[EL] And the best, most recent book on election law that I read was....

[Schultz, David A.]

Hi all:

I want to acknowledge the best election law book that I have read in some
time. It is James Gardner’s WHAT ARE CAMPAIGNS FOR?

Too often and too much of what goes on in the election law listserv is
simply ego-driven self-promotion where we spend too much time promoting
ourselves and our own scholarship, playing one-upmanship over another.
However, we forget that the field of election law is not only about law and
policy but it is an intellectual endeavor where we should be trying to
learn from one another.  Rarely do I see any of us acknowledging others,
saying that we have actually read their scholarship and that we have grown
from it or learned something that we have not seen.  Instead if other are
read I see too much in this listserv seeking to find fault with others and
show why they are wrong.  Or worse, in a field (election law) where most of
the scholarship is law review driven, for those of us who write books it is
disheartening that too few read them.  I am reminded of a book by Ben
Barber (one of my teachers) who in STRONG DEMOCRACY said that American
democracy is noisy and full of talk but few listen.  To have a real
conversation we all need to listen to what others say and take heart and
mind of what they say.

I say all of this because, as noted at the top of the e-mail, Gardner’s
book is outstanding. Yes it is from 2009 but I finally read it and his
arguments about deliberation, voting, and election law are really
fascinating and worth reading.  He does a terrific job combining empirical
political science with theory and law, something we need to do a better job
as a discipline.

I think it would be nice if others on this listserv spent a few minutes or
posted an e-mail indicating the best or most interesting book they have
read about election law recently and acknowledge the author for his or her
work.  Yes I sound polly anyish (?) but sometimes it is ok to give a
shameless promotion for someone else besides yourself.

-- 
David Schultz, Professor
Editor, Journal of Public Affairs Education (JPAE)
Hamline University
Department of Political Science
1536 Hewitt Ave
MS B 1805
St. Paul, Minnesota 55104
651.523.2858 (voice)
651.523.3170 (fax)
http://davidschultz.efoliomn.com/
http://works.bepress.com/david_schultz/
http://schultzstake.blogspot.com/
Twitter:  @ProfDSchultz
My latest book:  Election Law and Democratic Theory, Ashgate Publishing
http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9780754675433
FacultyRow SuperProfessor, 2012, 2013
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20140902/d4ddf10f/attachment.html>