The Politic, the Yale College Journal of Politics, has this article by Maayan Schoen criticizing U.S. ballot access laws. The Politic traces its beginnings back to 1947.

The article has a special emphasis on Alabama, which has the most severe mandatory petition requirement for statewide independent candidates and new parties in the nation. The author interviewed Alabama Secretary of State John H. Merrill, who said that it doesn’t matter if independent and minor party candidates are kept off the ballot, because they wouldn’t win anyway. He even cited the existence of Alabama’s straight-ticket device as evidence that they wouldn’t win, because, as he says, a majority of Alabama voters use the device to vote for all nominees of the Republican and Democratic Parties.