The argument, which I attended this morning, was unusually subdued.  I think that’s because the prior case, challenging the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission’s plan, was tedious and frustrating to the Court, with the lawyers challenging the Commission’s plan not able… Continue reading

In a Scotus blog contribution to a Symposium on the Evenwel case shortly after the Court took the case, I suggested that the most interesting question in the case was actually whether the Court would engage the issue of whether… Continue reading

Getting agreement on a metric of congressional dysfunction is difficult.  Here is one measure I haven’t seen before, which is offered in David A. Fahrenthold‘s story today in the WaPo on why Senator Rubio plans to leave the Senate if… Continue reading

From the Washington Post’s new In Theory section, here is a snippet from my contribution today to the Symposium on Evenwel: [A]s a matter of constitutional principle, states should have the discretion, at the least, to continue to decide that… Continue reading

I have been arguing for some time now that “political fragmentation” is a defining element of our political era.  The decline in the capacity and power of party leaders in Congress to bring along their caucuses to support leadership positions… Continue reading

In the coming days, we are going to hear more and more about state Republican parties that require “loyalty oaths” to participate as a candidate in a party’s primary — loyalty oaths require a candidate to pledge that he or… Continue reading

Instructors can download the 2015 Supplement here, for The Law of Democracy:  Legal Regulation of the Political Process (4th ed.).  Here is the Table of Contents for the Supplement: Chapter Two 3 Note: Recent Litigation on Voting Access 8… Continue reading

“Conservatives hold John Boehner hostage” “Boehner response to Meadows insurrection: “No Big Deal”” [corrected link]

In my contribution to the SCOTUS blog Symposium in this case, I provide reasons that the Court is unlikely, in my view, to accept the appellants’ position.  But that is not the end of the case.  The more interesting question… Continue reading

A major basis for today’s Florida Supreme Court decision is that the Florida legislature wrongly believed or purported to believe that the Voting Rights Act required raising the population of black voters to certain high levels.  Relying on the Supreme… Continue reading

It's been nearly twenty years since Pam Karlan, Sam Issacharoff, and I published the first edition of “The Law of Democracy” casebook.  In all those years, we have not added another co-author to the book, which is now in its… Continue reading

Later today or next week, the Court in the Arizona redistricting-commission case will issue one of its more important decisions on “the law of democracy.” To provide context for that decision, it’s useful to see two paradoxes the case illustrates… Continue reading