Readers of these Election Reform Q&As may recall that I interviewed the R Street Institute’s Matt Germer about the importance of loser’s consent for our democratic system. In short, our democratic republic exists by the consent of the governed, and that consent is renewed when we hold elections and accept the results. But the gripe “We wuz robbed” is a verity in American electoral politics, and since the Founding there inevitably have been losers who blamed their defeat on their opponents’ unscrupulous behavior. So, should we really be concerned when candidates refuse to concede? Is there any real cost… (Read more)