[EL] ELB News and Commentary 2/8/15

Sun Feb 8 10:12:51 PST 2015

    “GOP-backed Indiana election law changes raise concerns they’ll make
    voting more difficult” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70175>

Posted onFebruary 8, 2015 10:10 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70175>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP reports. 
<http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/531ff33e2b6d4185b4971e618c951d4a/IN--Voting-Law-Changes/>

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Posted inelection administration 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,The Voting Wars 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>

    Is King v. Burwell, the Obamacare Case, a False Flag Operation to
    Help Democrats? <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70173>

Posted onFebruary 8, 2015 8:28 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70173>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/us/health-law-case-poses-conundrum-for-republicans.html?_r=0>:

    On the one hand, Republicans in Congress are urging theSupreme Court
    <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/supreme_court/index.html?inline=nyt-org>to
    strike down subsidies forhealth insurance
    <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/health_insurance_and_managed_care/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>provided
    to millions of people in more than 30 states. On the other, they are
    chiding the Obama administration because it has no plan to avert the
    hardship that could occur if they win in court.

    The Republicans now have realized that a court decision in their
    favor poses political risks to members of their party, who are
    frantically trying to come up with alternatives to the Affordable
    Care Act and a strategy to respond to such a ruling.

Eric Segall <https://twitter.com/espinsegall/status/564438614252462080>: 
“King may devolve into whether the Chief wants to put the GOP in a 
terrible position.”

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Posted inSupreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

    Special Issue on Top Two Primary from CJPP
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70171>

Posted onFebruary 8, 2015 8:25 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70171>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Here <http://escholarship.org/uc/cjpp>:

      Current Issue, Volume 7, Issue 1, 2015

      Articles

Introduction: The California Top Two Primary 
<http://escholarship.org/uc/item/4qk24589>
/Sinclair, Betsy/

The Top-Two, Take Two: Did Changing the Rules Change the Game in 
Statewide Contests? <http://escholarship.org/uc/item/63w1x0f8>
/Kousser, Thad/

Why Voters May Have Failed to Reward Proximate Candidates in the 2012 
Top Two Primary <http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9714j8pc>
/Ahler, Douglas; Citrin, Jack; Lenz, Gabriel S/

Winning from the Center: Frank Bigelow and California’s Nonpartisan 
Primary <http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9vb15608>
/Sinclair, J. Andrew/

California’s Top Two Primary and the Business Agenda 
<http://escholarship.org/uc/item/4q24g96p>
/McGhee, Eric/

Googling the Top Two: Information Search in California’s Top Two Primary 
<http://escholarship.org/uc/item/1fg8b858>
/Sinclair, Betsy; Wray, Michael/

Voter Behavior in California’s Top Two Primary 
<http://escholarship.org/uc/item/89g5x6vn>
/Nagler, Jonathan/

      Commentary

Why the Top Two Primary Fails California Voters 
<http://escholarship.org/uc/item/68s028ck>
/Maviglio, Steven/

California’s Open Primary: Not an Open and Shut Case 
<http://escholarship.org/uc/item/93z155rr>
/Sragow, Darry/

The Top Two Runoff – An Assessment 
<http://escholarship.org/uc/item/245473kh>
/Quinn, Tony/

The Open Primary: Toward A Legislature That Reflects the State 
<http://escholarship.org/uc/item/0bf3x5jd>
/Naylor, Robert/

The Top Two: Too Soon to Tell <http://escholarship.org/uc/item/4mq0g05m>
/Valentine, Zabrae/

California’s Top Two Primary and the Challenge of Making Real Change 
<http://escholarship.org/uc/item/0p60g00r>
/Cornu, Sharon/

Disagreement is Evidence of Success 
<http://escholarship.org/uc/item/18p659m2>
/Fulp, Shaudi/

Is California’s Top Two Primary Bad for Women Candidates? 
<http://escholarship.org/uc/item/1k83k4n4>
/Merrill, Katie/

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Posted inpolitical parties 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>,primaries 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>

    “Top-two primary system hasn’t worked as proponents promised”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70169>

Posted onFebruary 8, 2015 8:23 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70169>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

LAT 
<http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-california-politics-20150208-story.html>:

    Has it worked? In short, no, not yet.

