Vanderbilt University

The Vanderbilt Law School Program on Law and Government proposes to host an interdisciplinary conference, leading to an edited volume or journal symposium issue, on the topic of the public option. A public option exists when government provides goods or a service directly with universal accessibility, and private market options coexist. Public options are common — public swimming pools, public libraries, public schools — but are rarely analyzed in these terms. This conference will begin to investigate public options for their impact on democracy, markets, inclusivity, and equality, in the hopes of deepening scholarly attention to this important subject.

This sponsorship grant will support the Monkey Cage’s virtual meeting series on voting rights research, with particular attention to research about historically disenfranchised communities who need election protection and are especially harmed by voting rights repeals.