I hope that we're all hearing the alarm bells sound of threats to democracy. Texas' voter suppression Bill SB 7 is evident of one such threat. I am so proud of Texas democrats who killed the bill last Sunday night, by denying a quorum for the vote by walking out. The bill would have disproportionately impacted voters of color, for example, by limiting early voting hours, criminalizing mail-in ballot applications, and eliminating both drive-through and 24-hour voting.
Check out this discussion on NPR on how what we do here in our country is impacting countries world-wide. There, you can listen to Ari Shapiro who interviews former White House aide during the Obama administration, Ben Rhodes, whose memoir, After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made, just got published. Rhodes urges us to continue to fight for what our country is supposed to be, namely, a model of democracy for the world.
Also read the statement below made by a hundred scholars, mostly political scientists, who note the rhetorical smokescreen of "electoral integrity" to prop up false claims of fraud.
Gov. Abbott will surely bring SB 7 up in special session of the legislature. This anti-democratic bill must never become law.
-Angela Valenzuela
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Statement of Concern
The Threats to American Democracy and the Need for National Voting and Election Administration Standards
STATEMENT
June 1, 2021
We, the undersigned, are scholars of democracy who have watched the recent deterioration of U.S. elections and liberal democracy with growing alarm. Specifically, we have watched with deep concern as Republican-led state legislatures across the country have in recent months proposed or implemented what we consider radical changes to core electoral procedures in response to unproven and intentionally destructive allegations of a stolen election. Collectively, these initiatives are transforming several states into political systems that no longer meet the minimum conditions for free and fair elections. Hence, our entire democracy is now at risk.
When democracy breaks down, it typically takes many years, often decades, to reverse the downward spiral. In the process, violence and corruption typically flourish, and talent and wealth flee to more stable countries, undermining national prosperity. It is not just our venerated institutions and norms that are at risk—it is our future national standing, strength, and ability to compete globally.
Statutory changes in large key electoral battleground states are dangerously politicizing the process of electoral administration, with Republican-controlled legislatures giving themselves the power to override electoral outcomes on unproven allegations should Democrats win more votes. They are seeking to restrict access to the ballot, the most basic principle underlying the right of all adult American citizens to participate in our democracy. They are also putting in place criminal sentences and fines meant to intimidate and scare away poll workers and nonpartisan administrators. State legislatures have advanced initiatives that curtail voting methods now preferred by Democratic-leaning constituencies, such as early voting and mail voting. Republican lawmakers have openly talked about ensuring the “purity” and “quality” of the vote, echoing arguments widely used across the Jim Crow South as reasons for restricting the Black vote.
State legislators supporting these changes have cited the urgency of “electoral integrity” and the need to ensure that elections are secure and free of fraud. But by multiple expert judgments, the 2020 election was extremely secure and free of fraud. The reason that Republican voters have concerns is because many Republican officials, led by former President Donald Trump, have manufactured false claims of fraud, claims that have been repeatedly rejected by courts of law, and which Trump’s own lawyers have acknowledged were mere speculation when they testified about them before judges.
In future elections, these laws politicizing the administration and certification of elections could enable some state legislatures or partisan election officials to do what they failed to do in 2020: reverse the outcome of a free and fair election. Further, these laws could entrench extended minority rule, violating the basic and longstanding democratic principle that parties that get the most votes should win elections.
Democracy rests on certain elemental institutional and normative conditions. Elections must be neutrally and fairly administered. They must be free of manipulation. Every citizen who is qualified must have an equal right to vote, unhindered by obstruction. And when they lose elections, political parties and their candidates and supporters must be willing to accept defeat and acknowledge the legitimacy of the outcome. The refusal of prominent Republicans to accept the outcome of the 2020 election, and the anti-democratic laws adopted (or approaching adoption) in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Montana and Texas—and under serious consideration in other Republican-controlled states—violate these principles. More profoundly, these actions call into question whether the United States will remain a democracy. As scholars of democracy, we condemn these actions in the strongest possible terms as a betrayal of our precious democratic heritage.
The most effective remedy for these anti-democratic laws at the state level is federal action to protect equal access of all citizens to the ballot and to guarantee free and fair elections. Just as it ultimately took federal voting rights law to put an end to state-led voter suppression laws throughout the South, so federal law must once again ensure that American citizens’ voting rights do not depend on which party or faction happens to be dominant in their state legislature, and that votes are cast and counted equally, regardless of the state or jurisdiction in which a citizen happens to live. This is widely recognized as a fundamental principle of electoral integrity in democracies around the world.
