballots_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=53) ,  
_chicanery_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12)   | Comments Off 

 
_A Cry for Help at the  FEC?_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45610)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 4:34 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45610)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
A knowledgeable reader points me to _this item_ 
(http://www.fec.gov/agenda/2012/mtgdoc_1289.pdf)  on today’s  FEC meeting agenda asking for public 
comment on certain aspects of the FEC’s  enforcement process. (The request for 
public comment was approved 4-2.)   The reader writes: “I see it as a cry for 
help from the General Counsel’s  Office, which is asking for public comment 
on two basic issues: (1) can the  FEC consider public information other 
than what’s specifically in a complaint  and (2) can the FEC initiate 
enforcement actions based on publicly available  information even if no one files a 
complaint? Both are long-standing practices  that the Republican 
commissioners, especially Don McGahn, have been trying to  stamp out.” 
Do others see it this way too?  I’m not close enough to the process to  
know. 
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45610&title=A%20Cry%20for%20Help%20at%20the%20FEC?&description=) 


Posted in _campaign finance_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10)   | 
Comments Off 

 
_“House Rs Resurrect  Congressional-Based Electoral College Plan”_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45607)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 4:27 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45607)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
_Politics  PA _ 
(http://www.politicspa.com/house-rs-resurrect-congressional-based-electoral-college-plan/44960/) reports. 
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45607&title=“
House%20Rs%20Resurrect%20Congressional-Based%20Electoral%20College%20Plan”&description=) 


Posted in _electoral college_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44)   | 
Comments Off 

 
_Remembering Obama the  Election Reformer_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45604)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 4:14 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45604)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
_FairVote  reminisces_ 
(http://www.fairvote.org/when-barack-obama-was-a-leader-in-seeking-fair-voting-systems/#.UNOpr7bOalg) . 
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45604&title=Remembering%20Obama%20the%20Election%20Reformer&description=) 


Posted in _election  administration_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18)  
| Comments Off 

 
_Then and Now_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45602)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 4:13 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45602)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
A reader writes: 
How times change: 
_FLASHBACK_ 
(http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2011/may/06/mike-bennett/think-we-have-it-tough-africa-people-walk-300-mile/) :
In  2011, then-State Senator Mike Bennett was a major supporter of HB1355,  
Florida’s controversial election law which (among other things) cut back on 
 early voting. Bennett famously said during the debates over HB1355 that he 
 wanted to make voting harder, not easier. 
_NOW_ 
(http://www.bradenton.com/2012/12/20/4323470/new-manatee-elections-chief-mike.html) :
Only  a year later, Bennett has left the legislature to become Manatee 
County’s  elected Supervisor of Election. Now, he wants to expand early voting 
back to  14 days, and increase the legally permissible locations at which the 
county  may offer early voting.
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45602&title=Then%20and%20Now&description=) 


Posted in _election  administration_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18) , 
_The Voting Wars_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60)   | Comments Off 

 
_“Politico’s Dave  Levinthal joins Center for Public Integrity”_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45600)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 4:11 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45600)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
_Great  news for CPI,_ 
(http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/12/20/11957/politicos-dave-levinthal-joins-center-public-integrity)  which has been doing 
great work on campaign disclosure  issues. 
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45600&title=“Politico’
s%20Dave%20Levinthal%20joins%20Center%20for%20Public%20Integrity”&description=) 


Posted in _election law biz_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51)   | 
Comments Off 

 
_“The Myth of State  Autonomy: Federalism, Political Parties, and the 
National Colonization of  State Politics”_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45597)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 4:08 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45597)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
Jim Gardner has posted _this  draft_ 
(http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2191150)  on SSRN.  Here is the abstract: 
American federalism contemplates that states will retain a significant  
degree of autonomy so that state power can serve as a meaningful  counterweight 
to national power. It is often said that states exercise this  function 
through extraconstitutional processes centered on the political  party system. 
That is, states influence the content of national law and  protect 
themselves from undesirable exercises of national power by using the  mechanisms of 
internal party processes. If this process is to work properly,  however, 
states must retain considerable political autonomy, for the  possibility of 
state objection to exercises of national power is merely  theoretical if state 
political processes are not sufficiently independent of  their national 
counterparts to enable the state to adopt and assert ends or  interests different 
from those asserted by the national government. 
The evidence, however, suggests strongly that the growth of national  
political parties during and since the early nineteenth century created a  
two-way street. Parties not only offered states a way to influence national  
politics, but also created a reverse pathway by which national politics  could 
influence, and in many cases overawe, any independent state-level  politics. 
As a result, the same extraconstitutional pathways that provided  states a 
means to protect themselves from national domination simultaneously  eroded 
the political autonomy necessary for states to maintain the kind of  
independent wills contemplated by the federal arrangement. This does not  mean that 
states lack entirely the capacity to stand up to the federal  government, but 
it does mean that their ability to do so is limited, not  necessarily for 
lack of power but for lack of autonomous control over their  political 
agendas and positions. This in turn suggests a much chastened  conception of what 
it might mean for a subnational government to have the  ability to “check” 
national power.
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45597&title=“
The%20Myth%20of%20State%20Autonomy:%20Federalism,%20Political%20Parties,%20and%20the%20National%20Colonization%20of%20State%20Politics”
&description=) 


