Earlier today, the White House released a statement from Adam White, who served on the President’s Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, outlining why he believes the reforms the panel analyzed are dangerous. It merits careful reading. White puts reforms to a simple test: “Would the changes improve the Court’s capacity to function as a court?” His answer is emphatically no to court-packing. He delivers an compelling rebuttal to term limits for the Court. If these are keyed to presidential terms, White argues, they risk delegitimizing the Court by dragging them further into the rhythms of electoral politics. White’s … Continue reading Adam White on Court Reform and the Politics of Self-Restraint

The Jan 6th Commission

December 13, 2021December 13, 2021 George Thomas

The January 6th Commission is doing valuable work unpacking the details of the events that led up the attack on the Capitol. And it offers Congress a chance to reassert its authority. Congress was violently attacked while carrying out its constitutional responsibilities. If it does not demand answers, and use its constitutional power to get them, it will seem more feckless than ever. But will this matter politically in the short term? That seems highly unlikely. As Quinta Jurecic argues in an essay in The Atlantic: “These details, if they bear out, are valuable—but they are details. The main facts of what happened … Continue reading The Jan 6th Commission

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The Press and the Rights Culture

December 12, 2021December 12, 2021 Greg Weiner

This headline from Fox News on last week’s arguments in Carson v. Makin—the Supreme Court case deciding whether parochial schools can be excluded from a state program that provides tuition for other private schools—illustrates a problem with the way the media covers rights cases. The headline reads: “Justices offer support for religious rights in Maine education case.” The case for religious rights in Carson v. Makin is reasonable, perhaps strong. But whether religious rights are being violated in the first place is the whole question. The headline’s assertion of ”religious rights” presumes what is actually in dispute. Fox News is … Continue reading The Press and the Rights Culture

Bob Dole’s Summons

December 7, 2021 Greg Weiner

Bob Dole’s posthumous op-ed in The Washington Post is a compelling call to restore shared values. From the essay: There has been a lot of talk about what it will take to heal our country. We have heard many of our leaders profess ‘bipartisanship.’ But we must remember that bipartisanship is the minimum we should expect from ourselves. America has never achieved greatness when Republicans and Democrats simply manage to work together or tolerate each other. We have overcome our biggest challenges only when we focused on our shared values and experiences. These common ties form much stronger bonds than … Continue reading Bob Dole’s Summons

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The Democrat Progressives Should Blame

November 26, 2021November 26, 2021 Greg Weiner

I have an essay at The New York Times this morning arguing that James Madison is far more to blame for progressive frustrations than either Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema is. The piece tries to show that the primary test of Madisonian legitimacy is whether a majority has cohered for an interval proportionate to the scale of its desires. According to its own supporters’ boasts, the Build Back Better plan would be a historic, generational change to the social safety net akin to the New Deal or Great Society. In that case, it needs an enduring majority behind it. Instead, … Continue reading The Democrat Progressives Should Blame

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Who’s Watching Whom?

November 25, 2021November 25, 2021 Benjamin A. Kleinerman

In this tweet, Barbara Walter seems to propose that we allow the CIA to create a task force that would “try to predict where and when political instability and conflict is likely to break out” domestically, just as they do around the world now. I would like to assume that Professor Walter, a political scientist at UC-San Diego, meant this tweet ironically. But, given the rest of her intellectual profile, I think it wasn’t meant in jest. Instead, it represents a new comfort level that people, especially those on the left, now have with the apparatuses of government. Insofar as … Continue reading Who’s Watching Whom?

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The Case for Constitutional Amendments

November 24, 2021 Greg Weiner

I have an essay at Law and Liberty today on constitutional amendments. Law and Liberty has a terrific series called “Liberty Forum” that includes an essay and several responses. My essay today is a response to Professors John McGinnis and Michael Rappoport, who made an originalist case for more amendments. The response draws on work Ben Kleinerman and I did several years ago on how Federalist 49’s case for constitutional veneration has been misunderstood to make the Constitution untouchable. Continue reading The Case for Constitutional Amendments

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The Foolishness of Intellectuals

November 16, 2021November 16, 2021 Benjamin A. Kleinerman

I guess great minds think alike. I was just in the middle of writing my own recommendation of Tom’s essay, when Laura and George wrote theirs. Still I’ll triple down on the recommendation. Tom Merrill (American University) has a piece in the Bulwark today that is truly outstanding. Framed as a review of Glenn Ellmers’s, The Soul of Politics: Harry V. Jaffa and the Fight for America, Merrill undertakes a profound analysis not only of Harry Jaffa and the Claremont Institute, but of intellectuals more generally. I liked it especially for this line: “There is some foolishness that only intellectuals … Continue reading The Foolishness of Intellectuals

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More on Merrill on Jaffa

November 16, 2021 George Thomas

I second Laura’s recommendation of Tom Merrill’s review essay at The Bulwark. And I, too, want to highlight this passage from his review: “There are other parts of Jaffa’s legacy that could be useful to us today as well: his resolute anti-racism; his understanding that alongside the doctrine of human equality in the Declaration of Independence, the United States has persistent traditions of racial subordination, traditions that by no means died in 1865; and his recognition of the continuing need for political agency and choice on the part of statesmen and citizens.” Jaffa, recall, was making these arguments in the late 1950s, when … Continue reading More on Merrill on Jaffa

The Constitutionalist

The Politics of Constitutions

Category: Blog

Adam White on Court Reform and the Politics of Self-Restraint

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The Jan 6th Commission

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The Press and the Rights Culture

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Bob Dole’s Summons

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The Democrat Progressives Should Blame

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Who’s Watching Whom?

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The Case for Constitutional Amendments

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The Foolishness of Intellectuals

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More on Merrill on Jaffa

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Recommended Reading: Tom Merrill on the Claremont Institute

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