Popular in Political Science

British Politics

Entrepreneurial thinking: the politics and practice of policy impact

University of Sheffield Matthew Flinders

Canadian Politics

Parties and Elections: An End to Canadian Exceptionalism?

St. Francis Xavier University James Bickerton

Asian Politics

The Politics of Knowledge in Development

University of Delhi Madhulika Banerjee

American Politics

Fifty years of declining confidence and increasing polarization in trust

University of California Berkeley Henry Brady

American Politics

The Opening Dilemma

Cornell University Richard Bensel

Political Economy

Wait and See?

University of Liverpool Mariaelisa Epifanio

Political Science

The Colonialist Roots of Democratic Decay

University of California Los Angeles Richard D. Anderson, Jr

Keeping the Republic

View more insights in Social Sciences - Political Science - American Politics

View more figures from Boston College

View the page of Marc Landy

Read the Study

Next in American Politics

Pollster choices vs voters’ decisions

Joshua Clinton | Vanderbilt University

Dominant Personality and Politically Inexperienced Presidents Challenge Term Limits

Ignacio Arana Araya | Carnegie Mellon University

Marc Landy provides a survey of American anti-constitutionalism and a powerful argument for maintaining the constitutional order of the nation’s Framers.

Image courtesy of interviewee. July 26, 2024

Log-in or Sign-up to Faculti
Currently viewing this subject insight as a guest. You have insight(s) remaining for this month. Login to view 8000+ figures on the platform.

Generating Workspace...

Export as PDF

This video discusses the defense of American constitutionalism against widespread criticisms from academics and journalists claiming that the Constitution is broken, obsolete, and undemocratic. It emphasizes the importance of the U.S. Constitution as foundational to the nation's identity and republican democracy, stating it was constructed specifically for the unique character of the American people.

The speaker acknowledges criticisms regarding various undemocratic aspects of the Constitution, such as the Electoral College and the equal representation of states in the Senate, while noting that these features serve important purposes in moderating democracy to ensure stability and deliberation. This video also addresses the birth of affirmative action under the Great Society, noting that while certain reforms aligned with constitutional principles, others, like quotas, contradict the Constitution's spirit.

The discussion includes the evolution of rights in modern America, issues of welfare reform emphasizing work requirements, and the importance of balancing democratic participation with the need for deliberative governance. Ultimately, the text expresses concerns over the trends in governance towards administrative rule, which lack accountability and undermine traditional democratic principles, while recognizing the resilience of American institutions in facing contemporary challenges, including the presidency of Donald Trump.

Language:

Export as PDF

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

00:00.075 --> 00:02.245
Defending American constitutionalism,

00:02.975 --> 00:06.245
which wouldn't need defense if it wasn't under such

00:07.995 --> 00:12.955
absolutely, vast attack from law, professors,

00:14.215 --> 00:17.465
journalists, other political scientists, they,

00:17.735 --> 00:20.905
there's a famous headline in the New York Times

00:21.205 --> 00:23.825
by two Harvard law professors,

00:24.125 --> 00:26.505
or, no, I think the two Harvard Political

00:26.505 --> 00:27.665
Science professors.

00:28.125 --> 00:32.785
The Constitution is broken and cannot be redeemed.

00:34.375 --> 00:38.665
It's obsolete. It's undemocratic, it's egalitarian.

00:39.445 --> 00:42.225
It, it, it fosters greed.

00:42.665 --> 00:47.145
I mean, it, it is remarkable the sheer extent

00:47.285 --> 00:48.345
of the criticism.

00:48.605 --> 00:50.225
So that was our immediate aim.

00:50.225 --> 00:52.385
This, this has to be responded to.

00:52.845 --> 00:56.025
But our larger aim, we do have a larger aim.

00:56.245 --> 01:01.175
And that, that's really to, to give a,

01:01.335 --> 01:05.935
a, a sense of why our constitutional order,

01:06.555 --> 01:10.975
is so well constructed to enable the United States

01:11.715 --> 01:16.015
to retain a Republican democracy in the face

01:16.075 --> 01:20.095
of all the challenges that modernity offers.

01:20.395 --> 01:23.615
And I, I do wanna add, you, you have to,

01:23.965 --> 01:25.855
this really comes from Montesquieu.

01:25.915 --> 01:28.975
You, you have to build a constitution

01:29.035 --> 01:30.535
for the people you have.

