Richard J. Ellis & Michael Nelson 
Debating Reform [EPUB ebook] 
Conflicting Perspectives on How to Fix the American Political System

Getting students away from spouting opinions about highly-charged partisan issues,
Debating Reform, Fourth Edition looks at key questions about reforming political institutions, with contributed pieces written by top scholars specifically for the volume. Each pro or con essay considers a concrete proposal for reforming the political system. By focusing on institutions, rather than liberal or conservative public policies, students tend to leave behind ideology and grapple with claims and evidence to draw their own conclusions and build their own arguments. Students will explore how institutions work in their American government text, but this reader helps them to understand how they can be made to work better.

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Preface

1. Resolved, Article V should be revised to make it easier to amend the Constitution and to call a constitutional convention

Pro: – Sanford Levinson

Con: – David E. Kyvig

2. Resolved, Impeachment Should Be Normalized

Pro: – Gene Healy

Con: – Keith E. Whittington

3. Resolved, Marijuana Policy Should Be Set by the States, not the Federal Government

Pro: – Sam Kamin

Con: – Robert A. Mikos

4. Resolved, States Should Enact Voter ID Laws and Reduce Early Voting

Pro: – Michael Nelson

Con: – Keith Gunnar Bentele and Erin O’Brien

5. Resolved, Congress Should Bring Back the Fairness Doctrine

Pro: – Marjorie Randon Hershey

Con: – James Gattuso

6. Resolved, The United States Should Adopt a National Initiative and Referendum

Pro: – Todd Donovan

Con: – Richard J. Ellis

7. Resolved, the United States should adopt compulsory voting

Pro: – Martin P. Wattenberg

Con: – Jason Brennan

8. Resolved, Congress should remove the caps on the amount that individuals can contribute to candidates for federal office

Pro: – John Samples

Con: – Richard Briffault

9. Resolved, States Should Require Open Primaries

Pro: – Jason Altmire

Con: – Nicholas R. Seabrook

10. Resolved, Congress Should Bring Back Earmarks

Pro: – Scott A. Frisch and Sean Q. Kelly

Con: – Jeffrey Lazarus

11. Resolved, proportional representation should be adopted for U.S. House Elections

Pro: – Douglas J. Amy

Con: – Brendan J. Doherty

12. Resolved, the redistricting process should be nonpartisan

Pro: – Ruth Greenwood

Con: – Justin Buchler

13. Resolved, The Senate Should Represent People, Not States

Pro: – Bruce I. Oppenheimer

Con: – John J. Pitney Jr.

14. Resolved, Senate Rule XXII Should Be Amended so That Legislative Filibusters Can Be Ended by a Majority Vote

Pro: – Steven S. Smith

Con: – Wendy J. Schiller

15. Resolved, The Electoral College Should Be Abolished

Pro: – George C. Edwards III

Con: – Gary L. Gregg II

16. Resolved, The Twenty-Second Amendment Should Be Repealed

Pro: – David A. Crockett

Con: – Michael J. Korzi

17. Resolved, The President Should Be Able to Fire Anyone in the Executive Branch

Pro: – Philip K. Howard

Con: – Marissa Martino Golden

18. Resolved, The Terms of Supreme Court Justices Should Be Limited to Eighteen Years

Pro: – David Karol

Con: – Ward Farnsworth

19. Resolved, Americans Should Receive Four More Years of Free Public Education

Pro: – Robert Samuels

Con: – Neal Mc Cluskey

20. Resolved, National Security Would Be Strengthened by Requiring the Government to Keep Fewer Secrets and Become More Transparent

Pro: – Michael Colaresi

Con: – Stephen F. Knott

Contributors

Chapter 1: Pro: Resolved, Article V should be revised to make it easier to amend the Constitution and to call a constitutional convention – Sanford Levinson

Chapter 1: Con: Resolved, Article V should be revised to make it easier to amend the Constitution and to call a constitutional convention – David Kyvig

Chapter 2: Pro: Resolved, impeachment should be normalized – Gene Healy

Chapter 2: Con: Resolved, impeachment should be normalized – Keith Whittington

Chpater 3: Pro: Resolved, marijuana policy should be set by the states, not the federal government – Sam Kamin

Chapter 3: Con: Resolved, marijuana policy should be set by the states, not the federal government – Robert Mikos

Chapter 4: Pro: Resolved, states should enact voter id laws and reduce early voting – Michael Nelson

Chapter 4: Con: Resolved, states should enact voter id laws and reduce early voting – Keith Bentele, Erin O′Brien

Chapter 5: Pro: Resolved, Congress should enact a new fairness doctrine for the 21st century – Marjorie Hershey

Chapter 5: Con Resolved, Congress should enact a new fairness doctrine for the 21st century – James Gattuso

Chapter 6: Pro: Resolved, the United States should adopt a national initiative and referendum – Todd Donovan

Chapter 6: Con: Resolved, the United States should adopt a national initiative and referendum – Richard Ellis

Chapter 7: Pro: Resolved, the United States should adopt compulsory voting – Martin Wattenberg

Chapter 7: Con: Resolved, the United States should adopt compulsory voting – Jason Brennan

Chapter 8: Pro: Resolved, Congress should remove the caps on the amount that individuals can contribute to candidates for federal office – John Samples

Chpater 8: Con: Resolved, Congress should remove the caps on the amount that individuals can contribute to candidates for federal office – Richard Briffault

Chapter 9: Pro: Resolved, states should require open primaries – Jason Altmire

Chapter 9: Con: Resolved, states should require open primaries – Nicholas Seabrook

Chapter 10: Pro: Resolved, Congress should bring back earmarks – Scott Frisch, Sean Kelly