Posted in _political parties_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25)   | 
Comments Off 

 
_Pew Data Dispatch  about Provisional Ballots in Maricopa County, AZ_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45595)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 4:06 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45595)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
_Here_ 
(http://www.pewstates.org/research/analysis/notable-county-maricopa-county-arizonapart-i-85899437864) . 
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45595&title=Pew%20Data%20Dispatch%20about%20Provisional%20Ballots%20in%20Maricopa
%20County,%20AZ&description=) 


Posted in _election  administration_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18) , 
_provisional  ballots_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=67) , _The Voting 
Wars_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60)   | Comments Off 

 
_Controversial George  Will Column on Nonvoting_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45592)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 4:04 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45592)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
_George  Will:_ 
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-federal-voting-drive-makes-a-mountain-out-of-a-molehill/2012/12/19/461e17c4-494c-11e
2-ad54-580638ede391_story.html)  
The poet Carl Sandburg supposedly was asked by a young playwright to  
attend a rehearsal. Sandburg did but fell asleep. The playwright exclaimed,  “How 
could you sleep when you knew I wanted your opinion?” Sandburg replied,  “
Sleep isan opinion.” 
So is nonvoting. Remember this as the Obama administration mounts a drive  
to _federalize voter registration_ 
(http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-05-30/national/35457450_1_voter-id-requirements-voter-laws-voter-registration
-efforts) , a step toward making  voting mandatory.
_Andrew  Cohen_ 
(http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/12/george-will-gets-almost-everything-wrong-about-voting-rights/266504/) : 
There are so many things wrong with George Will’s latest column on voting  
that it’s hard to know where to begin. Actually, that’s not right. It’s 
easy  to know where to begin. The very title of the piece, “_Mountain  out of a 
molehill_ 
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-federal-voting-drive-makes-a-mountain-out-of-a-molehill/2012/12/19/461e17c4-494c-11e2-ad54
-580638ede391_story.html) ,” is offensive to every American whose right to 
vote  was jeopardized this past election cycle by _Republican  
voter-suppression efforts_ 
(http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/why-mitt-romney-lost-a-simple-overriding-theory/264491/) . 
Will’s piece is 14 paragraphs long and the only one that survives close  
scrutiny is the first, because it consists mostly of a quote from Carl  
Sandburg. The other 13 paragraphs render wholly unrecognizable both the  
voting-rights battles of 2012 and the _national  debate over how those battles ought 
to be resolved_ 
(http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/2012_summary_of_voting_law_changes/) . Let’s take it one  graph at a time.
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45592&title=Controversial%20George%20Will%20Column%20on%20Nonvoting&description=)
 


Posted in _election  administration_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18) , 
_The Voting Wars_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60)   | Comments Off 

 
_“FEC & DOJ  Complaints Filed Against ‘Straw Companies’ that Funneled $12 
million to  FreedomWorks Super PAC”_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45589)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 4:00 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45589)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
_See  this press release_ 
(http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1993:december-20-2012-fec-a-doj-complaints-fi
led-against-straw-companies-that-funneled-12-million-to-freedomworks-super-p
ac-&catid=63:legal-center-press-releases&Itemid=61) . 
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45589&title=“FEC%20&%20DOJ%20Complaints%20Filed%20Against%20‘Straw%20Companies’
%20that%20Funneled%20$12%20million%20to%20FreedomWorks%20Super%20PAC”
&description=) 


Posted in _campaign finance_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10) ,  _tax 
law and election  law_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22)  | Comments Off 

 
_“A voter’s-eye view of  Election Day 2012; Despite well-publicized 
problems, overall voters satisfied  with process”_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45587)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 3:59 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45587)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
Charles Stewart leads off this week’s _Electionline  Weekly._ 
(http://www.electionline.org/index.php/electionline-weekly)  
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45587&title=“A%20voter’
s-eye%20view%20of%20Election%20Day%202012;%20Despite%20well-publicized%20problems,%20overall%20voters%20satisfied%20with%20process”
&description=) 


