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8 Election L.J. 1 (2009)

handle is hein.journals/enlwjr8 and id is 1 raw text is: ELECTION LAW JOURNAL Volume 8, Number 1, 2009 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089/elj.2009.8101 Editorial The Party Line Daniel H. Lowenstein and Richard L. Hasen IT IS NOT SURPRISING that a significant percent- lage of the papers in the Election Law Journal fall within certain staple categories, such as campaign finance, redistricting and voting rights, and election administration. Other sub- jects, such as ballot initiatives and term limits, get occasional attention. Certain timely subjects also get considerable coverage. For example, ELJ has been a major forum for discussion of the National Popular Vote Plan, whose adher- ents wish to transform radically the nature of the electoral college. Indeed, we have almost cornered the market on serious debate of the question whether the Plan requires congres- sional approval as an interstate compact. We also try to assure that ELJ contains a healthy amount of international coverage. Finally, a less frequent but important category consists of articles on subjects that many election law prac- titioners know little about but that are signifi- cant and raise challenging issues. Two papers published in our Volume 3, one by Evan Ger- stmann and Matthew Streb on push polling and another by John Fortier and Norman Orn- stein on the way our system might respond to a major terrorist attack on a presidential elec- tion, are examples. The first paper in this issue, by Matthew Sanderson, falls into the last category. Sander- son addresses electoral aspects of the vexing and increasingly important subject that has come to be known by its aficionados as cy- bersquatting. Cybersquatting is a collection of methods by which an Internet address likely to be entered by an individual seeking a particu- lar site-a political campaign for example- brings the individual to quite a different place. This may be done for mischief, for profit, or for other purposes, but whatever the motivation, it raises a host of legal and regulatory issues. Sanderson's paper is aptly subtitled as a primer and a proposal. We think most readers will find it both informative and provocative. Our second paper, by Beth Ann Rosenson, falls within one of our staple categories, cam- paign finance. As many of our readers know, since the 1976 decision in Buckley v. Valeo, reduc- tion of corruption or the perception of corrup- tion has been the primary defense of campaign finance restrictions against First Amendment challenges. One result has been heightened in- terest in what influences the perception of cor- ruption. Rosenson examines one piece of this puzzle by analyzing a survey of one group that is unusually knowledgeable regarding the level of corruption in state governments and unusu- ally influential in forming public opinion, namely reporters who cover state government. The survey seeks to determine how three broad reform measures influence reporters' perception of the degree of corruption: limits on campaign contributions and public financing of cam- paigns, legislative professionalization, and the availability of the initiative process. Some of her conclusions may surprise you. The issue also features book reviews by Grant Hayden, John Matsusaka, Robert Mont- joy, and Richard Smolka. 1

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