Joshua Sellers on Intra-Party Alignment and the American Electorate

Are voters willing to sacrifice alignment for their side to win? Join us for a discussion on Law & Democracy, featuring Joshua Sellers, Professor of Law at the University of Texas. This episode focuses on the recent symposium hosted by the Ohio State Law Journal. We explore Nick Stephanopoulos’ book, “Aligning Election Law,” and examine aligning our democratic institutions with the broader American electorate. Joshua Sellers shares his perspective as a panelist at the symposium, offering reflections on intra-party alignment, collective alignment, and hyper-partisanship. Sellers says, “Intraparty alignment in some circumstances might be able to facilitate collective alignment.” He also notes, “Tribalism and partisanship is necessarily going to be part of the story.”In this episode, we discuss: Nick Stephanopoulos’ “Aligning Election Law”: Understanding the concepts. Intra-Party Alignment vs. Collective Alignment: Is there a connection? The Role of Political Parties: Examining party alignment and the electorate. Hyper-Partisanship and Tribalism: How do these forces influence voter preferences? Competition vs. Alignment: Are these conflicting values? Democratic Legitimacy: What do voter preferences reveal about public support for democracy?Referenced Material: Cox versus Republican Party of Utah: A Tenth Circuit case study on intraparty alignment The role of independent voters in Arizona Guest: Joshua Sellers, Professor of Law, University of Texas Hosts: Steve Huefner, Deputy Director, Election Law Program at OSU Ned Foley, Director of Election Law at OSU Terri Enns, Senior Fellow, Election Law Program at OSU Tony Gaughan, Senior Fellow, Election Law Program at OSU