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NedFoley.bsky.social

@nedfoley.bsky.social
438 followers 78 following 33 posts

Election law professor, proponent of "Common Ground Democracy: edwardbfoley.substack.com. Author of Ballot Ballots: The History of Disputed Elections in the United States (rev. ed. forthcoming 2024); Presidential Elections and Majority Rule (2020).

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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
When will we recognize the necessity of electoral reform to protect against tyranny? electionlawblog.org?p=153958
electionlawblog.org
When will we recognize the necessity of electoral reform to protect against tyranny? #ELB
In light of the second horrendous killing in by ICE in Minnesota, I will reiterate what I wrote after the first (in a reflection on the first year of Trump 2.0): if the United States conducted electio...
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
When will we recognize the necessity of electoral reform to protect against tyranny? electionlawblog.org?p=153958
electionlawblog.org
When will we recognize the necessity of electoral reform to protect against tyranny? #ELB
In light of the second horrendous killing in by ICE in Minnesota, I will reiterate what I wrote after the first (in a reflection on the first year of Trump 2.0): if the United States conducted electio...
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Condorcet Voting and the Cornyn-Paxton Race edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/condorcet-...
edwardbfoley.substack.com
Condorcet Voting and the Cornyn-Paxton Race
The upcoming U.S. Senate election in Texas perfectly illustrates the importance of this voting reform.
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
A cleaner, edited version of this paper is now available on SSRN; in reading it over, I think it's one of my more significant contributions, especially suited to this most difficult moment for American democracy: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
“The Real Preference of Voters”: Madison’s Idea of a Top-Three Election and The Present Necessity of Reform
<p><span><span> </span>Madisonian democracy, as James Madison himself propounded it and as it has subsequently become to be practiced in the United States, has
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
Just in time for March Madness: Bracket Voting open.substack.com/pub/edwardbf...
open.substack.com
Bracket Voting
Elections Should Be Structured Like Familiar Sports Tournaments
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
The Senate Has Surrendered Its Constitutional Responsibilities. But there is an electoral reform remedy that will restore the Senate to its appropriate role in checking presidential despotism: open.substack.com/pub/edwardbf...
open.substack.com
The Senate Has Surrendered Its Constitutional Responsibilities
If Senators were elected using Condorcet-based voting methods, they would be able to perform their constitutional duty to thwart presidential despotism.
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Everyone concerned about the rule of law in the US right now should read this by @debpearlstein.bsky.social: The Law Is Not Fully Trump’s Yet www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Law Is Not Fully Trump’s Yet
The legal system is not so easily dismissed.
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
Keep Condorcet in Consideration as an Electoral Reform Option: It’s wrong to argue that Condorcet Voting should be rejected entirely and everywhere. edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/keep-condo...
edwardbfoley.substack.com
Keep Condorcet in Consideration as an Electoral Reform Option
It’s wrong to argue that Condorcet Voting should be rejected entirely and everywhere.
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
More evidence that nation’s Madisonian system, with its separation of powers, is in trouble: substack.com/@nedfoley/no...
substack.com
Edward B. Foley on Substack
More evidence that nation’s Madisonian system, with its separation of powers, is in trouble: Rachel Bade’s new Corridors column for POLITICO, in which she quotes a “Trump insider” referring to Republi...
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Don’t Treat Trump as a Condorcet Winner. Post-inauguration, there continue to be misunderstandings of the election. edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/dont-treat...
edwardbfoley.substack.com
Don’t Treat Trump as a Condorcet Winner
Post-inauguration, there continue to be misunderstandings of the election.
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Some thoughts on the current condition of Madisonian democracy that some might find useful as part of an effort to understand how the country arrived to where it is today: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... (long version) & edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/the-real-p... (short version)
papers.ssrn.com
“The Real Preference of Voters”: Madison’s Idea of a Top-Three Election and The Present Necessity of Reform
Madisonian democracy, as James Madison himself propounded it and as it has subsequently become to be practiced in the United States, has been viewed as differen
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Did America's electorate vote for taking back the Panama Canal? To understand why our two-party electoral system leads to misinterpreting the extent of the mandate from a popular vote victory, here's an explanation: electionlawblog.org?p=148245
electionlawblog.org
Should We Be Saying “President Haley”? #ELB
Democracy: A Journal of Ideas published this piece that I wrote on the failure of the electoral system to produce an outcome corresponding to “the real preference of the Voters” (Madison’s term for wh...
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
"Should We Be Saying 'President Haley'?" The correct way to understand Trump’s popular vote victory is to understand that it represents a mandate to the extent, but only to the extent, that Nikki Haley would be pursuing the same agenda. This piece explains why: open.substack.com/pub/edwardbf...
open.substack.com
Should We Be Saying “President Haley”?
It’s very likely that the former South Carolina governor was more popular than Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. But our system won’t recognize it.
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
Should We Be Saying “President Haley”? electionlawblog.org?p=148245
electionlawblog.org
Should We Be Saying “President Haley”? #ELB
Democracy: A Journal of Ideas published this piece that I wrote on the failure of the electoral system to produce an outcome corresponding to “the real preference of the Voters” (Madison’s term for wh...
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
democracyjournal.org/arguments/sh... If our electoral system worked, we’d be inaugurating President Haley.
democracyjournal.org
Should We Be Saying "President Haley"?
It’s very likely that the former South Carolina governor was more popular than Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. But our system won’t recognize it.
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
