The Marketplace of Democracy: Electoral Competition & American Politics

by Michael P. McDonald (editor), John Curtis Samples (Editor)

Since 1998, House incumbents have won 98% of reelection races. Electoral competition is low, declining in most state & primary elections. The Marketplace for Democracy combines the resources of the Brookings & Cato Institutes to address this lack of competition. Contributors consider the historical development, legal background & political aspects of a system that is supposed to be responsively accountable yet is becoming stagnantly self-perpetuating. How did we get to this point & what should be done about it? Political scholars also investigate the perceived lack of competition in arenas only previously speculated on, like state legislative contests & congressional primaries. Michael P. McDonald, John Samples & colleagues analyze previous reform efforts such as direct primaries & term limits, & the effects they've had on electoral competition. They also examine current reform efforts in redistricting & campaign finance regulation, as well as 3rd party impacts. Contributors: Stephen Ansolabehere (MIT), Wm D. Berry (FL State U), Bruce Cain (U of CA-Berkeley), Th M. Carsey (FL State U), James G. Gimpel (U of MD), Tim Groseclose (U of CA-LA), John Hanley (U of CA-Berkeley), John Mark Hansen (U of Chicago), Paul S. Herrnson (U of MD), Shigeo Hirano (Columbia U), Gary C. Jacobson (U of CA-SanDiego), Thad Kousser (U of CA-SanDiego), Frances E. Lee (U of MD), John C. Matsusaka (U of Southern CA), Kenneth R. Mayer (U of WI-Madison), Michael P. McDonald (Brookings Inst & George Mason U), Jeffrey Milyo (U of MO-Columbia), Richard G. Niemi (U of Rochester), Natheniel Persily (U of PA Law School), Lynda W. Powell (U of Rochester), David Primo (U of Rochester), John Samples (Cato Inst), James M. Snyder Jr (MIT), Timothy Werner (U of WI-Madison) & Amanda Williams (U of WI-Madison).

329 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2006

About the author

Michael Patrick McDonald
Catholic Univ. of America, BA/PhD
Geo Washington Univ. JD
Roman Catholic
Republican
Son of Paul Leo McDonald & Dolores Josephine Paganucci.
Naval Research Lab 1974-78
Drug Enforcement Adm. 1980-81
NEH General Counsel, 2003-present
NEH Acting Deputy Chair, 2009
Founder/Pres, Center for Indiv Rights
(www.cir-usa.org) where he employed Ann
H. Coulter
Washington Legal Foundation 1981-88
(www.wlf.org/)
Federalist Society (www.fed-soc.org/)
Shimer College Trustee 2009-present
Literary Counsel, The American Interest
(www.the-american-interest.com)
Published by The Wall St Journal, The
American Interest, National Review
Online, Academic Questions, The
Heritage Foundation, The Wilson
Quarterly, Legal Times, The Weekly
Standard, The American Scholar, The
National Interest, The Federalist
Society & the TLS.