Balkinization now has the fifth and final installment in Heather Gerken’s “Setting the Agenda” series. Here’s an excerpt:

… I’ll close by saying a bit about the underlying assumptions behind the proposals I have described and explaining why I think they represent plausible first steps. The main assumption behind these proposals is a premise that undergirds my field and, indeed, most arguments for reform: process shapes substance….. What puzzles me is why we have not applied that lesson to the electoral reform process. As I have argued this week, the structure of the reform process determines what kind of reform gets passed. Or, in the case of the United States, the structure of the reform process means almost nothing gets passed. Rather than continuing to fight reform battles on this hostile turf, we should focus on changing the underlying terrain.

For more, see here.