Essays
Judgment / August 30, 2026
Most Americans learn Marbury v. Madison as the case that gave the Supreme Court the power to strike down laws. It gets taught as the birth of judicial...
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When Americans hear "Swiss democracy," the image that comes to mind is usually a country where citizens vote on everything from immigration caps to cow-horn...
Every morning, millions of American children put their hands over their hearts and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. They say the words "and to the republic...
Most people think authoritarianism is the loud part: the midnight knock, the prison camp, the forced march. It is, but that is not where it begins. It...
Every four years, the political press rediscovers the presidential caucus and announces that it is undemocratic. The cameras show neighbors gathered in...
Every time the debt ceiling approaches, Washington performs the same tired ritual. The Treasury Secretary warns of catastrophe. The White House insists the...
Most people watching an impeachment trial ask whether the president did it, whatever "it" happens to be. They want to know about evidence, witnesses, polls...
I'm going to say something that will irritate a lot of people who are rightly disgusted with Washington: congressional term limits are a bad idea. Not...
Few clauses in the Constitution have been stretched further from their original meaning than the Commerce Clause. Modern politicians and judges treat it as...
Political scientists usually reserve the term competitive authoritarianism for foreign regimes. The standard picture is a country that still holds elections...