This book is a practical resource covering standards, rules, and other criteria that apply to elections around the world. The book is designed to help attorneys (and others observing or otherwise participating in the electoral process) understand the general standards and theoretical complexities of the field. Each author presents core principles to explain electoral processes and examines democratic elections in a broader political context. This comprehensive resource will help unite theory and practice.

Election administration is essential to the proper functioning of our democracy. The American Law Institute’s first Principles in this area focuses on two areas of great importance: non-precinct voting and the resolution of disputed elections. Part I provides principles for use by jurisdictions that wish to use absentee-voting or early-voting options as a supplement to in-person precinct-based voting on Election Day. Part II concerns principles applicable to disputed elections generally, while Part III specifically concerns procedures necessary for disputed presidential elections given their uniquely challenging scheduling constraints.

While numerous books and articles examine various aspects either of democratic theory or of specific topics in election law, there is no comprehensive book that provides a detailed and scholarly discussion of the political and democratic theory underpinnings of election law. Election Law and Democratic Theory fills this important gap, as author David Schultz offers a scholarly analysis of the political principles and democratic values underlying election law and the regulation of political campaigns and participants in the United States. The book provides the first full-length examination of the political theories that form the basis for many of the current debates in election law that structure both Supreme Court and scholarly considerations of topics ranging from campaign finance reform, voting rights, reapportionment, and ballot access to the rights of political parties, the media, and other players in the system. It challenges much of the current debate in election law and argues for more discussion and development of a democratic political theory to support and guide election law jurisprudence.

The third edition of Election Law in the American Political System pivots to place front and center the profound challenges to American democracy posed by the emergence of a political environment in which repeated, partisan attempts to undermine longstanding democratic processes have become a new norm of political contestation. Like prior editions, it offers an easy to teach, student-friendly, intellectually rich casebook with comprehensive coverage of the legal rules and doctrines that shape democratic participation in the 21st century American political system. New to the Third Edition: Addresses the perils currently facing American democracy including democratic backsliding, authoritarianism, and election denialism Contextualizes the problem of democratic backsliding as a global phenomenon Provides important intellectual framework and scaffolding by explaining the joint pathologies of illiberalism and populism and how they affect American democracy Updated caselaw with partisan gerrymandering: Rucho v. Common Cause; the Voting Rights Act: Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee; racial gerrymandering: Cooper v. Harris; and political speech: Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky Professors and students will benefit from: Organization that tracks the lifecycle of the democratic process from distribution of the franchise to processes and relationships of representation and through parties, candidate selection, campaign speech and spending, to electoral administration. Multidisciplinary coverage of theories of voting behavior, alternative electoral systems, evolution of judicial review of democratic processes, and developments concerning the advent of “fake news” in election campaigns. Comprehensive coverage of developments in partisan gerrymandering, the Voting Rights Act, judicial campaigning, campaign finance, and electoral administration. A focus on the current problems facing American democracy. A rich set of theoretical materials to help facilitate teaching and engagement of doctrine Well-organized and self-contained units that allow professors to cover topics in the depth and breadth they prefer. Clear, concise, and informative notes to help focus student attention on the issues that are relevant.

Governments need rules, institutions, and processes to translate the will of the people into functioning democracies. Election laws are the rules that make that happen. Yet across the world various countries have crafted different rules regarding how elections are conducted, who gets to vote, who is allowed to run for office, what role political parties have, and what place money has in the financing of campaigns and candidates. The Routledge Handbook of Election Law is the first major cross-national comparative reference book surveying the electoral practices and law of the major and emerging democracies across the world. It brings together the leading international scholars on election law and democracy, examining specific issues, topics, or the regions of the world when it comes to rules, institutions, and processes regarding how they run their elections. The result is a rich volume of research furthering the legal and political science knowledge about democracies and the challenges they face. Scholars interested in election law and democracy, as well as election officials, will find the Routledge Handbook of Election Law an essential reference book.

Voting Rights and Election Law is a law school text book covering the law surrounding the electoral system. Coverage begins with voting qualifications and barriers to exercise of the franchise. The book covers the authority of the courts to remedy violations of the right to vote. Other topics include the One-Person/One Vote Doctrine under the Federal Constitution and the effects of the Voting Rights Act. The book also covers the role of political parties and term limits for federal and state office. Campaign finance and political speech each receive treatment. The book concludes with a chapter on methods for remedying errors in elections. In Chapter 1 students examine questions surrounding the constitutional right to vote and legislatures' power to restrict the classes of persons entitled to the franchise. The remainder of the text proceeds chronologically through the electoral process, from districting, with its issues of one person, one vote and the role of race under the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act; to the place of political parties in the electoral and constitutional structure; to limitations on ballot access; to the First Amendment's protection of political speech, including an in-depth treatment of campaign finance; to rules governing the voting process itself; to vote-counting; to remedies for elections that have gone wrong. Compared to other casebooks in the field, Voting Rights and Election Law emphasizes the texts of leading court opinions rather than commentary and political-science research. The book focuses on the legal principles and language adopted by courts in deciding election cases, rather than competing political theories about elections and democracy. Students are, however, encouraged through notes and questions to examine and question the empirical assumptions and theoretical premises behind the opinions. This book also is available in a three-hole-punched, alternative loose-leaf version printed on 8.5 x 11 inch paper with wider margins and with the same pagination as the hardbound book.