NedFoley.bsky.social

When will we recognize the necessity of electoral reform to protect against tyranny? #ELB In light of the second horrendous killing in by ICE in Minnesota, I will reiterate what I wrote after the first (in a reflection on the first year of Trump 2.0): if the United States conducted electio...

When will we recognize the necessity of electoral reform to protect against tyranny? electionlawblog.org?p=153958

When will we recognize the necessity of electoral reform to protect against tyranny? #ELB In light of the second horrendous killing in by ICE in Minnesota, I will reiterate what I wrote after the first (in a reflection on the first year of Trump 2.0): if the United States conducted electio...

When will we recognize the necessity of electoral reform to protect against tyranny? electionlawblog.org?p=153958

Condorcet Voting and the Cornyn-Paxton Race The upcoming U.S. Senate election in Texas perfectly illustrates the importance of this voting reform.

Condorcet Voting and the Cornyn-Paxton Race edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/condorcet-...

A cleaner, edited version of this paper is now available on SSRN; in reading it over, I think it's one of my more significant contributions, especially suited to this most difficult moment for American democracy: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Bracket Voting Elections Should Be Structured Like Familiar Sports Tournaments

Just in time for March Madness: Bracket Voting open.substack.com/pub/edwardbf...

The Senate Has Surrendered Its Constitutional Responsibilities If Senators were elected using Condorcet-based voting methods, they would be able to perform their constitutional duty to thwart presidential despotism.

The Senate Has Surrendered Its Constitutional Responsibilities. But there is an electoral reform remedy that will restore the Senate to its appropriate role in checking presidential despotism: open.substack.com/pub/edwardbf...

Opinion | The Law Is Not Fully Trump’s Yet The legal system is not so easily dismissed.

Everyone concerned about the rule of law in the US right now should read this by @debpearlstein.bsky.social: The Law Is Not Fully Trump’s Yet www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/o...

Keep Condorcet in Consideration as an Electoral Reform Option It’s wrong to argue that Condorcet Voting should be rejected entirely and everywhere.

Keep Condorcet in Consideration as an Electoral Reform Option: It’s wrong to argue that Condorcet Voting should be rejected entirely and everywhere.

edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/keep-condo...

Edward B. Foley on Substack More evidence that nation’s Madisonian system, with its separation of powers, is in trouble: Rachel Bade’s new Corridors column for POLITICO, in which she quotes a “Trump insider” referring to Republi...

More evidence that nation’s Madisonian system, with its separation of powers, is in trouble: substack.com/@nedfoley/no...

Don’t Treat Trump as a Condorcet Winner Post-inauguration, there continue to be misunderstandings of the election.

Don’t Treat Trump as a Condorcet Winner. Post-inauguration, there continue to be misunderstandings of the election. edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/dont-treat...

Some thoughts on the current condition of Madisonian democracy that some might find useful as part of an effort to understand how the country arrived to where it is today: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... (long version) & edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/the-real-p... (short version)

Should We Be Saying “President Haley”? #ELB Democracy: A Journal of Ideas published this piece that I wrote on the failure of the electoral system to produce an outcome corresponding to “the real preference of the Voters” (Madison’s term for wh...

Did America's electorate vote for taking back the Panama Canal? To understand why our two-party electoral system leads to misinterpreting the extent of the mandate from a popular vote victory, here's an explanation: electionlawblog.org?p=148245

Should We Be Saying “President Haley”? It’s very likely that the former South Carolina governor was more popular than Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. But our system won’t recognize it.

"Should We Be Saying 'President Haley'?" The correct way to understand Trump’s popular vote victory is to understand that it represents a mandate to the extent, but only to the extent, that Nikki Haley would be pursuing the same agenda. This piece explains why: open.substack.com/pub/edwardbf...

Should We Be Saying “President Haley”? #ELB Democracy: A Journal of Ideas published this piece that I wrote on the failure of the electoral system to produce an outcome corresponding to “the real preference of the Voters” (Madison’s term for wh...

Should We Be Saying “President Haley”? electionlawblog.org?p=148245

Should We Be Saying "President Haley"? It’s very likely that the former South Carolina governor was more popular than Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. But our system won’t recognize it.

democracyjournal.org/arguments/sh... If our electoral system worked, we’d be inaugurating President Haley.

