The Longest Night: Polemics and Perspectives on Election 2000

The American presidential election of 2000 was perhaps the most remarkable, and in many ways the most unsettling, that the country has yet experienced. The millennial election raised fundamental questions not only about American democracy, but also about the nation's constitution and about the legitimate role of American courts, state and federal, and in particular about the United States Supreme Court. The Longest Night presents a lively and informed reaction to the legal aftermath of the election by the most prominent experts on the subject. With a balance of opposing views-including those of some of the most distinguished foreign commentators writing on the subject today-the contributors present an unusual breadth of perspectives in addressing the judicial, institutional, and political questions involved in the disputed election. Their commentaries bring the confusion and frenzy of the event into clear focus and lay the groundwork for an essential public debate that is sure to continue well into the future. The Longest Night contains a thorough chronology of the events in Florida, a detailed account of the institutional structure of American presidential elections, a series of analyses both criticizing and defending the decisions in Bush v. Gore, American perspectives on the Florida struggle and America's electoral system, and a debate on maintaining or reforming the electoral college. The authors include participants in the legal and political battles surrounding the Florida election, foreigners charged with monitoring and supervising elections, and scholars from many disciplines specializing in constitutionalism, democracy, and American election law. Contributors

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction Arthur J. Jacobson and Michel Rosenfeld Cast and Chronology Part 1. In the Heat of the Battle 1. Equal Protection for Votes Henry E. Brady 2. Law and Data: The Butterfly Ballot Episode Henry E. Brady, Michael C. Herron, Walter R. Mebane Jr., Jasjeet Singh Sekhon, Kenneth W. Shotts, and Jonathan Wand Part 2. The Machinery of Democracy in America 3. Disputing Elections Richard H. Pildes Part 3. The Decisions 4. A Badly Flawed Election Ronald Dworkin 5. Exchange between Ronald Dworkin and Charles Fried 6. Bush v. Gore: Three Strikes for the Constitution, the Court, and Democracy, but There Is Always Next Season Michel Rosenfeld 7. The Unbearable Rightness of Bush v. Gore Nelson Lund 8. The Ghostwriters Arthur J. Jacobson 9. Notes for the Unpublished Supplemental Separate Opinions in Bush v. Gore Burt Neuborne Part 4. American Perspectives 10. Anatomy of a Constitutional Coup Bruce Ackerman 11. The Many Faces of Bush v. Gore George P. Fletcher 12. Springtime for Rousseau Richard Brookhiser 13. Machiavelli in Robes? The Court in the Election Frank I. Michelman Part 5. Foreign Perspectives 14. A Flawed yet Resilient System: A View from Jerusalem Shlomo Avineri 15. Constitutional Council Review of Presidential Elections in France and a French Judicial Perspective on Bush v. Gore Noelle Lenoir 16. Seven Reasons Bush v. Gore Would Have Been Unlikely in Germany Dieter Grimm 17. Bush v. Gore: A View from Italy Pasquale Pasquino 18. Democracy in America: A European Perspective on the Millennial Election Mattias Kumm Part 6. Reform? 19. Weighing the Alternatives: Reform or Deform? Judith Best 20. The Electoral College: A Fatally Flawed Institution Lawrence D. Longley 21. The Electoral College: A Modest Contribution Keith E. Whittington 22. Popular Election of the President without a Constitutional Amendment Robert W. Bennett List of Contributors Index

About the Author :
Arthur J. Jacobson is Max Freund Professor of Litigation and Advocacy at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. He is coeditor of Weimar: A Jurisprudence of Crisis (California, 2000) and Justice and the Legal System: A Coursebook (1992). Michel Rosenfeld is Justice Sydney L. Robins Professor of Human Rights at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He is author of Just Interpretations: Law between Ethics and Politics (California, 1998), Affirmative Action and Justice: A Philosophical and Constitutional Inquiry (1991), and coeditor of Habermas on Law and Democracy: Critical Exchanges (California, 1998).

Review :
"The Longest Night provides a comprehensive and insightful look at our country's most fascinating election. The contributions from political insiders are utterly absorbing. Sharply written and edited; an impressive collaboration." - Susan Estrich, author of Sex and Power