Election Law Syllabus - Fall 2011

The required texts for this course are Lowenstein, Hasen, and Tokaji, Election Law: Cases and Materials (4th ed. 2008) and its 2011 Supplement.

NOTE: The numbers set off by commas refer to pages in Lowenstein et al, Election Law: Cases and Materials (4th ed. 2008) unless preceded by "S.", in which case they refer to pages in the 2011 Supplement.

Week 1: 8/25

Introduction, 3-25

The Right to Vote, 27-63

Week 2: 9/1

Representation, 65-101

Districting Criteria, 103-14

Minority Vote Dilution: Beyond the Right to Vote, 115-21

Minority Vote Dilution: Applying Section 5, 121-32

Week 3: 9/8

Minority Vote Dilution: Applying Section 5 (continued), 133-43

Minority Vote Dilution: Applying Section 2, 143-93

Week 4: 9/15

Minority Vote Dilution: Racial Gerrymandering, 193-242

Partisan Gerrymandering, 243-79

Week 5: 9/22

Election Administration: Equal Protection and Vote Counting, 281-306

Election Administration: Voting Technology, 306-14

Election Administration: Voter Identification, 314-32

Election Administration: Law and Participation, 332-48

Week 6: 9/29

Ballot Propositions: Pros and Cons, 349-68

Ballot Propostions: Procedural Requirements and Judicial Review, 394-415

Major Political Parties: The Party and the Political System, 417-35

Week 7: 10/6

Major Political Parties: Obligations of Parties under the Constitution, 435-47

Major Political Parties: Associational Rights of Parties, 448-78

Third Parties and Independent Candidates: Ballot Access, 501-19

Week 8: 10/13

Minority Parties, Public Benefits, and Laws Favoring the Two-Party System, 520-48

Campaigns, 549-77

Incumbency: The Incumbency Advantage, 579-98

Week 9: 10/20

Incumbency: Perquisites, 598-618

Incumbency: Competitiveness in Election Law Jurisprudence, 618-30

Bribery, 631-71.

Week 10: 10/27

Campaign Finance: The Buckley Framework, 677-735

Week 11: 11/3

Contribution Limits after Buckley, 737-795; S. 70-74

Week 12: 11/10

Spending Limits after Buckley, 807-50; S. 75-107

Week 13: 11/17

Public Financing, 875-92; S. 108-09; 892-905; S. 109-34; 905-912

Campaign Finance Disclosure, 913-39; S. 135-50

This page last modified on October 28, 2011.