The Past as Prologue: Defending Democracy on the Eve of the 2012 Elections Why Conservatives (As ... more The Past as Prologue: Defending Democracy on the Eve of the 2012 Elections Why Conservatives (As Well as Liberals) Should Be Interested in Modernizing Voter Registration Enforcing Election Laws in New Jersey Voting Restrictions in 2012: Ensuring Every Voter Has a Voic
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, 2003
Reforms in the recently enacted federal election reform legislation primarily address improving v... more Reforms in the recently enacted federal election reform legislation primarily address improving voting at a polling place, but there is a growing share of the electorate who vote away from the polling place through increased use of absentee ballots and vote-by-mail systems. Voters who vote away from the polling place do not have the same protections as those at the polling place. In particular, these voters do not have a secret ballot, as any ballot cast without a drawn curtain behind oneself is potentially subject to coercion, vote buying and fraud. This Article looks at the tension between the Australian Ballot and absentee voting. Both the Australian Ballot and the Absentee Ballot were electoral reforms of previous generations. The Australian Ballot was instituted by almost all of the states in the 1880s and 90s to combat abuses at the ballot box such as vote buying and coercion by party machines. There were two major periods of absentee ballot reform. In both periods of absentee ballot reform, there was recognition of the dangers of casting a ballot away from a home polling place. Since these early periods of adoption of absentee voting laws, there has been a significant rise in voting away from the polling place. In addition, many of the safeguards implemented by early legislation have been repealed. There are a number of advocates for easier absentee balloting, vote by mail, or even voting over the Internet. Although they emphasize the convenience of such measures, these advocates do not seem to appreciate the privacy concerns that the originators of the absentee ballot did. 7b the extent that election reform legislation is to be successful in improving the electoral system, it must take note of the trend toward voting away from the polling place and consider the importance of the secret ballot as well as convenience.
The US has one of the longest traditions of a two-party political system of any nation. Although ... more The US has one of the longest traditions of a two-party political system of any nation. Although in recent years there has been a steep rise in the number of people who describe themselves as political independents, the two parties are still dominant, and the prospect of a third party is remote. However, the US party system faces several challenges which have made governing more difficult. The two parties have become much more ideologically polarised. They remain weaker than many European parties in their ability to select their candidates and maintain party discipline among their representatives. The two parties also face strengthened competition in fundraising and campaign spending from outside independent groups. All of these developments have made it more difficult for the parties to secure majorities and pass major legislation.
During the election season of 2012, the Democracy Fund asked the Campaign Finance Institute and B... more During the election season of 2012, the Democracy Fund asked the Campaign Finance Institute and Bipartisan Policy Center to convene a working group of scholars to recommend research priorities for funders over the next several years in the field of money and politics. Eighteen prominent scholars of political science, law, communications, and economics joined in the effort. They began with a shared premise: fundamental changes in politics, law, technology, and communications have made obsolete many of the research and policy frameworks that have guided past work. Given the depth of this change, these scholars saw the following as the most fruitful priorities for now. First, rather than focusing on individual research projects, urge funders to support creating an infrastructure of interrelated databases, many of whose key parts already exist. Second, continue looking at subjects likely to receive policy attention in the near term, including small donors and transparency. Third, generate a more detailed picture of the new campaign finance system. Finally, seek to have scholars come together across specialties to reflect on what has just occurred and where to go next, ideally on a regular basis.
After September 11, the United States has been forced to consider the possibility that terrorists... more After September 11, the United States has been forced to consider the possibility that terrorists might strike at the top leadership of our government. United Flight 93, the fourth plane on September 11, was likely headed for the Capitol building or the White House before it was downed by the brave passengers who stormed the cockpit.' If terrorists were to execute such an attack and kill or incapacitate the President and Vice President, our country would, for the first time in our history, have to resort to the Presidential Succession Act, 2 which is a statute that many have argued is of dubious constitutionality and unwise policy. 3 A research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. M.A., Ph.D., Boston College. Dr. Fortier is the executive director of the Continuity of Government Commission and a member of the Presidency Research Career Award Committee. His writings include: After the People Vote, ed. and numerous law review and newspaper articles. He has taught at Boston College, Harvard University, and currently teaches at the University of Pennsylvania. 11 An American Enterprise Institute resident scholar. M.A., Ph.D., University of Michigan. Dr. Ornstein is a senior counselor to the Continuity of Government Commission and has served on numerous Presidential commissions. His most recent books include Lessons and Legacies: Farewell Addresses from the US Senate. Mr. Ornstein also serves as an election analyst for CBS News and writes regularly for USA Today and Roll Call. 1. News accounts of a media interview and later interrogation of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who was involved in the planning of the 9/11 attacks, indicate that the Capitol was the most likely target; the White House was also considered as a target in earlier planning. CONTINUITY OF GOV'T COMM'N, THE CONGRESS 2, app. II at 34 (2003) (referencing several interviews following the September 11 attacks), available at http://www.continuityofgovernment.org/pdfs/FirstReport.pdf. 2. 3 U.