Posted in _election  administration_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18)  
| Comments Off 

 
_“Fundraising starts up  soon after election, filings show”_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45584)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 3:56 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45584)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
_WaPo  reports._ 
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fundraising-starts-up-soon-after-election-filings-show/2012/12/19/853e16d0-4a0e-11e2-ad54-58063
8ede391_story.html)  
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45584&title=“
Fundraising%20starts%20up%20soon%20after%20election,%20filings%20show”&description=) 


Posted in _campaign finance_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10)   | 
Comments Off 

 
_Interesting  Perspectives on Politics Issue_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45580)  
Posted  on _December 20, 2012 3:50 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45580)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
Paul Gronke writes: “The most recent issue of_  Perspectives on Politics_ 
(http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=PPS)  is a theme 
issue about the role of elections and  other democratic institutions in 
non-democratic nations (authoritarian and  autocratic regimes). The issue has very 
rich content, including original  research articles, “controversy” pieces, 
and a large number of book reviews  broadly on the topic of elections, from 
an American, comparative, and  normative perspective. The website link is 
gated but the table of contents is  open access, and anyone at an academic 
institution should be able to access  the content.”    APSA Journals          
_December Issue of _ (http://apsa.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3Jn
A9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDIy/index.html) _Perspectives on Politics_ 
(http://apsa.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDIy/in
dex.html)   From the Editor
_Authoritarianism, Elections, Democracy?_ 
(http://apsa.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDIz/index.html) -  Jeffrey C. 
IsaacResearch Articles
_Beyond Patronage: Violent Struggle, Ruling  Party Cohesion, and 
Authoritarian Durability_ 
(http://apsa.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDI0/index.html)  – Steven R.  Levitsky & Lucan A. Way
_Improbable but Potentially Pivotal  Oppositions: Privatization, 
Capitalists, and Political  Contestation in the Post-Soviet Autocracies_ 
(http://apsa.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDI1/index.
html)  – Barbara  Junisbai
_The Arab Spring: Why the Surprising  Similarities with the Revolutionary 
Wave of 1848?_ 
(http://apsa.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDI2/index.html)  – Kurt  Weyland
_When Multi-Method Research Subverts  Methological Pluralism- or, Why We 
Still Need Single-Method  Research_ 
(http://apsa.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDI3/index.html)  – Amel Ahmed & Rudra 
Sil  
Review Essay
_From Representative Democracy to Participatory  Competitive 
Authoritarianism: Hugo Chavez and Venezuelan  Politics_ 
(http://apsa.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDI4/index.html)  – Scott 
Mainwaring
_Whither Russia? Autocracy Is Here for Now, but  Is It Here to Stay?_ 
(http://apsa.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDI
5/index.html)  – Kathryn Stoner 
Review Symposium
_Neoliberalism, Race, and the American Welfare  State_ 
(http://apsa.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDMw/index.html)  
– Russell L. Hanson, Lawrence M. Mead, Rose Ernst,  Peter J. Boettke, Mary 
Fainsod Katzenstein 
Critical Dialogue
_Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian  National Movement_ 
(http://apsa.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0yMDExNDc3JnA9MSZ1PTc3MDcyNTk5NiZsaT05ODU3MDMx/inde
x.html) 
Sharon Erickson Nepstad, Wendy  Pearlman, Matthew N. Beckmann, Matthew N.  
Green 
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45580&title=Interesting%20Perspectives%20on%20Politics%20Issue&description=) 


Posted in _Uncategorized_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1)   | Comments 
Off 

 
_The NRA and  Lobbying/Campaign Finance Reform_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45576)  
Posted  on _December 19, 2012 8:49 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45576)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
Former Bush ethics czar Richard Painter pens an interesting _NYT  oped_ 
(http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/opinion/the-nra-protection-racket.html?hp) : 
Republican politicians must free themselves from the N.R.A. protection  
racket and others like it. For starters, the party establishment should  refuse 
to endorse anyone who runs in a primary with N.R.A. money against a  
sitting Republican. If the establishment refuses to support Republicans  using 
other Republicans for target practice, the N.R.A. will take its  shooting game 
somewhere else. 
Reasonable gun control legislation will then be able to pass Congress and  
the state legislatures. Next, Republicans should embrace legislation like  
the proposed _American Anti-Corruption Act_ (http://anticorruptionact.org/) , 
which  would rid both parties of their dependence on big money from groups 
like the  N.R.A. The Republican Party will once again be proud to be part of 
the  solution rather than part of the problem. And voters will go back to 
feeling  that their children are safe, their democracy works, and they will o
nce  again consider voting Republican.
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45576&title=The%20NRA%20and%20Lobbying/Campaign%20Finance%20Reform&description=) 


