Democracy

February 12, 2019|Democracy, inequality, wealth tax

The Very Rich Do Not Threaten Democracy

Image: Create Jobs 51/Shutterstock.com

The advocates for soaking the very rich or even abolishing billionaires offer no realistic mechanism by which the very rich threaten democracy.

September 26, 2018|Brett Kavanaugh, Carl Schmitt, Democracy, Liberalism, Partisanship

Are We Living in Carl Schmitt’s America?

by Brian A. Smith|9 Comments

Protestors dressed as "Handmaidens" line the hallway near Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination hearing to become the next Associate Supreme Court Justice, September 3, 2018 (Patsy Lynch/MediaPunch/Alamy Stock Photos).

We should be mindful of what is lost when a politics of enmity becomes our way of life.

September 20, 2018|Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, Constitutional Convention, Democracy, Impeachment, Richard Nixon

Objections to Impeachment, Part 3: Overturning the Result of An Election

by Michael Stokes Paulsen|1 Comment

Protest outside the White House, July 18, 2018 (bakdc / Shutterstock.com).

To object that the use of impeachment power is “anti-democratic” is to miss the point: democracy yields to the Constitution, not the other way around.

September 14, 2018|Democracy, John Kennedy, Joseph Biden, rational ignorance, Richard Nixon, Russians, social media

Social Media Suggests a Deeper Threat to Democracy Than Russia: Us

by John O. McGinnis|2 Comments

Pathdoc/Shutterstock.com

Social media reveals little about democracy that a serious student did not already know, but the inanity is so relentless now that it is hard to ignore.

August 29, 2018|Bhaskar Sunkara, Democracy, Jacobin, Madison, Meagan Day, New York Times

Leave the Constitution Alone

by Carson Holloway|10 Comments

Preamble to the U.S. Constitution (Billion Photos/Shutterstock.com).

Judged by rational and practical standards, America’s Constitution has been a remarkable success: aiming at "more democracy" is not necessary.

August 24, 2018|Democracy, Electoral College, John Hart Ely, modality, Pamela Karlan, Republicanism, rights, Senate

“Democracy” Cannot Unlock the Meaning of the Constitution

by John O. McGinnis|4 Comments

The U.S. Capitol building, as seen between the columns of the Supreme Court (Dan Thornberg/Shutterstock.com).

Republicanism, not democracy, might be a structural principle we can use to guide our interpretation of the Constitution.

August 15, 2018|Bhaskar Sunkara, Democracy, Federalist 10, James Madison, Meagan Day, New York Times, republic

Jacobin Writers Actually Agree with Madison on Democracy

by James R. Rogers|2 Comments

Federalist 9 and 10 (Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com).

Americans should argue with Madison, but we should also take his words seriously when we do so.

April 27, 2018|Administrative State, Adrian Vermeule, D.C. Schindler, Democracy, integralism, Liberalism, Patrick Deneen, throne and altar, Toleration

Returning to Throne and Altar? Integralism, Liberalism, and Toleration

by Brian A. Smith|4 Comments

The Coronation of Charles VII of France (1429), depicted in Jeanne d'Arc (1886–1890) by Jules Eugène Lenepveu.

In leaving liberalism behind, is it possible integralists have failed to remember the benefits of toleration?

April 9, 2018|Democracy, Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Misagh Parsa, revolution

The Road to Iranian Democracy

by Luma Simms|Leave a Comment

The suppression of the Green Movement last time around widened the gulf between Iran's elite and its people.

March 20, 2018|Alexis de Tocqueville, Aristocracy, decline, Democracy, Democracy in America, Patrick Deneen, tragedy

Tocqueville and the Tragedy of the Democratic Average

by James R. Rogers|3 Comments

Li Wa / Shutterstock.com

Conservatism should help us negotiate the tragic tradeoffs of life: a way between market and political liberalism versus solidarity. Tocqueville can help.