Zephyr Teachout teaches Election Law at Duke University School of Law. She is the former National Director of the Sunlight Foundation, Director of Online Organizing for Howard Dean's Campaign, and Researcher at the Center for Investigative Journalism in Bosnia-Herzogovenia.

Blog Entries by Zephyr Teachout

Time for a New Antitrust?

10 Comments | Posted April 21, 2009 | 01:39 PM (EST)


This piece was co-written with Shawn Bayern, visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Duke University. Professor Bayern teaches business associations.

We now have an economy that we don't understand and can't seem to control even when we want to. Having created corporations, we have let some of them become "too...

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Who Decides? The Most Terrifying Part of the Proposed Bailout

Posted September 21, 2008 | 05:01 PM (EST)


"Helicopter Ben" Bernanke and "the Hammer" Henry Paulson have just sent Congress a three page draft of a 700 billion dollar piece of legislation.

Set aside for a minute the haiku-like content of the Helicopter-Hammer plan, and think about what it really asks for: almost unlimited power. The Professor...

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FARA's Failings: Or How The DOJ Fails To Monitor Foreign Lobbying

Posted July 24, 2008 | 11:35 PM (EST)


While Barack Obama's very public tour to Europe and the Middle East this week occupies the media's spotlight, there's a new storm brewing around a billion dollar private foreign policy industry -- which includes thousands of lobbyists conducting trade and military policy via cash and access. Chuck Schumer, joined by...

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New Evidence Shows Voters Aren't Chilled By Fraud Fears

Posted June 9, 2008 | 10:29 AM (EST)


When was the last time you talked to someone who said, "I'd vote, except I think too many people are impersonating people they aren't, and my confidence in the system is undermined," or "I'd vote, but illegal aliens are showing up without proof of citizenship at the polls and getting...

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Political Parietals?

Posted February 21, 2008 | 12:21 PM (EST)


I believe the New York Times story on McCain is irresponsible.

The lede follows this logic:

1. Several McCain advisors believed that he had a romantic relationship with a woman
2. He spent lots of time with that woman, who was a lobbyist
3. Even...

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Obama and Lobbyists Like Me

Posted February 8, 2008 | 01:48 AM (EST)


Obama, oddly, is sending me money. I got a letter from Alexa Chappell yesterday, Deputy Director of Compliance of the Obama Campaign, with a check inside for $100, made out to me:

Thank you for your recent contribution to Obama for America. Unfortunately, our records indicate that you are...
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Obama's Character: Ethikai Aretai for America

Posted February 4, 2008 | 12:05 PM (EST)


Both Clinton and Obama are smart enough to be president. Both are temperamentally competent to be president. When it comes to past behavior, I have every reason to believe both will support and enable progressive legislation. So for me, the question comes down to moral and international leadership, and the...

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Lobbyist for Pakistan Maxed Out Donations to Clinton

Posted December 28, 2007 | 12:47 PM (EST)


The following piece was produced by the HuffPost's OffTheBus.

Like others in the race for the White House, Hillary Clinton has strong words for Pakistan, but has yet to propose the United States seriously consider limiting its aid to the country. But unlike the other leading Democratic presidential...

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John Adams To Mitt Romney: "Silly and Wicked"

Posted December 6, 2007 | 12:32 PM (EST)


The following piece is produced by HuffPost's OffTheBus.

Yesterday, Romney quoted John Adams as saying that: "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people."

Adams was a...

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NYTimes Fails To Examine Mitt's Record

Posted December 2, 2007 | 12:20 PM (EST)


The following piece was produced by HuffPost's OffTheBus.

If a citizen chose to use the New York Times as its source for learning about whether or not to support Governor Romney, she would be disappointed.

A review of the eight major Romney stories featured on the New...

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