Essays


  • The Lincoln Challenge
    Steven B. Smith, Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science, Yale University Every other year I teach a class at Yale called The Mind of Lincoln.  The course is an in-depth study of the speeches and letters of Lincoln combined with …
  • The Return of the “Military-Industrial Complex”
    David Lewis Schaefer, Professor of Political Science, College of the Holy Cross In what was probably the most foolish utterance he made as President, Dwight Eisenhower, in his final address to the nation before he left office, offered a warning, …
  • Pence: Do the Right Thing
    Gary Schmitt is a senior fellow in the Social, Cultural and Constitutional Studies Program at the American Enterprise Institute. When former Vice President Mike Pence talks about his preferred nominees for the federal bench and the Supreme Court, he will …
  • Can Trump Pull a Cleveland?
    Jordan Cash is an Assistant Professor in the James Madison College at Michigan State University. On November 15, 2022, only a week after the 2022 midterms, Donald Trump became the seventh president to seek election for a non-consecutive term. Because …
  • Congress, the Vice President & Resolving Electoral College Disputes: A Note
    Gary Schmitt is a senior fellow in the Social, Cultural and Constitutional Studies Program at the American Enterprise Institute. The headline finding of the January 6th committee’s report is the criminal referral of former President Donald Trump to the Justice …
  • Demagogues in American Politics
    Charles U. Zug is Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Colorado – Colorado Springs Demagoguery is a concept that originated in classical antiquity, but the American constitutional system is, in its most important respects, rooted in a body of …
  • Don’t Mess With Our Constitution
    David Lewis Schaefer, Professor of Political Science, College of the Holy Cross America’s Constitution, by far the longest continuously operative one in the world, is under attack from both sides of the political spectrum. On the right, conservative Texas Republican …

About The Constitutionalist

The Constitutionalist is dedicated to the intellectual and political work of constitutional democracy. Our authors are open to a range of political perspectives, but we are unified by a capacious understanding of the constitutional endeavor–namely, we believe that constitutions are sustained not only by law, but also by civil society and civic norms. Using our expertise in political philosophy, American political development, public law, and political culture and literature, we aim to foster conversation across disciplinary lines and beyond the confines of academia. We believe this kind of conversation is vital to the creation and maintenance of good constitutions. Though we are interested in what happens elsewhere, our primary focus is on the American experience.

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