Book Description
The revised second edition of Election Law adds to the first edition’s already comprehensive treatment of issues of election regulation and reform. New materials include: a discussion of legal and political issues related to the Florida recount controversy, and consideration of how the controversy may (or may not) change elections and election law; the most up-to-date and comprehensive teaching materials available anywhere on campaign finance regulation, including new chapters (using data through the 2000 election) discussing hot topics such as soft money, issue advocacy, and campaign finance disclosure laws; revised chapters on race and redistricting, especially salient as court battles over redistricting begin anew with the release of 2000 census figures; and a new chapter on laws related to campaigning, including discussions of the impact of mass communications law and laws regulating campaign speech. Like its predecessor, Election Law, 2nd edition provides in-depth treatment of the right to vote and voter turnout, legislative districting, the Voting Rights Act and the racial gerrymandering cause of action, ballot propositions, constitutional rights and obligations of political parties, campaign finance, and term limits.
This interdisciplinary book is unprecedented in its combination of materials drawn from law and political science. Lowenstein and Hasen include edited versions of most of the Supreme Court's most important election law decisions of the last three decades, as well as a generous sampling of lower federal court and state decisions, many raising novel and challenging issues.
The book is intended to give students, legislators, attorneys and general readers a more sophisticated understanding of issues central to citizenship in a democracy. A teacher's manual and supplement is available.