01:31.395 --> 01:35.655
I'm not saying this is the best constitution for uk,

01:36.395 --> 01:40.885
but, it's the best.

01:41.465 --> 01:45.005
The American people are very strange

01:45.145 --> 01:49.005
and somewhat difficult, rambunctious set of people.

01:50.155 --> 01:54.765
This constitution is admirably designed for us, not for you.

01:55.185 --> 01:57.885
So the key to our constitution is

01:57.885 --> 02:00.045
that it really was our founding.

02:01.215 --> 02:04.955
Uh, there was no United States before the Constitution.

02:05.105 --> 02:09.035
This contrasts with all your, my European friends.

02:09.355 --> 02:10.835
I mean, there was, there was France

02:10.895 --> 02:12.515
before there was a republic.

02:13.015 --> 02:16.355
Um, there was certainly England,

02:16.855 --> 02:18.515
before the rise of Parliament.

02:18.615 --> 02:20.635
But, but we founded ourselves.

02:21.985 --> 02:23.405
And that's really important

02:23.475 --> 02:26.125
because our co mo,

02:26.195 --> 02:30.205
many constitutions ri everybody has a written constitution

02:30.305 --> 02:32.005
now that's just dere.

02:32.105 --> 02:34.565
But in most places, it's only part

02:34.565 --> 02:37.605
of what's important in the governing of the country.

02:38.225 --> 02:42.065
For us, it's the essence. It's who we are.

02:43.055 --> 02:46.315
It, it really does found us as a people.

02:46.775 --> 02:51.475
The right to bear arms does arise from our revolutionary

02:52.115 --> 02:54.595
heritage, and from, I'm sorry to say,

02:54.615 --> 02:58.835
the oppression we suffered from Britain. Militias

02:58.915 --> 03:03.605
Were formed in all the colonies, local militias,

03:03.715 --> 03:06.965
farmers, and, you know, merchants who

03:07.505 --> 03:11.885
on imagine Saturday morning, came to the town green

03:12.065 --> 03:14.405
and oiled their muskets and,

03:14.505 --> 03:17.645
and, hopefully practiced a little shooting.

03:18.765 --> 03:21.345
So it's, it, it's ingrained in us.

03:22.585 --> 03:27.025
And when you, most, most people,

03:27.085 --> 03:29.425
in the Northeast don't buy any of this.

03:29.925 --> 03:31.225
But this is a big country.

03:31.845 --> 03:34.425
And I'm telling you, I'm recently back from Ohio,

03:35.045 --> 03:37.745
and people who live in rural areas where

03:37.975 --> 03:42.615
that are very lightly policed, they, they would

03:43.275 --> 03:44.735
not give up their guns.

03:45.035 --> 03:48.375
And they have the, the advantage

03:48.565 --> 03:51.935
that it is written into our Bill of rights, which is part

03:51.935 --> 03:52.935
of the Constitution.

03:53.475 --> 03:56.455
The criticisms, I, I think there are of, of

03:57.085 --> 03:58.615
several different kinds.

03:59.115 --> 04:01.775
One is just the specific criticism

04:02.405 --> 04:06.655
against the non-democratic aspects of our constitution.

04:07.315 --> 04:10.615
The way we elect a president is not fully democratic.

04:11.955 --> 04:15.015
The way we have every, every state

04:15.655 --> 04:19.495
represented equally in our upper house, which, unlike yours,

04:19.635 --> 04:22.615
is equally powerful, in some ways more powerful.

04:23.045 --> 04:24.215
It's undemocratic.

04:24.285 --> 04:27.655
There's no, our system of federalism,

04:27.655 --> 04:31.015
which allows different, states to go off

04:31.075 --> 04:34.935
and to very, very different directions is undemocratic.

04:36.075 --> 04:40.095
So it's a powerful ca it's a powerful argument.

04:40.315 --> 04:43.655
And so there's efforts to ref, to change the Senate,

04:43.835 --> 04:45.575
to change the electoral college,

04:45.995 --> 04:50.335
to reform the Supreme Court, which doesn't exactly require

04:50.855 --> 04:51.895
constitutional amendment,

04:52.155 --> 04:54.095
but is our, our view, the way

04:54.095 --> 04:57.335
of our Supreme Court is deeply ingrained in our

04:57.695 --> 04:59.695
constitutional tradition, I think.

04:59.855 --> 05:01.655
I think those are the biggest ones.