John Hilton, Noel Reynolds, and Arlene Saxonhouse have employed statistical authorship analysis t... more John Hilton, Noel Reynolds, and Arlene Saxonhouse have employed statistical authorship analysis to claim that Hobbes authored three anonymously published works. But the authors of the study were not aware of close textual parallels between one discourse and a recently discovered work of Francis Bacon which argue against this attribution and call attention to deficiencies in the method of proof. Compounding this difficulty, they could not determine the stylistic pattern of Bacon, who is a candidate for authorship of the three discourses. It can be concluded that the authorship of at least one of the discourses is still a mystery, and that while the science of statistical wordprint analysis has advanced significantly over the past thirty years, it still has limitations which must be taken into account in any authorship study.
Even before the 36-day fandango following the election, George W. Bush and his team focused both ... more Even before the 36-day fandango following the election, George W. Bush and his team focused both on the presidential transition and the initial days of the presidency. Bush and chief political adviser Karl Rove had read history, examining how previous presidents had handled their initial phases in transition and in office; early on, Rove cautioned reporters and analysts to watch not the first 100 days but the first 180 days for an early measure of the president's capacity and success.
Our Transition to Governing Project is dedicated to understanding and improving the transition fr... more Our Transition to Governing Project is dedicated to understanding and improving the transition from campaigning to governing. Started in 1998, the project is an American Enterprise Institute project in conjunction with the Brookings Institution and the Hoover Institution funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Norman Ornstein, AEI, and Thomas Mann, Brookings, are codirectors, and John Fortier, AEI, manages the effort. The project has addressed the transition in three broad areas: (1) facilitation of the transition of a new administration into office; (2) scholarly analysis of the blurring of the lines between campaigning and governing, sometimes referred to as the “permanent campaign”; (3) improvement of the quality of the presidential campaign by focusing media attention on the governing qualities of the candidates.
The Past as Prologue: Defending Democracy on the Eve of the 2012 Elections Why Conservatives (As ... more The Past as Prologue: Defending Democracy on the Eve of the 2012 Elections Why Conservatives (As Well as Liberals) Should Be Interested in Modernizing Voter Registration Enforcing Election Laws in New Jersey Voting Restrictions in 2012: Ensuring Every Voter Has a Voic
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, 2003
Reforms in the recently enacted federal election reform legislation primarily address improving v... more Reforms in the recently enacted federal election reform legislation primarily address improving voting at a polling place, but there is a growing share of the electorate who vote away from the polling place through increased use of absentee ballots and vote-by-mail systems. Voters who vote away from the polling place do not have the same protections as those at the polling place. In particular, these voters do not have a secret ballot, as any ballot cast without a drawn curtain behind oneself is potentially subject to coercion, vote buying and fraud. This Article looks at the tension between the Australian Ballot and absentee voting. Both the Australian Ballot and the Absentee Ballot were electoral reforms of previous generations. The Australian Ballot was instituted by almost all of the states in the 1880s and 90s to combat abuses at the ballot box such as vote buying and coercion by party machines. There were two major periods of absentee ballot reform. In both periods of absentee ballot reform, there was recognition of the dangers of casting a ballot away from a home polling place. Since these early periods of adoption of absentee voting laws, there has been a significant rise in voting away from the polling place. In addition, many of the safeguards implemented by early legislation have been repealed. There are a number of advocates for easier absentee balloting, vote by mail, or even voting over the Internet. Although they emphasize the convenience of such measures, these advocates do not seem to appreciate the privacy concerns that the originators of the absentee ballot did. 7b the extent that election reform legislation is to be successful in improving the electoral system, it must take note of the trend toward voting away from the polling place and consider the importance of the secret ballot as well as convenience.
The US has one of the longest traditions of a two-party political system of any nation. Although ... more The US has one of the longest traditions of a two-party political system of any nation. Although in recent years there has been a steep rise in the number of people who describe themselves as political independents, the two parties are still dominant, and the prospect of a third party is remote. However, the US party system faces several challenges which have made governing more difficult. The two parties have become much more ideologically polarised. They remain weaker than many European parties in their ability to select their candidates and maintain party discipline among their representatives. The two parties also face strengthened competition in fundraising and campaign spending from outside independent groups. All of these developments have made it more difficult for the parties to secure majorities and pass major legislation.