Posted in _campaign finance_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10) ,  
_legislation and  legislatures_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27) , _lobbying_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28)   | Comments Off 

 
_“Death threats made  against the Colorado Secretary of State”_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45573)  
Posted  on _December 19, 2012 8:27 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45573)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
_Disgusting._ 
(http://www.9news.com/shows/evenings/305998/510/Threats-made-against-the-secretary-of-state)  
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45573&title=“
Death%20threats%20made%20against%20the%20Colorado%20Secretary%20of%20State”&description=) 


Posted in _chicanery_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12) , _The Voting 
Wars_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60)   | Comments Off 

 
_“THE BATTLE OVER  ELECTION REFORM IN THE SWING STATE OF FLORIDA”_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45570)  
Posted  on _December 19, 2012 8:23 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45570)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
Susan MacManus has written _this article_ (http://t.co/hIKOSBw5)  for the 
New England Journal of  Political Science. 
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45570&title=“
THE%20BATTLE%20OVER%20ELECTION%20REFORM%20IN%20THE%20SWING%20STATE%20OF%20FLORIDA”&description=) 


Posted in _election  administration_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18) , 
_The Voting Wars_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60)   | Comments Off 

 
_“Ethics restrictions  so strict they undermine democracy”_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45567)  
Posted  on _December 19, 2012 8:10 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45567)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
Kathleen Clark _blogs_ 
(http://www.legalethicsforum.com/blog/2012/12/ethics-restrictions-so-strict-they-undermine-democracy.html?utm_source=feedburner&u
tm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+LegalEthicsForum+(Legal+Ethics+Forum)&utm_
content=Google+Reader)   on Congress’ _passage of_ 
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2012/12/19/congress-sends-hatch-act-reform-bill-t
o-president/?print=1)  the _Hatch  Act Modernization Act_ 
(http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s2170/text) , 
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45567&title=“Ethics%20restrictions%20so%20strict%20they%20undermine%20democracy”
&description=) 


Posted in _conflict of interest  laws_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20) 
, _ethics  investigations_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=42)  | Comments 
Off 

 
_“As Charlie Crist  testifies before Congress on Florida’s voting 
problems, Gov. Rick Scott voices  support for changes”_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45564)  
Posted  on _December 19, 2012 3:42 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45564)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
_The  Tampa Bay Times reports._ 
(http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/as-charlie-crist-testifies-before-congress-on-floridas-voting-problems-g
ov/1266861)  
 
 (http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=4
5564&title=“As%20Charlie%20Crist%20testifies%20before%20Congress%20on%20Florida’
s%20voting%20problems,%20Gov.%20Rick%20Scott%20voices%20support%20for%20chan
ges”&description=) 


Posted in _election  administration_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18) , 
_The Voting Wars_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60)   | Comments Off 

 
_“Former Governor Urges  Congress to Consider New National Voting Standards”
_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45561)  
Posted  on _December 19, 2012 3:32 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45561)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
_BLT  reports._ 
(http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2012/12/former-governor-urges-congress-to-consider-new-national-voting-standards.html)  
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45561&title=“
Former%20Governor%20Urges%20Congress%20to%20Consider%20New%20National%20Voting%20Standards”&description=) 


Posted in _election  administration_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18) , 
_The Voting Wars_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60)   | Comments Off 

 
_“Outside Money Takes  the Inside Track”_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45559)  
Posted  on _December 19, 2012 3:31 pm_ 
(http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45559)  by _Rick Hasen_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3)   
 
_Public Citizen_ (http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=5833) : “In First  
Full Post-Citizens United Cycle, Unrestricted Groups Moved Closer to 
Eclipsing  Candidates and National Parties in Election Spending in 2012 “ 
 
 
(http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http://electionlawblog.org/?p=45559&title=“Outside%20Money%20Takes%20the%20Inside%20Track”&description=) 


Posted in _campaign finance_ (http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10)   | 
Comments Off 

 



-- 

Rick Hasen

Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science

UC Irvine School of Law

401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000

Irvine, CA 92697-8000

949.824.3072 - office

949.824.0495 - fax

_rhasen at law.uci.edu_ (mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu) 

_http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html_ 
(http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html) 

_http://electionlawblog.org_ (http://electionlawblog.org/) 

Now available: The Voting Wars: _http://amzn.to/y22ZTv_ 
(http://amzn.to/y22ZTv) 





_______________________________________________
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