Citation
Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Elections and Alignment, 114 Colum. L. Rev. 283 (2014).
Abstract
This Article introduces a new structural theory — the alignment approach — with the potential to reframe and unify election law. The crux of the approach is that voters’ preferences ought to be congruent with those of their elected representatives, both as to party and as to policy, and at the levels of both the individual district and the jurisdiction as a whole. Employing new data on legislators’ and constituents’ political views, the Article documents the frequency and causes of electoral misalignment in American politics. It then explores the implications of the alignment approach for the major subfields of election law: partisan gerrymandering, minority representation, campaign finance, and voting rights, arguing that alignment provides a unified normative foundation that existing approaches lack.