    New academic research, published Sunday by the California Journal of
    Politics & Policy, found that voters were just as apt to support
    candidates representing the same partisan poles as they were before
    the election rules changed — that is, if they even bothered voting.

    Moreover, the studies found, while there is indication of a somewhat
    more “business-friendly” — another way of saying moderate — approach
    to lawmaking by Sacramento’s majority Democrats, there is no
    conclusive evidence the change resulted from California’s new way of
    choosing its lawmakers.

    c”To summarize, our articles find very limited support for the
    moderating effects associated with the top-two primary,” Washington
    University’s Betsy Sinclair wrote, summarizing half a dozen research
    papers.

    (A link to the journal, published by the Institute of Governmental
    Studies at UC Berkeley, ishere. <http://escholarship.org/uc/cjpp>)

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Posted inpolitical parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>

    “What if there was an election and no one showed up to vote – not
    even the candidates themselves?” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70167>

Posted onFebruary 8, 2015 8:20 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70167>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Wow 
<http://www.abqjournal.com/538034/news/candidates-election-no-voters.html>.

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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,voting 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31>

    “Complaint: Monarch Beverage improperly funneled campaign cash”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70165>

Posted onFebruary 8, 2015 8:15 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70165>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

IndyStar 
<http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/07/complaint-monarch-beverage-improperly-funneled-campaign-cash/22940527/>: 
“A campaign finance battle involving Indiana’s largest beer distributor 
could undermine a long-standing loophole that Indiana companies often 
use to skirt tough campaign contribution limits.”

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    “Voting Laws Roundup 2015″ <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70162>

Posted onFebruary 6, 2015 11:10 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70162>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Brennan Center 
<https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/voting-laws-roundup-2015>:

    As the early stages of the 2016 presidential race begin, state
    legislatures are already considering hundreds of laws that could
    determine access to the ballot.

    *Increased single-party control in state capitals has accompanied a
    renewed push for voting restrictions.*There are strong pushes for
    strict photo ID requirements in some Republican-led states,
    including in places where laws were struck down by state courts.
    This year, the courts — including the U.S. Supreme Court — are again
    poised to rule on voter ID and other election laws. Courts failed to
    block a number of restrictive laws last year, and without clear
    limits, states appear ready to move forward with harsh new measures.

    *At the same time, there is continued momentum around reforms to
    improve access to the polls.*Two ideasrecommended
    <http://www.brennancenter.org/press-release/voting-commission-ideas-can-significantly-improve-elections>by
    the bipartisan Presidential Commission on Election Administration —
    modernizing voter registration and increasing early voting
    opportunities — appear in many legislative proposals, with
    modernization efforts gaining the most traction. Both Democrats and
    Republicans have sponsored such bills, but it is too early to tell
    whether they will move forward. There is also bipartisan movement to
    restore voting rights to people with past criminal convictions,
    improve access for military voters, and expand access to absentee
    ballots

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Posted inelection administration 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,voter id 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>,Voting Rights Act 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>

    “Changing The Way We Vote Isn’t Getting More People To Vote”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70160>

Posted onFebruary 6, 2015 9:17 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70160>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Cook Political Report. <http://cookpolitical.com/story/8194>

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Posted invoting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31>

    Romanticizing Democracy, Political Fragmentation, and the Decline of
    American Government <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70156>

Posted onFebruary 6, 2015 8:30 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70156>byRichard Pildes 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=7>

I’ve now posted this article, and this abstract for it, at thislink 
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2546042>.  I began 
this debate withthis piece 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/02/06/how-to-fix-our-polarized-politics-strengthen-political-parties/>in 
the Washington Post/Monkey Cage; those responding critically to my views 
include the political scientist Seth Masket,here 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/02/14/our-political-parties-are-networked-not-fragmented/>, 
and Jonathan Bernstein,here 
<http://politicsinminnesota.com/2014/02/jonathan-bernstein-looser-campaign-finance-laws-wont-help-political-parties/>, 
while those responding favorably include the political scientists Ray 
LaRaja and Brian 
Schaffner,here<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/07/21/want-to-reduce-polarization-give-parties-more-money/>(based 
on data in their important forthcoming book).  Rick Hasen,here 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-the-next-citizens-united-could-bring-more-corruption--but-less-gridlock/2014/02/21/a190d1c6-95ab-11e3-afce-3e7c922ef31e_story.html>, 
and Bob Bauer,here 
<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2014/12/third-approach-reform/>. 
have also weighed in.  This new article is a more fully-developed 
analysis of these issues.

