Bush v. Gore brought to the public's attention the significance of election law and the United States Supreme Court's role in structuring the rules that govern how campaigns and elections function in America. In this book, Brian K. Pinaire examines one expanding domain within this larger legal context: freedom of speech in the political process, or, what he terms, electoral speech law. Specifically, Pinaire examines the Court's evolving conceptions of free speech in the electoral process and then traces the consequences of various debates and determinations from the post-World War II era to the present. In his analysis of the broad range of cases from this period, supplemented by four recent case study investigations, Pinaire explores competing visions of electoral expression in the marketplace of ideas, various methods for analyzing speech dilemmas, the multiple influences that shape the justices' notions of both the potential for and privileged status of electoral communication, and the ultimate implications of these Court rulings for American democracy.

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.