"Plight Of The Displaced Voter"

Eliza Newlin Carney writes this very important column in the National Journal, which begins: "Storm-battered Gulf Coast states have already canceled some elections this fall, and may have to postpone still more next year. That's alarmed some on Capitol Hill who warn that the political ripple effects could be far-reaching."

California Redistricting Initiative Failing Badly in Latest Poll; Governor's Best Hope is "Selective" Turnout

See here and here.

Wisconsin Right to Life Case to Be Argued Jan. 17 in the Supreme Court

See the calendar here. The Vermont case will apparently be set for an argument after January. Thanks to Marty Lederman for the link.

"Internet CFR Bill on Deck"

Roll Call offers this report (paid subscription required), which begins: "The House is set to take up a bill this week that would exempt the Internet from campaign finance laws. The measure is on the suspension calendar for Wednesday. Bills brought up under the suspension of normal rules have to pass by a two-thirds majority vote and are usually, by their nature, uncontroversial." The NY Times editorializes against the bill, and Allison Hayward editorializes against the Times editorial. Bob Bauer supports the merits of the bill---if not the procedure for bringing it up.

Groups to Announce Redistricting Reform Principles

The following press release has arrived via e-mail:

A diverse and bipartisan group of experts will announce a set of consensus principles to reform congressional and legislative redistricting at a public briefing at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 2, 2005 in 1539 Longworth House Office Building. Members of the media are invited to attend.

The principles, to be released in a report entitled “The Shape of Representative Democracy,” are the product a two-day redistricting reform conference held last June. The report announces a set of principles divided into two categories – procedures for redistricting, and standards for redistricting – designed to “reform the country’s redistricting practices and improve our campaigns and elections, and more importantly our officeholders and governance.”

The briefing schedule is as follows:

Opening Remarks Hon. David Skaggs, former member of Congress,
Council for Excellence in Government

Comments Hon. Earl Blumenauer, Member of Congress, and
other Members TBA
Thomas Mann, Brookings Institution
Norm Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute
Kay Maxwell, President, League of Women Voters

Closing Remarks Trevor Potter, Campaign Legal Center


Call for Questions

Please RSVP to Megan Brimhall of the Campaign Legal Center at (202) 736-2200 or mbrimhall@campaignlegalcenter.org.

The redistricting conference was organized by the Campaign Legal Center, a non-partisan government reform group, and the Center for Democracy & Citizenship at the Council for Excellence in Government. The project was funded by generous support by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Council for Excellence in Government’s Venture Fund, the JEHT Foundation, the Reform Institute and the Educational Testing Service.

Responses to My Weak Prediction on Alito

Many people I respect have written me private messages to disagree with my earlier prediction that Judge Alito will not be confirmed. While I stand my my prediction at this time, I noted there that I did not have much confidence in the prediction (unlike, my earlier predictions on the Supreme Court nominations process that have mostly been proven right). I think much will turn on the public mood as the (inevitable) 30-second ads highlighting Judge Alito's position in the Casey case begin airing.
Mike Rappaport weighs in here. I will not be surprised if I am proven wrong in this instance.

UPDATE: The always perceptive Taegan Goddard of PoliticalWire sets out the latest thinking on the Gang of 14 agreement.

"Prop. 77: how it would really work"

Morgan Kousser has written this oped for the San Diego Union Tribune.

Election Protection Effort in NYC

See this press release that I received via e-mail.

"Issue 4 would curb political gerrymandering"

Michael Solimine has written this oped for the Cincinnati Post.

Jim Gardner on Public Office

James Gardner has posted Giving the Gift of Public Office on SSRN. The abstract:

This interpretive essay, written for the Buffalo Law Review's annual essay issue, identifies an increasingly common pathology of American democracy in which voters treat the election of public officials not as an instrumental act designed to influence public policy, but as an opportunity to present public office as a gift to those who have pleased, entertained, or moved them. The reelection of Strom Thurmond to the Senate at age 93 and the election of nearly forty congressional widows to their late husbands' seats exemplify this trend. Although this behavior bears a passing resemblance to eighteenth-century habits of political deference and nineteenth-century understandings of politics as a form of public entertainment, judged by contemporary norms of democratic citizenship it is a corrosive kind of civic corruption akin to patronage. As with efforts to eliminate other forms of patronage, only substantial institutional reforms seem capable of neutralizing this destructive behavior. Such reforms might include moving to a party list system, or creating new figurehead offices, like the presidency in a parliamentary form of government.

Jacobson and McCormick on Posner

Arthur Jacobson and John McCormick have posted The Business of Democracy is Democracy on SSRN. The abstract:

In Law, Pragmatism, and Democracy (Harvard University Press, 2004), Richard Posner champions the work of the Austrian economist, Joseph Schumpeter, who distilled the democratic process down to the election of political officials from among a group of competing elites by the general population. He links this "pragmatic" account of democracy to a broader program of pragmatic adjudication and liberalism. This review critically assesses the empirical and normative grounds of Posner's argument, and accuses him of neglecting the pivotal role of politics, in both his democratic theory and his understanding of pragmatism.

"Pelosi and Leading Democrats Seek to Protect Voting Rights of Gulf Coast Citizens Affected by Hurricanes"

See this press release.

-- 
Rick Hasen
William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law
Loyola Law School
919 Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA  90015-1211
(213)736-1466
(213)380-3769 - fax
rick.hasen@lls.edu
http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org