05:01.955 --> 05:05.015
Um, and then there's a broader critique

05:05.945 --> 05:07.105
I call the critique.

05:07.165 --> 05:11.265
Not so much of the letter as the spirit of the Constitution,

05:11.895 --> 05:16.345
that it's anti-democratic egalitarian,

05:16.735 --> 05:20.545
fosters materialism, excessively capitalistic.

05:20.925 --> 05:25.385
Uh, there there's a sense that we as a people have,

05:26.125 --> 05:30.195
have, have taken too much,

05:31.595 --> 05:35.515
credence in a kind of 18th century view of the world.

05:36.525 --> 05:38.385
So I, I would combine those two.

05:38.895 --> 05:41.385
Well, let me speak to the Great Society.

05:41.925 --> 05:44.385
I'm old enough to have lived through the Great Society.

05:44.565 --> 05:47.625
So I feel that both is a certain kind of affection

05:47.725 --> 05:51.185
and certainly a certain kind of experiential knowledge

05:51.245 --> 05:53.745
of the, of the Great Society.

05:54.155 --> 05:57.925
Great society is a, is a great place for us

05:58.065 --> 05:59.285
to look at a theme

05:59.315 --> 06:03.485
that we raise in the book called The Constitutional Grain.

06:04.585 --> 06:07.885
We are, we're saying just like, in,

06:08.025 --> 06:11.045
in furniture building, you wanna stick with the grain.

06:12.025 --> 06:16.315
The Constitution really does help

06:17.495 --> 06:20.715
orient us, I think, to see that there are certain ways

06:20.815 --> 06:24.155
to do reform that are in the constitutional grain,

06:24.625 --> 06:29.075
certain forms of, of reform that are against the grain.

06:29.915 --> 06:33.055
So John, the, the Great Society had both.

06:33.905 --> 06:35.695
Let's talk about, talk about the whole

06:35.695 --> 06:37.175
Johnson administration.

06:38.415 --> 06:41.235
So the Civil Rights acts of 64

06:41.295 --> 06:43.515
and 1965 are

06:44.955 --> 06:48.555
probably the most important, in the constitution,

06:48.615 --> 06:50.755
in the grain reforms of the,

06:50.975 --> 06:53.115
of our modern history, right?

06:53.495 --> 06:57.515
We just simply, made,

06:58.215 --> 06:59.875
discrimination on the basis

07:00.055 --> 07:03.515
of race in public accommodations in,

07:04.555 --> 07:07.315
eateries in, employment.

07:07.615 --> 07:12.075
Uh, and then most importantly in the 65 Act voting,

07:14.415 --> 07:16.585
this was the kind of, well,

07:16.705 --> 07:19.385
I would call it a conservative revolution,

07:19.455 --> 07:22.665
because it, it really did change America,

07:23.045 --> 07:27.145
but well within the, the grain of our, of our constitution.

07:28.045 --> 07:31.705
But the great society also,

07:33.705 --> 07:36.755
went against the constitutional grain.

07:37.055 --> 07:41.755
Uh, probably the clearest example, well,

07:41.755 --> 07:44.835
first of all, affirmative action was born in the,

07:44.855 --> 07:47.795
in the great society, even though it's not in,

07:48.025 --> 07:52.275
it's not at all in the civil rights laws, never has been.

07:53.385 --> 07:56.005
But, Johnson went beyond the law.

07:56.145 --> 08:00.485
He was so moved by the plight of African Americans

08:00.485 --> 08:04.285
that he said, you know, it's not enough to just set up a a,

08:04.385 --> 08:06.045
put it letting everybody get

08:06.045 --> 08:08.285
to the starting gate at the same time.

08:08.515 --> 08:12.365
Because if some people have lousy footwear

08:12.545 --> 08:14.005
and haven't been coached

08:14.065 --> 08:18.285
and bad nutrition, it's not enough for them to just get

08:18.285 --> 08:20.245
to the starting gate at the same time.

08:21.275 --> 08:24.975
So the whole idea of affirmative action was to give special

08:25.535 --> 08:30.335
consideration to a, a particular race of people.

08:30.955 --> 08:34.335
And there's, I have enormous sympathy with this idea,

08:35.075 --> 08:39.495
except it is so flagrantly unconstitutional,

08:39.955 --> 08:42.455
and it, in its actual

08:43.925 --> 08:45.095
what it amounted to.

