By Elizabeth Garrett. Full text here. In the ever-evolving jurisprudence of campaign finance, one principle has endured: the rules governing candidate elections are analyzed differently from the rules governing ballot measures because, according to the courts, the latter elections do not implicate the state’s legitimate interest in combating quid pro quo corruption. It should now be…

By Michael D. Gilbert. Full text here. Judges claim to resolve ambiguities in initiatives by identifying and giving force to “voter intent,” but scholars reject that on the ground that such intent does not exist. This Article argues otherwise. We can understand the search for voter intent to be a search for the majoritarian interpretation. The…

By Michael Serota and Ethan J. Leib. Full text here. The voting levers in candidate elections and in direct democracy elections are identical. The political obligations that bind the citizens that pull them are not. This Essay argues that voters in direct democracy elections, unlike their counterparts in candidate elections, serve as representatives of the people…

By Craig M. Burnett & Mathew D. McCubbins. Full text here. Ballot measures offer voters the opportunity to shape policy decisions directly. It remains unclear, however, if direct democracy asks too much of voters. Do voters have the capacity to make informed decisions on ballot measures that have important and far-reaching policy consequences? The common wisdom…

By Tom Pryor. Full text here.

By Lee Epstein, William M. Landes, & Richard A. Posner. Full text here. A number of scholars, journalists, and at least one member of Congress claim that the current Supreme Court (the “Roberts Court”) is more favorable to business than previous Supreme Courts have been. Other commentators disagree, while acknowledging that the Roberts Court is “less…

By Robin Kundis Craig. Full text here. In this Article, Professor Craig responds to Professor J.B. Ruhl’s Article The Political Economy of Climate Change Winners.

By Amanda M. Rose. Full text here. This Article addresses a topic of contemporary public policy significance: the optimal allocation of law enforcement authority in our federalist system. Proponents of “competitive federalism” have long argued that assigning concurrent enforcement authority to states and the federal government can lead to redundant expense, policy distortion, and a loss…

By Jens David Ohlin. Full text here. The duty to capture stands at the fault line between competing legal regimes that might govern targeted killings. If human-rights law and domestic law-enforcement procedures govern these killings, the duty to attempt capture prior to lethal force represents a cardinal rule that is systematically violated by these operations. On…

By Lauren Sudeall Lucas. Full text here. Equal access to resources is fundamental to meaningful legal representation, yet for decades, equality arguments have been ignored in litigating indigent defense reform. At a time when underfunded indigent defense systems across the country are failing to provide indigent defendants with adequate representation, the question of resources is even…