    American democratic romanticism contributes to the current
    dysfunctionality of the institutions of American government, or so
    this article argues. Three lines of thought are developed that shape
    this argument. First, to understand the paralysis of current
    American government, it is as important to focus on the problem of
    “political fragmentation” as on the extreme polarization of the
    political parties By fragmentation, I mean both the internal
    diffusion of political power away from the party leadership into the
    hands of individual members, and the external diffusion of power
    away from the parties to non-party organizations. Today’s political
    polarization is a product of long-term historical processes and
    likely to be enduring; as a result, deals across party lines are
    most likely to come from party leaders, who have the strongest
    incentive to make the party label attractive to the largest
    electorate. But party leaders can do so only if they can press their
    recalcitrant members to join the deal; political fragmentation makes
    that moredifficult
    <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2546042#>to
    achieve. And the communications revolution andonline fundraising
    <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2546042#>now
    enable individual officeholders to function more as independent
    entrepreneurs than in the past.

    Second, America’s unique democratic culture and institutional design
    contribute to political fragmentation. Our system is much more
    individualistic and populist in structure than that of other mature
    democracies. Campaign finance laws, for example, are based on the
    idea of an individualistic, candidate-centered system of elections,
    rather than one in which the central organizations of politics — the
    political parties —play
    <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2546042#>a
    central role. In the particular American version of “democratic
    accountability,” our officeholders are subject to more frequent
    elections, including primaries, than elected officials elsewhere; we
    elect vastly more officials, including judges and prosecutors, than
    any other country; much of our political reform efforts seek a
    greater participatory role for the individual citizen. Many current
    proposals for changing campaign finance, for example, seek to
    empower “small donors,” or to give individual citizens vouchers they
    can use to fund candidates. But reason exists for concern that doing
    so will fuel political fragmentation and make effective governance
    more difficult, to the extent individual donations are likely to
    flow to more ideologically extreme, polarizing candidates.

    Third, a different direction for reform would seek to empower the
    forces of centrism and to focus more on organizational power in
    politics than on individuals. To resist political fragmentation,
    reform efforts can seek to strengthen the role of political parties
    and party leaders, so that individual members will have less of an
    effective veto power. This article suggests several different
    specific policies in the campaign finance area that might do so by
    giving political parties a greater role in the campaign finance system.

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,political parties 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>,political polarization 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68>,Supreme Court 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

    “Lawsuit Filed to Force Staten Island/Brooklyn Congressional
    Election” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70157>

Posted onFebruary 6, 2015 8:14 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70157>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Jeff Wice reports. 
<https://nyelectionsnews.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/lawsuit-filed-to-force-staten-islandbrooklyn-congressional-election/>

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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>

    “Maligning Legacy of Citizens United v. FEC”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70154>

Posted onFebruary 6, 2015 7:39 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70154>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Brad Smith oped. 
<http://www.ocregister.com/articles/money-650337-corporations-campaign.html>

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    “Bullock, Ankney team up on bill to fight ‘dark money'”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70151>

Posted onFebruary 6, 2015 7:28 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70151>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

News 
<http://helenair.com/news/local/bullock-ankney-team-up-on-bill-to-fight-dark-money/article_573e5452-58a6-5a9b-8224-d36e4b1f022f.html>from 
Montana. See alsoAmendment Sought to Limit Corporate Political Donations 
<http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/amendment-sought-to-limit-corporate-election-donations/article_8245475c-d95e-56ec-a9db-a781145c3855.html>.

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    Bauer on Schmitt on New Directions for Political Reform
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70149>

Posted onFebruary 6, 2015 7:26 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=70149>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Here. 
<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2015/02/mark-schmitt-new-directions-political-reform/>

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

-- 
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
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org

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