Recall-mania: Why American voters are increasingly eager to oust lawmakers

Across the nation, a record 168 officials faced recall votes this year

"Recall Walker' pins sit in a basket in the Rock County Democratic Party Headquarters on June 4. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker survived.
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

While the multi-billion dollar presidential campaign sucked up most of the nation's attention this year, in scores of smaller elections across the country, voters took unprecedented action to force political changes of their own. In 2012, at least 168 elected officials faced recall votes. That appears to be an all-time record.

While Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's recall was by far the most prominent — it was only the third time a governor has ever faced a recall in U.S. history, and the first time one survived such a vote — there were plenty of other noteworthy attempts to bounce officials before their terms were up. The reasons for voter ire were quite varied, spanning the spectrum from taxes and government spending to gay rights to officials' malfeasance.

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Joshua Spivak is a senior fellow at the Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform at Wagner College in New York, and writes The Recall Elections Blog.