This panel brings political scientists with electoral and institutional expertise together with legal scholars to discuss Bruce Cain’s new book, Democracy More or Less: America’s Political Reform Quandary (Cambridge University Press, 2014). They will bring their diverse approaches to electoral reform to this discussion with the author to give a balanced look at this work and the prospects of reform overall

This roundtable will address and assess the current prospects for fundamental constitutional change and reform in the U.S. The roundtable will particularly engage with the contemporary concern with dysfunctional government, the prospects for reform through formal amendment or a constitutional convention, the various political currents impelling us toward (or away) from reform, and what these practical topics imply for the theory of constitutional change. I (Steve Griffin) am proposing eminent discussants who have both general and specific expertise on each of these topics. Sandy Levinson’s book “Framed” set the stage for recent discussion of formal efforts at reform. Both Sandy and John Vile are informed observers of current efforts by conservative groups to call a constitutional convention to restore a traditional understanding of American federalism. Vile is also well informed on all of the proposals for formal amendment and significant alteration of the Constitution in American history. Rick Hasen is an expert on voting rights and political reform generally. He can also speak to the California experience with direct democracy, which is also important to this topic. I have a book coming out with Kansas Press in fall 2015 on the links between our current troubles with dysfunctional government and the Constitution itself. The book argues that a number of recent “policy disasters” can be traced back to the elements of our contemporary constitutional order. In addition, it focuses attention on the key role of trust in government and argues that maintaining trust is a constitutional issue as well. The book discusses how the issue of trust has been addressed historically in California and other western states through the use of direct democracy. The book also discusses the prospects for fundamental constitutional reform.
Melissa Schwartzberg is a rising scholar of constitutional and democratic theory who brings an unusual historical perspective to her work. She has specifically written on the theory of constitutional change in a way that makes it easy to relate theory to contemporary concerns over dysfunctional government. This is really an outstanding group for this topic and we look forward to having a very productive exchange!