That’s the title of a new article of mine. Here’s the abstract and the link: What is the most fundamental challenge facing democracies today? One major concern is democratic backsliding, regression, or the rise of “illiberal democracies.” Another concern,… Continue reading

That’s the way I would frame the big-picture perspective on this case.  The major precedents on when state demands for disclosure of a group’s donors violate the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of association (outside the campaign-finance context) come from… Continue reading

From Lee McIntyre and Jonathan Rauch in the Washington Post. This piece reflects the views developed in full in Rauch’s new book, The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth — #StopTheSteal is not merely Trump’s way of being a… Continue reading

At the start of the Biden administration, the Supreme Court in two divided decisions this week expanded the President’s power over the executive branch.  The decisions largely divided along lines that Court pundits label conservative and liberal.  On the side… Continue reading

I want to add an additional comment to the points Rick Hasen has flagged about the DOJ suit. DOJ’s strategic decision to avoid claiming that GA’s law violates the “results” test of Section 2 certainly reflects a judgment that winning… Continue reading

From the NYT, my latest piece: With the For the People Act on indefinite hold after a filibuster by Republicans in the Senate on Tuesday, the Voting Rights Act is about to return to center stage in Washington. The… Continue reading

At The Conversation, Derek offered his perspective on current election law issues. A few excerpts: One group has said that “Americans’ access to the vote is in unprecedented peril.” What do you think?I would not say that. These election… Continue reading

From Politico: The top political adviser to one of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors privately urged fellow Democrats last week to abandon the push around federal voting rights legislation in favor of legislative items with better chances of passage.Dmitri Mehlhorn,… Continue reading

From Georgetown law professor David Super, in the Washington Post: This perspective is remarkably shortsighted. Although the filibuster has blocked central parts of the Democratic program in recent years, it has done the same for key features of the… Continue reading

I’m pleased to announce that Franita Tolson, Professor of Law and Vice Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs at USC Gould School of Law, will be joining The Law of Democracy casebook for our next edition. Hard to believe the… Continue reading

From John Curiel, at Real Clear Politics: What can be done about redistricting? Unfortunately, with moderate Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema protecting the Senate filibuster, not much at the national level. Likewise, Republicans have no reason to give… Continue reading

Surprisingly harsh critique from liberal election-law expert Ned Foley in his latest Washington Post piece: H.R. 1 passed the House with zero Republican votes, and the companion S.B. 1 has zero GOP support in the Senate. That’s because… Continue reading

From the Chicago Tribune: Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who as a candidate vowed to veto any partisan redistricting plan for the legislature, signed into law Friday new partisan-drawn districts for the General Assembly and state Supreme Court designed to… Continue reading