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Counterculturalism Rightly Understood

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Opposing radical individualism, Lawler and Reinsch look to the unwritten constitution as the key to understanding how to form citizens in a democratic age.

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An Impotent Congress Can’t Impeach Trump

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WASHINGTON, DC: Nancy Pelosi addresses a crowd of supporters at a rally on the Capitol steps.
The Democratic Congress lost the impeachment fight before it even started.

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How to Rebalance Power Between Congress and the Executive Branch

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U.S. Capitol (Tono Balaguer/Shutterstock.com)
Congress faces an inherent collective action problem relative to the President, one that means legislators underinvest in the institution itself.

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The Supreme Court Will Not Save Us

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Statue of George Washington at Federal Hall, New York, New York (Becca Eley / Shutterstock.com).
We, however, are determined to learn whether responsible and disciplined—in a word, constitutional—government can survive the death of civic piety.

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Government by Emergency: Are Two Generations of Crisis Enough?

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shutterstock.com
The oldest emergency proclamation dates to the Carter Administration, 40 years ago. Two generations of crisis are enough.

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The President’s Emergency Declaration Is the Congressional Check on Presidential Power

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President Donald Trump at a press conference in New York, New York on September 26, 2018 (Evan El-Amin/Shutterstock.com).
President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency is the check on executive prerogative, not the exercise of it.

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James Madison Won the Shutdown

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U.S. Capitol (Tono Balaguer/Shutterstock.com)
Partisan disputes come and go, but the encouraging development was institutional: the House of Representatives stared down the presidency and won.

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The Emergency Is Outcome-Based Constitutionalism

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A government with distributed authority has restrictions on its powers.

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Congress Has Forgotten How to Fight

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"Argument of the Chivalry," a depiction of Preston Brooks caning Charles Sumner. Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Joanne Freeman has written a brilliant book, but she misses something crucial: a collapse of political space, not acts of violence, caused the Civil War.

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Lame Ducks and Congressional Accountability

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The U.S. Capital at night (Anujak Jaimook / Shutterstock.com)
Instead of returning to the Capitol Hill after the people vote, members should complete their work before the election.

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