“The Real Preference of the Voters”: in this essay I discuss Madison's letter that's essential to understand if we are to repair our currently broken Madisonian democracy. Discovering the significance of this letter has been gratifying scholarly work. open.substack.com/pub/edwardbf...
open.substack.com
“The Real Preference of the Voters”
James Madison wrote a letter in 1823, the significance of which for electoral reform has been previously overlooked.
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
I've posted "'The Real Preference of the Voters': Madison's Idea of a Top-Three Election and The Present Necessity of Reform" (forthcoming Wisc L Rev), discussing a letter written by Madison the significance of which has not been previously appreciated. electionlawblog.org?p=148176
electionlawblog.org
"The Real Preference of the Voters": Madison’s Idea of a Top-Three Election and The Present Necessity of Reform #ELB
I have posted this new paper on SSRN. It will be published in the Wisconsin Law Review as part of a symposium held last September. The paper focuses on an 1823 letter written by James Madison, the sig...
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Is PR the panacea? electionlawblog.org?p=148151
electionlawblog.org
Is PR the panacea? #ELB
The New York Times has a big piece posted this morning by Jesse Wegman and Lee Drutman advocating for using proportional representation (PR) to elect members of the federal House of Representatives (a...
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
I've really enjoyed my year so far as a Crane Fellow in Law & Public Policy at Princeton. Can't believe the first semester is over already. I encourage others to apply for this fellowship for lots of reasons (too many to list; Princeton is great). Deadline 1/1: plaw.law.princeton.edu/opportunitie...
plaw.law.princeton.edu
Crane Fellowship in Law and Public Policy
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Really looking forward to this event tomorrow, and the book it discusses, which has been 3+ years in the making (it's possible to participate both online and in person): www.aei.org/events/elect...
aei.org
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Just received the advance copy of the book that we will be discussing on Tuesday; details here: www.aei.org/events/elect...
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Book event in DC & online: “Electoral Reform in the United States: Proposals for Combating Polarization and Extremism” electionlawblog.org?p=147499
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
A new Common Ground Democracy essay: Trump's Nominees Confirm the Need for Electoral Reform. open.substack.com/pub/edwardbf...
open.substack.com
Trump’s Nominees Confirm the Need for Electoral Reform
If you don’t immediately see the connection, here’s why.
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Reposted by NedFoley.bsky.social
Doug @doug3.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Boom. I think this is final from #Alaska. #RankedChoiceVoting survives by 664 votes. Still unofficial, but now a big enough margin that it seems likely to survive. #RCV www.elections.alaska.gov/results/24GE...
Results of Alaska ballot measure BM#2, showing Yes 159,955 (49.90%), No 160,619 (50.10%).
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 14/03/2024
Everyone interested in improving democracy in the US should spread the word about this important electoral reform effort underway in Arizona: edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/arizonas-e...
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 19/02/2024
Happy President's Day! Just in time for the holiday, I've written a new Common Ground Democracy essay applying the idea of a Top-3 electoral system (developed initially with Eric Maskin in the context of congressional elections) to presidential elections: edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/a-top-3-pr...
edwardbfoley.substack.com
A Top-3 Presidential Election System
This way of voting would enable Americans to elect a third-party or independent candidate whom a majority prefer to either of the two major-party nominees.
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 12/02/2024
Here's a cure for the dysfunctional Congress, which is incapable of legislating on behalf of the public because the voting system used to elect its members produces hyper-polarization rather than accurate representation of the electorate's preferences: edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/a-top-thre...
edwardbfoley.substack.com
A “Top Three” Version of California’s “Top Two” Elections
To combat polarization and increase the capacity of Congress to enact legislation addressing the nation’s needs, here’s a proposal worth considering.
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 09/02/2024
Eric Maskin & I have co-authored a Project Syndicate column that describes a “top 3” variation of California’s “top 2” electoral system. It would enable effective electoral competition by a new third party to counteract the blue-red polarization hurting USA: www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/t...
project-syndicate.org
How to Depolarize American Politics | by Edward B. Foley & Eric S. Maskin - Project Syndicate
Edward B. Foley & Eric S. Maskin propose a system in which voters can express a preference between three candidates.
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 07/02/2024
Collapse of Border Bill Proves Need for Electoral Reform: edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/collapse-o...
edwardbfoley.substack.com
Collapse of Border Bill Proves Need for Electoral Reform
The debacle is confirmation that the primary (meaning "main") problem is the primary (meaning "partisan preliminary election") problem.
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 06/02/2024
@jbouie.bsky.social's column on 3rd-party candidates is correct that they are futile under current 2-party system. But it's incorrect to imply that this can be changed only by constitutional amendment. A compact of states with 270 electoral votes would work: edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/presidenti...
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 04/02/2024
In addition to Baude & Paulsen's good arguments, this: because of how partisan primaries distort electoral choice, disqualifying Trump would enable a majority of general election voters to elect the candidate whom, according to the polls, they most prefer: edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/disqualify...
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NedFoley.bsky.social @nedfoley.bsky.social · 01/02/2024
Fair enough, but point remains: we need a voting system that finds common ground between the 2 polarized tribes. Even if only 5% prefer a common ground candidate as their 1st choice, if that candidate is acceptable 2nd choice for a majority, that's better: edwardbfoley.substack.com/p/presidenti...
edwardbfoley.substack.com
Presidential Elections, "Survivor"-style
Could the format of a television show solve the problem of partisan polarization and avoid presidential elections being a match between two candidates most voters would prefer not to be in contention?
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