Daniel Lowenstein was the first American law professor to specialize
in Election Law and established a leading reputation in that field. He
authored the first twentieth century textbook in the field—
Election Law: Cases and Materials (Carolina Academic Press, 1995), now in its fourth edition. As co-editor with Professor Rick Hasen he inaugurated the
Election Law Journal, the leading journal in the field. On January 29, 2010, leading scholars in Election Law put on a
festschrift celebrating Lowenstein’s work in the field.
On July 1, 2009, Lowenstein became Director of the new
UCLA Center for the Liberal Arts and Free Institutions (CLAFI),
intended to facilitate and promote study of the great works and
achievements of western civilization. He continues to teach in the
School of Law, where his most typical subjects have included
Election Law, Statutory Interpretation & Legislative Process,
American Political Theory, and
Law & Literature.
Lowenstein worked as a staff attorney at California Rural Legal
Assistance for two and one-half years. While working for California's
Secretary of State, Edmund G. Brown Jr. starting in 1971, he specialized
in Election Law and was the main drafter of the
Political Reform Act, an initiative statute that California
voters approved in 1974, thereby creating a new Fair Political Practices
Commission. Governor Brown appointed Lowenstein as first chairman of
the Commission in 1975. Lowenstein has served on the national governing
board of Common Cause and has been a board member and a vice president
of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights. He has also served as chairman of
the Board of Directors of the award-winning theatre troupe Interact and
regularly brings the company to the School of Law to perform plays with
legal themes, such as Sophocles'
Antigone, Ibsen’s
An Enemy of the People, and Wouk's
The Caine Mutiny Court Martial.
Professor Lowenstein’s published research runs the gamut of
Election Law subjects, including campaign finance, redistricting, voting
rights, political parties, and initiatives. He has also published some
literary criticism on works such as
The Merchant of Venice and
Bleak House.
To obtain news and information about CLAFI or about the Interact
play readings at the School of Law, please write to Lowenstein at
Lowenstein@law.ucla.edu.