Rethinking American Electoral Democracy Is the cure for the ills of democracy more democracy? Is it possible to have too much democracy in a well-functioning government? What should a model electoral democracy look like? In this critical examination of the state of the American electoral process, Matthew Streb analyzes the major debates that embroil scholars and reformers on subjects ranging from the number of elections we hold and the use of nonpartisan elections, to the presidential nominating process and campaign finance laws. Ultimately, Streb makes an argument for a less burdensome democracy, a democracy in which citizens can participate more easily. This book is designed to get students of elections and American political institutions to think critically about what it means to be democratic and how democratic the United States really is. Part of the Controversies in Electoral Democracy and Representation series, edited by Matthew J. Streb. Matthew J. Streb is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Northern Illinois University. His books include: The New Electoral Politics of Race (University of Alabama); Academic Freedom at the Dawn of a New Century (Stanford University); Running for Judge (NYU); Law and Election Politics: The Rules of the Game (Lynne Rienner); and Polls and Politics: The Dilemmas of Democracy (SUNY). Controversies in Electoral Democracy and Representation Series Editor: Matthew J. Streb The Routledge series Controversies in Electoral Democracy and Representation presents cutting edge scholarship and innovative thinking on a broad range of issues relating to democratic practice and theory. An electoral democracy, to be effective, must show a strong relationship between representation and a fair, open election process. Designed to foster debate and challenge assumptions about how elections and democratic representation should work, titles in the series will present a strong but fair argument on topics related to elections, voting behavior, party and media involvement, representation, and democratic theory. Rethinking American Electoral Democracy Matthew J. Streb Redistricting and Representation: Why Competitive Elections Are Bad for America Thomas L. Brunell Rethinking American Electoral Democracy Matthew J. Streb First published 2008 by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2008 Taylor and Francis All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Streb, Matthew J. (Matthew Justin), 1974– Rethinking American electoral democracy / Matthew J. Streb. p. cm.—(Controversies in electoral democracy and representation) 1. Elections—United States. 2. Democracy—United States. I. Title. JK 1976.S77 2008 324.60973–dc22 2007033709 ISBN 0-203-93108-4 Master e-book ISBN ISBN10: 0-415-96138-6 (hbk) ISBN10: 0-415-96139-4 (pbk) ISBN10: 0-203-93108-4 (ebk) ISBN13: 978-0-415-96138-7 (hbk) ISBN13: 978-0-415-96139-4 (pbk) ISBN13: 978-0-203-93108-0 (ebk) For my boys, Logan and Alex and In memory of Judge Paul Boland, who dedicated his life to protecting the rights of others Contents List of figures and tables x Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii 1 Creating a model electoral democracy 1 Criteria for a model electoral democracy 2 A few comments 5 Overview of the book 6 PART I Rethinking the costs of voting 9 2 Factors that influence voter turnout 11 “Didn’t we just vote?” 11 Other barriers to voting 16 3 The offices we elect 26 Do we really need to vote for coroner? 27 The case of judicial elections 29 4 Direct democracy 44 What is the initiative process and how does it work? 45 Some misconceptions about the initiative process 47 Why the public supports the initiative process 54 The problems with the initiative process 57 Some potential reforms 60 Recall elections 61 viii Contents PART II Rethinking the mechanics of voting 65 5 Ballot laws 67 Getting on the ballot 67 Candidate information on the ballot 71 The order of candidates’ names on the ballot 75 Ballot design 77 6 Voting machines 80 Different types of voting machines 81 The problem with punch card ballots 82 The pros and cons of the remaining contenders 83 A word on Internet voting 89 So, what’s the solution? 92 PART III Rethinking national elections 95 7 The redistricting process 97 How does the process work? 98 The goals of redistricting 99 What should be the goals of redistricting? 108 What process best achieves the goals of redistricting? 113 8 Presidential primaries 116 King Caucus and the smoke-filled rooms 117 Reforms to the presidential primary process 118 9 The Electoral College 133 What is the Electoral College? Why do we have it? 133 Arguments in favor of the Electoral College and why they are flawed 136 The reasons for change 140 Attempts to reform the Electoral College 142 The future of the Electoral College 147 Contents ix 10 Campaign finance 151 A brief history of campaign finance reform 152 The concerns of campaign finance reformers 157 The favorite solution: publicly financed elections 160 A controversial solution 163 11 Conclusion: Moving toward a model electoral democracy 171 Revisiting the criteria for a model electoral democracy 171 Other improvements to American electoral democracy 175 The prospects for reform 177 Notes 179 Bibliography 201 Court cases 219 Index 221 List of figures and tables Figures 2.1 Absentee voting and voter turnout rates in California, 1980–2004. 20 4.1 A map of states that use the initiative and recall. 46 5.1 The “butterfly ballot” used in Palm Beach County, FL during the 2000 presidential election. 78 7.1 District map of the current Illinois 17th congressional district. 101 7.2 District map of Louisiana’s former 4th congressional district. 102 Tables 3.1 A sample of the elected statewide offices 27 4.1 Campaign expenditures on selected California propositions, 2004 (in millions of dollars) 48 Preface The idea for this book started with a conversation I had with a former student during the height of the effort to recall former Californian governor Gray Davis. During the spirited conversation, the student made a passionate defense in favor of recalling Davis and argued that the effort was “democracy in action,” to which I blurted out, “It may be democracy, but it is dumb democracy!” Normally I would not be this direct with a student, but I was close with this particular student as I had him in several of my classes; I served as his thesis advisor, and we presented a paper together at a political science conference. While we ultimately agreed to disagree, immediately after that conversation I began thinking about the many aspects of American electoral democracy that I considered to be “dumb”—some of which I had studied, such as nonpartisan elections and judicial elections, and some of which I had not, but always believed to be questionable, like the initiative process and the number of elected officials in the United States. I decided to write a book that would argue against many of these paradigms and the idea that “more democracy is always best.” As I started thinking through the project further, however, I wanted to make sure I didn’t take a tone that was too flip—it could easily sound more like something that Ann Coulter or Al Franken would write, and that was certainly something that I did not want (although at least Franken is funny). And, to be honest, arguing that many of these practices and institu- tions were “dumb democracy” was not fair. The more research I completed, the more I realized that there are persuasive arguments supporting the status quo. While I ultimately may not agree with these arguments, they are far from “dumb.” Furthermore, revising the “dumb democracy” angle allowed me to write a more comprehensive book, permitting the inclusion of more than just demo- cratic ideas that I questioned. This approach to writing the book naturally encouraged discussion of a wide array of subjects, some of which I supported, some of which I opposed, and some of which I either did not have a strong opinion on or on which I simply could not make up my mind. In other words, it allowed me to think about what a “model” electoral democracy should look like. xii Preface The reader should be forewarned. While I hope I have provided balanced coverage of the subjects that comprise this book, my point of view is clear. Certainly not everyone will agree with all arguments in the book; many will no doubt disagree with me entirely, and others will likely have strong opinions about topics that I do not. Some readers may support my position, but for different reasons than I advocate. What I hope emerges from this book is a dialogue about American electoral democracy. While I would like to persuade some of my skeptics, the more important goal is to get people to critically assess what it means to be democratic and how democratic the United States really is; hence the title Rethinking American Electoral Democracy.