Category Archives: political parties

“As Swing Districts Dwindle, Can a Divided House Stand?”

December 27, 2012, 7:46 amlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

Nate Silver: “In 1992, there were 103 members of the House of Representatives elected from what might be called swing districts: those in which the margin in the presidential race was within five percentage points of the national result. But… Continue reading

“The Myth of State Autonomy: Federalism, Political Parties, and the National Colonization of State Politics”

December 20, 2012, 4:08 pmpolitical partiesRick Hasen

Jim Gardner has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: American federalism contemplates that states will retain a significant degree of autonomy so that state power can serve as a meaningful counterweight to national power. It is often… Continue reading

“Party Identity in a Gun Cabinet”

December 19, 2012, 9:35 ampolitical partiesRick Hasen

FiveThirtyEight: “An American child grows up in a married household in the suburbs. What are the chances that his family keeps a gun in their home? The probability is considerably higher than residents of New York and other big… Continue reading

“Will record number of women in Senate mean less gridlock?

December 17, 2012, 10:35 amlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

WaPo reports.

“All Bark, No Bite: How California’s Top-Two Primary System Reinforces the Status Quo”

December 11, 2012, 8:25 ampolitical parties, primariesRick Hasen

Nathan Yu has this blog post at State of Elections.

“Brown-Snowe-Lugar’s Last Hurrah Seen Aiding Deficit Deal”

December 5, 2012, 7:30 amlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

Bloomberg reports.

But What of the Rick Parry (with an “A”) Voters?

November 20, 2012, 9:42 pmpolitical parties, primariesRick Hasen

Iowa governor wants to kill the Ames straw poll.

“California’s Post-Partisan Experiment”

November 20, 2012, 10:46 ampolitical parties, primaries, redistrictingRick Hasen

Bloomberg View: “Uprooting intense partisanship in Washington would be easier if fewer legislators represented safe, ideologically homogenous districts. Or so reformers have long maintained. Now, with the final results in from legislative races in California, that thesis will get… Continue reading

“Supermajority elected to statehouses”

November 20, 2012, 7:40 amcampaigns, legislation and legislatures, political partiesRick Hasen

AP: There’s a new superpower growing in the Great Plains and the South, where bulging Republican majorities in state capitols could dramatically cut taxes and change public education with barely a whimper of resistance from Democrats. Contrast that with California,… Continue reading

“Calif. election law creates competition, less predictability”

November 12, 2012, 8:44 pmpolitical parties, primaries, redistrictingRick Hasen

John Myers’ video report.

PPIC Assesses California Election Reforms in Light of Tuesday’s Results

November 8, 2012, 3:27 pmpolitical parties, primariesRick Hasen

Here.

“A status quo election? A counterpoint”

October 26, 2012, 10:35 amlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

The Fix: “Richard L. Hasen over at the Election Law Blog offers a worthwhile counterpoint to our argument in Morning Fix that the government may stay largely as-is after the 2012 election….We generally agree with Hasen’s point that… Continue reading