Throwing the Party : How the Supreme Court Puts Political Party Organizations Ahead of Voters

The Supreme Court's understanding of political parties is impoverished, Batchis argues. The result is a distortion of the two-party system, and an inconsistent and contradictory constitutional law. From primaries to campaign finance, gerrymandering to ballot access, Batchis analyzes and offers a proposed solution to this problematic jurisprudence.

The Supreme Court''s jurisprudence on political parties is rooted in an incomplete story. Parties are, like voluntary clubs, associations of individuals that are represented by a singular organization. However, as political science has long understood, they are much more than this. Parties are also the voters who choose and support their candidates, the elected officials who govern, the activists and volunteers who contribute their time and energy, and the individual and organizational donors who open their wallets. Unfortunately, the Court''s framework for understanding America''s two-party system has largely ignored this broader conception of political parties. The result has been a distortion of the true nature of the two-party system, and a body of deeply inconsistent and contradictory constitutional case law. From primaries to campaign finance, partisan gerrymandering to ballot access, law and politics scholar Wayne Batchis interrogates, scrutinizes, and offers a proposed solution to this problematic jurisprudence.