by jpitney | Sep 14, 2020 | Constitution, First Amendment, Freedom of Press, Public Opinion
From the Annenberg Public Policy Center: Americans’ ability to name the five rights protected by the First Amendment has jumped since 2017, when we last asked this question. Their ability to specify some of them more than tripled. Asked to name any of the rights...
by jpitney | Sep 2, 2020 | Congress, Constitution, Presidency, Separation of Powers
Mort Halperin and Soren Dayton at The Washington Post: Consider one proposal for limiting the president’s national emergency powers: Sen. Mike Lee’s Article One Act. Under this, a presidentially declared national emergency would expire after 30 days — unless Congress...
by jpitney | Aug 16, 2020 | Civil Rights, Constitution, Deliberation
General James Mattis: America is not some finished work or failed project but an ongoing experiment. And it is an experiment that, by design, will never end. If parts of the machine are broken, then the responsibility of citizens is to fix the machine—not throw it...
by jpitney | Aug 7, 2020 | Constitution, Madison
Martin Skold and J. Furman Daniel at The Bulwark: As George Will articulated in his recent book, one of few constants in American conservatism over the centuries is its veneration of the Madisonian Constitution, not merely as a legal system to be manipulated or...
by jpitney | Jul 30, 2020 | Constitution, Elections, Electoral College, Emergency
Jacob Shelly at the Congressional Research Service: Unlike the practice of some states that allow the Governor to postpone an election during emergencies, neither the Constitution nor Congress provides any similar power to the President or other federal officials to...
by jpitney | Apr 20, 2020 | Congress, Constitution, Presidency
In some states, the results of the 2020 presidential election might be in dispute. And a 269-269 tie is possible, albeit unlikely. What then? Under the 12th Amendment, the newly-elected House picks the president — with each state getting one vote — and...