During the election season of 2012, the Democracy Fund asked the Campaign Finance Institute and B... more During the election season of 2012, the Democracy Fund asked the Campaign Finance Institute and Bipartisan Policy Center to convene a working group of scholars to recommend research priorities for funders over the next several years in the field of money and politics. Eighteen prominent scholars of political science, law, communications, and economics joined in the effort. They began with a shared premise: fundamental changes in politics, law, technology, and communications have made obsolete many of the research and policy frameworks that have guided past work. Given the depth of this change, these scholars saw the following as the most fruitful priorities for now. First, rather than focusing on individual research projects, urge funders to support creating an infrastructure of interrelated databases, many of whose key parts already exist. Second, continue looking at subjects likely to receive policy attention in the near term, including small donors and transparency. Third, generate a more detailed picture of the new campaign finance system. Finally, seek to have scholars come together across specialties to reflect on what has just occurred and where to go next, ideally on a regular basis.
After September 11, the United States has been forced to consider the possibility that terrorists... more After September 11, the United States has been forced to consider the possibility that terrorists might strike at the top leadership of our government. United Flight 93, the fourth plane on September 11, was likely headed for the Capitol building or the White House before it was downed by the brave passengers who stormed the cockpit.' If terrorists were to execute such an attack and kill or incapacitate the President and Vice President, our country would, for the first time in our history, have to resort to the Presidential Succession Act, 2 which is a statute that many have argued is of dubious constitutionality and unwise policy. 3 A research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. M.A., Ph.D., Boston College. Dr. Fortier is the executive director of the Continuity of Government Commission and a member of the Presidency Research Career Award Committee. His writings include: After the People Vote, ed. and numerous law review and newspaper articles. He has taught at Boston College, Harvard University, and currently teaches at the University of Pennsylvania. 11 An American Enterprise Institute resident scholar. M.A., Ph.D., University of Michigan. Dr. Ornstein is a senior counselor to the Continuity of Government Commission and has served on numerous Presidential commissions. His most recent books include Lessons and Legacies: Farewell Addresses from the US Senate. Mr. Ornstein also serves as an election analyst for CBS News and writes regularly for USA Today and Roll Call. 1. News accounts of a media interview and later interrogation of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who was involved in the planning of the 9/11 attacks, indicate that the Capitol was the most likely target; the White House was also considered as a target in earlier planning. CONTINUITY OF GOV'T COMM'N, THE CONGRESS 2, app. II at 34 (2003) (referencing several interviews following the September 11 attacks), available at http://www.continuityofgovernment.org/pdfs/FirstReport.pdf. 2. 3 U.
John Hilton, Noel Reynolds, and Arlene Saxonhouse have employed statistical authorship analysis t... more John Hilton, Noel Reynolds, and Arlene Saxonhouse have employed statistical authorship analysis to claim that Hobbes authored three anonymously published works. But the authors of the study were not aware of close textual parallels between one discourse and a recently discovered work of Francis Bacon which argue against this attribution and call attention to deficiencies in the method of proof. Compounding this difficulty, they could not determine the stylistic pattern of Bacon, who is a candidate for authorship of the three discourses. It can be concluded that the authorship of at least one of the discourses is still a mystery, and that while the science of statistical wordprint analysis has advanced significantly over the past thirty years, it still has limitations which must be taken into account in any authorship study.
Even before the 36-day fandango following the election, George W. Bush and his team focused both ... more Even before the 36-day fandango following the election, George W. Bush and his team focused both on the presidential transition and the initial days of the presidency. Bush and chief political adviser Karl Rove had read history, examining how previous presidents had handled their initial phases in transition and in office; early on, Rove cautioned reporters and analysts to watch not the first 100 days but the first 180 days for an early measure of the president's capacity and success.
Our Transition to Governing Project is dedicated to understanding and improving the transition fr... more Our Transition to Governing Project is dedicated to understanding and improving the transition from campaigning to governing. Started in 1998, the project is an American Enterprise Institute project in conjunction with the Brookings Institution and the Hoover Institution funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Norman Ornstein, AEI, and Thomas Mann, Brookings, are codirectors, and John Fortier, AEI, manages the effort. The project has addressed the transition in three broad areas: (1) facilitation of the transition of a new administration into office; (2) scholarly analysis of the blurring of the lines between campaigning and governing, sometimes referred to as the “permanent campaign”; (3) improvement of the quality of the presidential campaign by focusing media attention on the governing qualities of the candidates.
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