A new voting rights law (such as that proposed in the John Lewis Voting Rights Act) is essential but alone is not enough. True electoral integrity demands a comprehensive set of national standards that ensure the sanctity and independence of election administration, guarantee that all voters can freely exercise their right to vote, prevent partisan gerrymandering from giving dominant parties in the states an unfair advantage in the process of drawing congressional districts, and regulate ethics and money in politics.
It is always far better for major democracy reforms to be bipartisan, to give change the broadest possible legitimacy. However, in the current hyper-polarized political context such broad bipartisan support is sadly lacking. Elected Republican leaders have had numerous opportunities to repudiate Trump and his “Stop the Steal” crusade, which led to the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Each time, they have sidestepped the truth and enabled the lie to spread.
We urge members of Congress to do whatever is necessary—including suspending the filibuster—in order to pass national voting and election administration standards that both guarantee the vote to all Americans equally, and prevent state legislatures from manipulating the rules in order to manufacture the result they want. Our democracy is fundamentally at stake. History will judge what we do at this moment.
Signatures are still being added. This list was last updated on 6/1/21 at 5:45 p.m. ET.
John Aldrich
Professor of Political Science
Duke University
Deborah Avant
Professor of International Studies
University of Denver
Larry M. Bartels
Professor of Political Science
Vanderbilt University
Frank R. Baumgartner
Professor of Political Science
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Sheri Berman
Professor of Political Science
Barnard College, Columbia University
Benjamin Bishin
Professor of Political Science
University of California, Riverside
Robert Blair
Assistant Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs
Brown University
Henry E. Brady
Dean, Goldman School of Public Policy
University of California, Berkeley
Rogers Brubaker
Professor of Sociology
University of California, Los Angeles
John M. Carey
Professor of Government
Dartmouth College
Michael Coppedge
Professor of Political Science
University of Notre Dame
Katherine Cramer
Professor of Political Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Larry Diamond
Senior Fellow
Hoover Institution and Freeman Spogli Institute
Stanford University
Lee Drutman
Senior Fellow
New America
Rachel Epstein
Professor of International Studies
University of Denver
David Faris
Associate Professor of Political Science
Roosevelt University
Henry Farrell
Professor of International Affairs
Johns Hopkins University
Christina Fattore
Associate Professor of Political Science
West Virginia University
Christopher M. Federico
Professor of Political Science and Psychology
University of Minnesota
Morris P. Fiorina
Professor of Political Science and Senior Fellow
Hoover Institution
Stanford University
Joel L. Fleishman
Professor of Law and Public Policy Studies
Duke University
Luis Fraga
Professor of Political Science
University of Notre Dame
William W. Franko
Associate Professor of Political Science
West Virginia University
Francis Fukuyama
Senior Fellow
Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Stanford University
Daniel J. Galvin
Associate Professor of Political Science
Northwestern University
Laura Gamboa
Assistant Professor of Political Science
University of Utah
Anthony “Jack” Gierzynski
Professor and Chair of Political Science
University of Vermont
Martin Gilens
Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, and Social Welfare
University of California, Los Angeles
Kristin Goss
Professor of Public Policy and Political Science
Duke University
Jessica Gottlieb
Associate Professor of Government & Public Service
Texas A&M University
Virginia Gray
Professor of Political Science Emeritus
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Jacob M. Grumbach
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
University of Washington
Anna Grzymala-Busse
Professor of International Studies
Stanford University
Jacob Hacker
Professor of Political Science
Yale University
Hahrie Han
Professor of Political Science
Johns Hopkins University
Thomas J. Hayes
Associate Professor of Political Science
University of Connecticut
Gretchen Helmke
Professor of Political Science
University of Rochester
Jeffrey Herf
Professor of History
University of Maryland, College Park
Jennifer Hochschild
Professor of Government
Harvard University
Amanda Hollis-Brusky
Associate Professor of Politics
Pomona College
Daniel Hopkins
Professor of Political Science
University of Pennsylvania
Matthew B. Incantalupo
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Yeshiva University
Matt Jacobsmeier
Associate Professor of Political Science
West Virginia University
Gary C. Jacobson
Professor Emeritus of Political Science
University of California, San Diego
Hakeem Jefferson
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Stanford University
Bruce W. Jentleson
Professor of Public Policy and Political Science
Duke University
Theodore R. Johnson
Senior Fellow & Director, Fellows Program
Brennan Center for Justice
Richard Joseph
Professor Emeritus of Political Science
Northwestern University
Alex Keena
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Virginia Commonwealth University
Nathan J. Kelly
Professor of Political Science
University of Tennessee
Helen M. Kinsella
Associate Professor of Political Science & Law