Chapter 10: Con: Resolved, Congress should bring back earmarks – Jeffrey Lazarus

Chapter 11: Pro: Resolved, proportional representation should be adopted for U.S. House elections – Douglas Amy

Chapter 11: Con: Resolved, proportional representation should be adopted for U.S. House elections – Brendan Doherty

Chapter 12: Pro: Resolved, the redistricting process should be nonpartisan – Ruth Greenwood

Chapter 13: Pro: Resolved, the Senate should represent people not states – Bruce Oppenheimer

Chapter 13: Con: Resolved, the Senate should represent people not states – John Pitney

Chapter 14: Pro: Resolved, Senate Rule XXII should be amended so that filibusters can be ended by a majority vote – Steven Smith

Chapter 14: Con: Resolved, Senate Rule XXII should be amended so that filibusters can be ended by a majority vote – Wendy Schiller

Chapter 15: Pro: Resolved, the electoral college should be abolished – George Edwards

Chapter 15: Con: Resolved, the electoral college should be abolished – Gary Gregg

Chapter 16: Pro: Resolved, the 22nd Amendment should be repealed – David Crockett

Chpater 16: Con: Resolved, the 22nd Amendment should be repealed – Mike Korzi

Chapter 17: Con: Resolved, the president should be able to fire anyone in the executive branch. – Marissa Golden

Chapter 18: Pro: Resolved, the terms of Supreme Court justices should be limited to 18 years – David Karol

Chapter 18: Con: Resolved, the terms of Supreme Court justices should be limited to 18 years – Ward Farnsworth

Chapter 19: Pro: Resolved, Americans should receive four more years of free public education – Robert Samuels

Chapter 19: Con: Resolved, Americans should receive four more years of free public education – Neal Mc Cluskey

Chapter 20: Pro: Resolved, national security would be strengthened by requiring the government to keep fewer secrets and to become more transparent – Michael Colaresi

Chapter 20: Con: Resolved, national security would be strengthened by requiring the government to keep fewer secrets and to become more transparent – Stephen Knott

Chapter 12: Con: Resolved, the redistricting process should be nonpartisan – Justin Buchler

Chapter 17: Pro: Resolved, the president should be able to fire anyone in the executive branch. – Philip Howard

Chapter 1: Resolved, Article V should be revised to make it easier to amend the Constitution and to call a constitutional convention – Sanford Levinson, David Kyvig

Chapter 2: Resolved, impeachment should be normalized – Gene Healy, Keith Whittington

Chapter 3: Resolved, marijuana policy should be set by the states, not the federal government – Sam Kamin, Robert Mikos

Chapter 4: Resolved, states should enact voter id laws and reduce early voting – Michael Nelson, Keith Bentele, Erin O′Brien

Chapter 5: Resolved, Congress should enact a new fairness doctrine for the 21st century – Marjorie Hershey

Chapter 6: Resolved, the United States should adopt a national initiative and referendum – Todd Donovan, Richard Ellis

Chapter 7: Resolved, the United States should adopt compulsory voting – Martin Wattenberg, Jason Brennan

Chapter 8: Resolved, Congress should remove the caps on the amount that individuals can contribute to candidates for federal office – John Samples, Richard Briffault

Chapter 9: Resolved, states should require open primaries – Jason Altmire, Nicholas Seabrook

Chapter 10: Resolved, Congress should bring back earmarks – Scott Frisch, Sean Kelly, Jeffrey Lazarus

Chapter 11: Resolved, proportional representation should be adopted for U.S. House elections – Douglas Amy, Brendan Doherty

Chapter 12: Resolved, the redistricting process should be nonpartisan – Ruth Greenwood, Justin Buchler

Chapter 13: Resolved, the Senate should represent people not states – Bruce Oppenheimer, John Pitney

Chapter 14: Resolved, Senate Rule XXII should be amended so that filibusters can be ended by a majority vote – Steven Smith, Wendy Schiller

Chapter 15: Resolved, the electoral college should be abolished – George Edwards, Gary Gregg

Chapter 16: Resolved, the 22nd Amendment should be repealed – David Crockett, Mike Korzi

Chapter 17: Resolved, the president should be able to fire anyone in the executive branch. – Philip Howard, Marissa Golden

Chapter 18: Resolved, the terms of Supreme Court justices should be limited to 18 years – David Karol, Ward Farnsworth

Chapter 19: Resolved, Americans should receive four more years of free public education – Robert Samuels, Neal Mc Cluskey

Chapter 20: Resolved, national security would be strengthened by requiring the government to keep fewer secrets and to become more transparent – Michael Colaresi, Stephen Knott

Mengenai Pengarang

Michael Nelson is Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College and a senior fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. A former editor of the Washington Monthly, his most recent books include Trump’s First Year (2018); The Elections of 2016 (2018); The Evolving Presidency: Landmark Documents (2019); The American Presidency: Origins and Development (with Sidney M. Milkis, 2011); and Governing at Home: The White House and Domestic Policymaking (with Russell B. Riley, 2011). Nelson has contributed to numerous journals, including the Journal of Policy History, Journal of Politics, and Political Science Quarterly. He also has written multiple articles on subjects as varied as baseball, Frank Sinatra, and C. S. Lewis. More than fifty of his articles have been anthologized in works of political science, history, and English composition.  His 2014 book, Resilient America: Electing Nixon, Channeling Dissent, and Dividing Government, won the American Political Science Association’s Richard E. Neustadt Award for best book on the presidency published that year; and his 2006 book with John Lyman Mason, How the South Joined the Gambling Nation, won the Southern Political Science Association’s V.O. Key Award.