Saving American Elections: A Diagnosis and Prescription for a He ...

from elections by law, discriminatory practices, or intimidation for well over a century because of their race or gender. Supporters were often rewarded with the material spoils of office, such as government contracts, jobs, and favorable legislation. Electoral discourse has always included issues of character, nasty personal attacks, and other trivia that could distract the electorate from the central meaning of the choice. Party machines also often exercised enough control over the process to guarantee the outcomes they desired, regardless of the preferences of the electorate. But now, in the twenty-first century, with the worst and most obvious of these abuses largely addressed, with technological advances in our ability to communicate, and a populace more highly educated than ever before, one would expect elections to be healthy and to function as democracy’s vital instrument for popular control of government. But they are not and do not. Instead, they are still seriously ill with the same symptoms and ailments. And while there are signs of health that appear every now and then (such as the increased participation in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections), we should not be fooled into believing that their health is improving, for even the most seriously ill patients can have a good day every now and then. Moreover, U.S. elections are sick with health problems which, as the diagnosis offered later in this book makes evident, will not simply heal and go away on their own. The past afflictions of discrimination and corruption did not just go away on their own, after all; they required legal and even constitutional changes that were driven by popular movements. The modern afflictions affecting U.S. elections are no different.

The unhealthy state of elections in the United States is evident to many. And just as it is when a person is sick and there is no shortage of “doctors” with remedies they believe can help, there is no shortage of election “doctors” out there with remedies they believe will restore elections to health (a group in which I include myself). Similar to the plethora of recommended remedies a person receives when they are ill, there are many cures suggested for ailing electoral campaigns. Some of these would include public funding for campaigns, the direct popular vote for the president, the elimination of the Electoral College, term