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Eric Kramon
Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs
George Washington University
Ron Krebs
Professor of Political Science
University of Minnesota
Katherine Krimmel
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Barnard College, Columbia University
Didi Kuo
Senior Research Scholar, Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law
Stanford University
Matt Lacombe
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Barnard College, Columbia University
Timothy LaPira
Professor of Political Science
James Madison University
Michael Latner
Senior Fellow
Union of Concerned Scientists’ Center for Science and Democracy
Anna O. Law
Associate Professor of Political Science
CUNY Brooklyn College
Yphtach Lelkes
Assistant Professor, Annenberg School for Communication
University of Pennsylvania
Margaret Levi
Professor of Political Science
Stanford University
Steve Levitsky
Professor of Government
Harvard University
Robert Lieberman
Professor of Political Science
Johns Hopkins University
Scott Mainwaring
Professor of Political Science
University of Notre Dame
Thomas E. Mann
Senior Fellow, Governance Studies
Brookings Institution
Jane Mansbridge
Professor Emerita of Political Leadership and Democratic Values
Harvard University
Seth Masket
Professor of Political Science
University of Denver
Lilliana H. Mason
Associate Research Professor, Department of Political Science
Johns Hopkins University
Corrine M. McConnaughy
Research Scholar and Lecturer, Department of Politics
Princeton University
Jennifer McCoy
Professor of Political Science
Georgia State University
Suzanne Mettler
Professor of American Institutions, Department of Government
Cornell University
Robert Mickey
Associate Professor of Political Science
University of Michigan
Michael Minta
Associate Professor of Political Science
University of Minnesota
Terry Moe
Professor of Political Science
Stanford University
Jana Morgan
Professor of Political Science
University of Tennessee
Mason Moseley
Associate Professor of Political Science
West Virginia University
Russell Muirhead
Professor of Democracy
Dartmouth College
Diana Mutz
Professor of Political Science and Communication
University of Pennsylvania
Pippa Norris
Professor of Political Science
Harvard University
Anne Norton
Professor of Political Science
University of Pennsylvania
Brendan Nyhan
Professor of Government
Dartmouth College
Angela X. Ocampo
Assistant Professor of Political Science
University of Michigan
Norm Ornstein
Emeritus Scholar
American Enterprise Institute
Benjamin I. Page
Professor of Decision Making
Northwestern University
Josh Pasek
Associate Professor of Communication & Media and Political Science
University of Michigan
Tom Pepinsky
Professor, Department of Government
Cornell University
Anibal Perez-Linan
Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs
University of Notre Dame
Dirk Philipsen
Associate Research Professor of Economic History
Duke University
Paul Pierson
Professor of Political Science
University of California, Berkeley
Ethan Porter
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
George Washington University
Robert D. Putnam
Professor of Public Policy
Harvard University
Kenneth Roberts
Professor of Government
Cornell University
Amanda Lea Robinson
Associate Professor of Political Science
Ohio State University
Deondra Rose
Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, and History
Duke University
Nancy L. Rosenblum
Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government Emerita
Harvard University
Larry J. Sabato
University Professor of Politics
University of Virginia
Sara Sadhwani
Assistant Professor of Politics
Pomona College
David Schanzer
Professor of the Practice of Public Policy
Duke University
Kim L. Scheppele
Professor of Sociology and International Affairs
Princeton University
Daniel Schlozman
Associate Professor of Political Science
Johns Hopkins University
Kay L. Schlozman
Professor of Political Science
Boston College
Cathy Lisa Schneider
Professor, School of International Service
American University
Shauna Lani Shames
Associate Professor in Political Science
Rutgers University, Camden
Gisela Sin
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
University of Illinois
Dan Slater
Professor of Political Science
University of Michigan
Anne-Marie Slaughter
Professor Emerita of Politics and International Relations
Princeton University
Charles Anthony Smith
Professor of Political Science and Law
University of California, Irvine
Rogers M. Smith
Professor of Political Science
University of Pennsylvania
Leonard Steinhorn
Professor of Communication
American University
Susan Stokes
Professor of Political Science
University of Chicago
Robert Pepperman Taylor
Professor of Political Science
University of Vermont
Alexander George Theodoridis
Associate Professor of Political Science
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Chloe Thurston
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Northwestern University
Antonio Ugues Jr.
Associate Professor of Political Science
St. Mary's College of Maryland
Michael W. Wagner
Professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Omar Wasow
Assistant Professor, Department of Politics
Princeton University
Christopher Witko
Professor of Public Policy and Political Science
Pennsylvania State University
Christina Wolbrecht
Professor of Political Science
University of Notre Dame
Daniel Ziblatt
Professor of Government
Harvard University
*Institutions and titles are listed for identification purposes only.
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