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Abstract: This Article explores the limitations that the American electoral system imposes upon extremist parties and candidates. Its thesis is that extremists, and particularly anti-liberal extremists, are excluded from the American electoral arena through a combination of direct and indirect mechanisms. This claim challenges the crucial premise of American constitutional theory that the free speech doctrine is a distinct area of "American exceptionalism." That theory posits that the American strict adherence to viewpoint neutrality, the strong emphasis upon the "dissenter," and the freedom granted to extremist speakers is exceptional among liberal democracies. The Article argues that once we focus upon the electoral arena as a distinct arena, we discover that in this domain of core political expression, dissenting extremists are marginalized and blocked and their viewpoints are not represented. The Article demonstrates how various structural elements which characterize the American electoral system create an insurmountable barrier for extremist parties and drive them out of the electoral system. Some of these elements have been created intentionally to impede extremist political parties. In addition, the Article analyzes several federal court decisions that appear to play a crucial role in sealing the fate of these extremists by endorsing the right of the major parties to exclude extremists from the parties in the name of preserving the party's "right to define itself." The Article concludes with an examination of the various implications of this analysis. It compares the American approach to extremism in the electoral arena with the approach adopted in other democracies, and then the Article reflects upon the lessons that can be drawn for relevant issues in American electoral law.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................... 1369
II. BACKGROUND ..................................................................... 1372
III. EXTREMIST SPEECH OUTSIDE OF THE ELECTORAL
SYSTEM ........................................................................... 1374
IV. EXTREMISM IN THE ELECTORAL ARENA ............................. 1376
A. The Electoral System ................................................ 1376
B. State Electoral Laws ................................................. 1383
1. Ballot access laws .................................................. 1384
2. Anti-fusion laws ................................................... 1386
3. Resulting effect .................................................... 1388
V. INTENTIONAL USE OF STRUCTURAL FEATURES ................... 1391
A. Ballot Access Laws ................................................... 1393
B. First-Past-the-Post .................................................... 1396
C. Conclusion ............................................................... 1398
VI. EXCLUSION OF EXTREMISTS FROM MAJOR PARTIES ........... 1399
A. The "Big Tent" Party ............................................... 1399
B . Exclusion of Extremists from Major Parties .............. 1401
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