Undemocratic: Secrecy and Power vs. The People
Photo essay: Wisconsin’s frenetic lame duck session
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The Legislature held an extraordinary session to push through a series of fast-tracked bills before Gov. Scott Walker leaves office.
Wisconsin Watch Media Partners Center (https://partners.wisconsinwatch.org/series/undemocratic-secrecy-and-power-vs-the-people/)
Cameron Smith/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism
Marla Stephens, center, and Kris Lennon, center right, attend Maps Madness: Voters vs. Politicians, a March 7, 2018 rally organized by the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition held outside the Wisconsin state Capitol. The rally was aimed at pressuring lawmakers to hold a special session to enact a nonpartisan redistricting system. Stephens, a former candidate for state Supreme Court justice, says she believes her vote has been diluted by redistricting in the Milwaukee area.
This series examines the state of Wisconsin’s democracy in an era of gerrymandering, secret campaign money, restrictive voting laws and legislative maneuvers that weaken the power of regular citizens to influence government. The series was reported by University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism students Cathleen Draper, Nicole Ki, Pawan Naidu, Cameron Smith, Teodor Teofilov and CV Vitolo-Haddad as part of an investigative reporting class led by Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism Managing Editor Dee J. Hall with assistance from Coburn Dukehart, the Center’s digital and multimedia director.
The Legislature held an extraordinary session to push through a series of fast-tracked bills before Gov. Scott Walker leaves office.
Many people in Wisconsin feel state government is moving in the wrong direction, away from the citizenry and toward the interests of politicians and their financial backers.
Anonymous budget amendments and ‘Body Snatcher’ bills give power to special interests and change the scope of legislation with no chance for public input.
The Center’s Cameron Smith explores the ways in which residents are dissuaded or prevented from voting by the photo ID requirement, which has been the subject of years of litigation, some of it still pending.
Voter impersonation — the reason voter ID laws were passed in the first place — has largely been debunked as a pervasive problem in U.S. elections, according to a summary of investigations and studies compiled by the Brennan Center for Justice.
One advocate calls Wisconsin the ‘darkest of dark money states’ as millions in secret spending flows into races for governor, Legislature and state Supreme Court
Wisconsin might not have the most money in its elections, because there are some states with no limits at all on individual campaign contributions. But critics say it is awash in “dark money,” contributions that are not required to be reported to any governmental agency.
An analysis by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism shows the proportion of fast-tracked bills shot up to 26 percent in the first session of Walker’s term
This column is a companion to our story revealing that the length of time bills were deliberated dropped significantly soon after Gov. Scott Walker and Republican legislators took control in 2011. In this piece Center managing editor Dee J. Hall explains the origins and methodology of the analysis.
Extreme partisanship and approval of legislation despite widespread opposition have left Wisconsin residents feeling increasingly powerless, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism has found.
Most counties have approved resolutions calling for fairer way to redraw electoral districts; does Iowa offer an effective model?
Justices consider: When does partisanship cross the line?