Citation and representation

A war is raging in the legal citation field. Arbitrary changes in the Bluebook from one edition to the next have incited a populist rebellion in the form of the Association of Legal Writing Directors' ALWD Citation Manual. This Article traces the causes of the conflict and assesses its likely outcomes. Professor Glashausser compares the two citation guides to eighteenth-century Great Britain and America: the Bluebook is the elite empire clinging to its position, and the Manual is the challenger hoping to ride a wave of populism to revolution. Overall, Professor Glashausser's Article sides with the Manual as the guide that best implements the ideals that unite the legal community-indeed, the footnotes follow Manual style-but it also suggests further avenues for reform. Ultimately, the Article concludes that whatever guide survives will do so by following the will of the people, thereby giving us citation with representation.