In the days that have passed since the revelation that Hillary Clinton never used her official State Department email address, instead using a private address (hosted on a private server), two lines of inquiry have emerged. The first regards Clinton’s choice as a matter of governance. These pieces have focused on the security of this approach to email, and questions about whether the former Secretary of State complied with the rules in effect during her tenure. …
The second strain has emphasized the likely political fallout of this story. The political science consensus has been strong: Clinton’s email address is unlikely to affect the 2016 election. …
Taken together, these two questions seem to add up to a powerful disconnection between elections and governance. A high-level executive branch official – a Cabinet Secretary – did something that violated expected norms and possibly also broke the law. She is seeking higher office, and yet it is highly unlikely that any meaningful accountability will come from the electoral process. CONT.
Julia Azari (Marquette), The Mischiefs of Faction