“The Real Preference of the Voters” James Madison wrote a letter in 1823, the significance of which for electoral reform has been previously overlooked.

“The Real Preference of the Voters”: in this essay I discuss Madison's letter that's essential to understand if we are to repair our currently broken Madisonian democracy. Discovering the significance of this letter has been gratifying scholarly work. open.substack.com/pub/edwardbf...

"The Real Preference of the Voters": Madison’s Idea of a Top-Three Election and The Present Necessity of Reform #ELB I have posted this new paper on SSRN. It will be published in the Wisconsin Law Review as part of a symposium held last September. The paper focuses on an 1823 letter written by James Madison, the sig...

I've posted "'The Real Preference of the Voters': Madison's Idea of a Top-Three Election and The Present Necessity of Reform" (forthcoming Wisc L Rev), discussing a letter written by Madison the significance of which has not been previously appreciated. electionlawblog.org?p=148176

Is PR the panacea? #ELB The New York Times has a big piece posted this morning by Jesse Wegman and Lee Drutman advocating for using proportional representation (PR) to elect members of the federal House of Representatives (a...

Is PR the panacea? electionlawblog.org?p=148151

I've really enjoyed my year so far as a Crane Fellow in Law & Public Policy at Princeton. Can't believe the first semester is over already. I encourage others to apply for this fellowship for lots of reasons (too many to list; Princeton is great). Deadline 1/1: plaw.law.princeton.edu/opportunitie...

Really looking forward to this event tomorrow, and the book it discusses, which has been 3+ years in the making (it's possible to participate both online and in person): www.aei.org/events/elect...

Just received the advance copy of the book that we will be discussing on Tuesday; details here: www.aei.org/events/elect...

Book event in DC & online: “Electoral Reform in the United States: Proposals for Combating Polarization and Extremism” electionlawblog.org?p=147499

Trump’s Nominees Confirm the Need for Electoral Reform If you don’t immediately see the connection, here’s why.

A new Common Ground Democracy essay: Trump's Nominees Confirm the Need for Electoral Reform. open.substack.com/pub/edwardbf...

Results of Alaska ballot measure BM#2, showing Yes 159,955 (49.90%), No 160,619 (50.10%).

Boom. I think this is final from #Alaska. #RankedChoiceVoting survives by 664 votes. Still unofficial, but now a big enough margin that it seems likely to survive. #RCV
www.elections.alaska.gov/results/24GE...

Everyone interested in improving democracy in the US should spread the word about this important electoral reform effort underway in Arizona: edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/arizonas-e...

A Top-3 Presidential Election System This way of voting would enable Americans to elect a third-party or independent candidate whom a majority prefer to either of the two major-party nominees.

Happy President's Day! Just in time for the holiday, I've written a new Common Ground Democracy essay applying the idea of a Top-3 electoral system (developed initially with Eric Maskin in the context of congressional elections) to presidential elections:

edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/a-top-3-pr...

A “Top Three” Version of California’s “Top Two” Elections To combat polarization and increase the capacity of Congress to enact legislation addressing the nation’s needs, here’s a proposal worth considering.

Here's a cure for the dysfunctional Congress, which is incapable of legislating on behalf of the public because the voting system used to elect its members produces hyper-polarization rather than accurate representation of the electorate's preferences: edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/a-top-thre...

How to Depolarize American Politics | by Edward B. Foley & Eric S. Maskin - Project Syndicate Edward B. Foley & Eric S. Maskin propose a system in which voters can express a preference between three candidates.

Eric Maskin & I have co-authored a Project Syndicate column that describes a “top 3” variation of California’s “top 2” electoral system. It would enable effective electoral competition by a new third party to counteract the blue-red polarization hurting USA: www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/t...

Collapse of Border Bill Proves Need for Electoral Reform The debacle is confirmation that the primary (meaning "main") problem is the primary (meaning "partisan preliminary election") problem.

Collapse of Border Bill Proves Need for Electoral Reform: edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/collapse-o...

@jbouie.bsky.social's column on 3rd-party candidates is correct that they are futile under current 2-party system. But it's incorrect to imply that this can be changed only by constitutional amendment. A compact of states with 270 electoral votes would work: edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/presidenti...