Departments

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Constitution

  • 3/7/2021

    Was Madison Mistaken?

    by Carl Pletsch

    The divisive Trump years have called the wisdom of the Framers into question, but the author contends that James Madison in particular anticipated how a republic would be challenged by partisanship and designed one that could withstand that challenge (he just never claimed it would be easy). 

  • 2/21/2021

    Don't Defend Democracy With Half-Truths About the Past

    by Brook Thomas

    Although the Capitol riots raised deep concern about the rule of law, there is a deeper challenge ahead of the nation: to understand and change the undemocratic aspects of our foundational law and refuse half-measures in the name of unity.

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    2/15/2021

    The Founders Were Wrong About Democracy

    by David Frum

    The conservative commentator writes that the framers' concern with broad populist movements shouldn't overshadowing the greater damage done to democracy by a minority faction that controls key institutions and follows its own fickle self-interest.

  • SOURCE: The Nation
    11/17/2020

    American Democracy Was Never Supposed to Work

    by Richard Kreitner

    "Merely ousting Trump is not enough without addressing more fundamental weaknesses in our political system, especially an outdated Constitution that continues to serve a minority of wealthy and white citizens and to curb any movements that might threaten their wealth and power."

  • SOURCE: New York Daily News
    10/12/2020

    Our Unrepresentative Republic

    by Mark Boonshoft

    We should understand that plans to add states or end the Electoral College are plans to restore actual representation. Their opponents are defending a system of virtual representation. You don’t have to be a party hack to see these similarities.

  • SOURCE: Bloomberg Opinion
    10/8/2020

    Yes, Mike Lee, America is a Democracy

    by Jonathan Bernstein

    Mike Lee's insistence that the US is "a republic" and not "a democracy" is a petty distinction that ignores the historically interchangeable usage of the terms in American politics in order to justify undemocratic rule by a minority party. 

  • 8/16/2020

    The Paradox of Executive Underreach

    by Michael A. Genovese

    While the Constitution says more about limiting the overreach of the executive branch, functioning government must beware of an underreaching executive that abdicates responsibility. 

  • SOURCE: Washingtonian
    8/10/2020

    Would DC Statehood Also Give the Trumps Three Electoral Votes?

    A proposal for DC statehood would preserve a Capital District around the White House and Capitol, which is granted three Electoral College votes by the Constitution. It's possible that the only residents of the district would be the inhabitants of the White House. 

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    7/20/2020

    The United States Needs a Third Reconstruction

    by Wilfred Codrington III

    At two previous moments, the federal government has responded to the unavoidable reality that racism subverts democracy, but has allowed two periods of national reconstruction to be undermined and demolished. We need a Third Reconstruction and need to make it stick.