Constitution And The Political Process

This seminar will study the state and federal constitutional and statutory law that governs various aspects of the electoral process. Issues to be covered include political gerrymandering and redistricting, alternative election methods, minority voting rights including language minorities, campaign finance reform, the Help America Vote Act and election reform issues, lobbying regulations, and felony disenfranchisement. While historical background on the evolution of the law in these areas will be explored, the focus will be on current issues and future prospects for development of the law and policy. In addition, the course will include a comparative perspective by briefly examining legal structures for democratic participation in other countries. Fundamentally, we will be exploring the question of what constitutional and statutory rules best guarantee a meaningfully democratic political process.