political parties

The U.S. Supreme Court, in the McCutcheon v. FEC decision, removed the cap on the number and amount of donations a person can give during political campaigns. Gregory Magarian, JD, election law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, says that this decision will have a major impact on campaigns – a much bigger impact than the earlier Citizens United campaign finance decision. This decision “marks then end of campaign finance regulation as we know it,” says Magarian.

Despite the separation of church and state, religion plays a significant role in political debate. Gregory P. Magarian, JD, free speech and election law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, says that certain forms of religious argument pose a meaningful threat to democracy, but restricting these arguments would be an even larger threat to U.S. political culture.

Fueled by the simplicity of red state-blue state election maps, some pundits have leaped to the conclusion that America is experiencing a landmark shift in traditional political allegiances, with poor, working-class voters leaving the Democratic Party to become “NASCAR Republicans” while wealthier voters join the ranks of an increasingly elite bunch of liberal, limousine-driving “Latte Democrats.” Not so, says the WUSTL co-author of a new study of how income influences state-by-state voting patterns. More …