See this story for details about the 2015 British election debates. There will be two debates in which the leaders of each of seven political parties are included. Then there will be one debate between the leaders of the Conservative and Labour Parties.

The first two debates will be on April 2 and April 16. The two-party debate will be April 30. The election is May 7. The seven party leaders who will participate in the first two debates are: Natalie Bennett, Green; David Cameron, Conservative; Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat; Nigel Farage, UKIP; Ed Miliband, Labour; Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish National Party; and Leanne Wood, Plaid Cymru.

On January 23, several good-government groups filed this amicus curiae brief in Arizona State Legislature v Arizona State Redistricting Commission, a case that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear on March 2, 2015. The issue is whether Arizona and other states can constitutionally let independent commissions draw boundaries for U.S. House districts. The legislature argues that Article One of the U.S. Constitution says only state legislatures can write election laws for congressional elections.

The amicus explains the harms that partisan gerrymandering does to the U.S. election system, and is signed by the ACLU, the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, and the League of Women Voters of the U.S. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

Political scientists Seth Masket and Michael G. Miller have made available a draft of their study of public funding for legislative candidates in Maine and Arizona. They find that public funding programs do not help elect more extreme candidates. Here is their article in the Washington Post about their research, and here is the draft of their paper, which is not yet final. Thanks to the Center for Competitive Politics for the links.