08:45.275 --> 08:49.335
In fact, and this was even clear in the very first executive

08:49.345 --> 08:53.615
order that Johnson issued to implement affirmative action.

08:54.275 --> 08:57.015
It was quotas. It was quotas.

08:57.515 --> 08:59.295
You can't really do that kind.

08:59.395 --> 09:02.615
You can do affirmative action in a very positive way

09:02.835 --> 09:07.735
by literally, you know, searching out minority applicants,

09:08.035 --> 09:11.095
certainly providing all kinds of opportunity

09:11.195 --> 09:13.295
for remedial education.

09:13.835 --> 09:16.695
Uh, I'm so proud that my school,

09:16.695 --> 09:20.615
Boston College now has started a two year separate school

09:21.435 --> 09:25.375
for, disadvantaged high school graduates

09:25.395 --> 09:26.855
to bring them up to speed.

09:27.065 --> 09:29.455
Right? You can say that's good affirmative action,

09:30.435 --> 09:34.895
bad affirmative action, of course means quotas, which

09:36.055 --> 09:37.815
violates the, the letter

09:37.995 --> 09:41.415
and the spirit of the Constitution, life, liberty,

09:41.635 --> 09:43.895
the pursuit of happiness assembly.

09:44.545 --> 09:47.855
Every imaginable political question

09:47.855 --> 09:50.375
of political liberty is settled

09:50.595 --> 09:53.775
by the Constitution in favor of liberty.

09:55.175 --> 09:58.995
Now, the interesting modern phenomenon is the extension

09:58.995 --> 10:00.835
of rights beyond

10:00.905 --> 10:05.515
what you might say government can't do to,

10:05.615 --> 10:10.475
rights that we, that that have become largely part

10:10.495 --> 10:14.355
of the, public understanding,

10:15.235 --> 10:17.875
a right to security in your old age.

10:18.915 --> 10:23.905
The United States has that, more recently, the right

10:24.045 --> 10:27.335
to, medical care, despite

10:27.765 --> 10:29.975
what you may hear in some circles.

10:30.435 --> 10:35.375
Uh, the, the US covers medical care for everybody,

10:35.555 --> 10:36.855
as well as anybody else.

10:37.045 --> 10:38.735
Well, I'm not saying anybody, you know,

10:38.755 --> 10:40.775
the Scandinavians always do better,

10:41.435 --> 10:44.335
but I, I think we compare quite favorably to Britain

10:44.395 --> 10:45.735
and France, Germany.

10:46.315 --> 10:50.735
Um, you know, now we have discussion of a right to,

10:51.275 --> 10:55.335
a stable climate, a right

10:55.435 --> 10:56.615
to clean air.

10:56.895 --> 10:59.415
I mean, these, these are very much in the

10:59.415 --> 11:00.695
realm of discussion.

11:01.175 --> 11:03.535
I think they, they're extremely difficult matters,

11:03.835 --> 11:08.055
but Constitution does not prevent any of that.

11:08.515 --> 11:10.335
Uh, if the people,

11:11.315 --> 11:14.935
if the people's Representatives wanna pass laws

11:15.205 --> 11:18.495
that are very protective of environment,

11:20.015 --> 11:22.415
constitution is, is quite neutral on that.

11:23.295 --> 11:27.695
The Constitution is a

11:27.825 --> 11:29.215
capitalist document.

11:30.585 --> 11:35.165
If you don't like capitalism, you are, I think, quite free

11:35.185 --> 11:37.885
to not like the, the Constitution.

11:38.725 --> 11:41.645
Remember I said that the Constitution was written for the,

11:41.785 --> 11:43.925
for the people that were there.

11:45.445 --> 11:46.855
America was then

11:47.115 --> 11:51.775
and is now an extraordinarily enterprising nation.

11:52.645 --> 11:54.175
People love

11:56.475 --> 11:57.725
private property.

11:58.235 --> 12:01.925
They love the ability to compete that as long

12:01.925 --> 12:05.685
as it's protected by some broad notion of equal opportunity,

12:07.125 --> 12:11.185
that holds, that can be called capitalism.

12:11.585 --> 12:15.665
I, I think that's a little too, reified.

12:15.775 --> 12:19.265
What I think it really re we are an enterprising people.

12:20.545 --> 12:22.905
Japanese are an enterprising people, right?

12:22.905 --> 12:25.385
We're not the only enterprising people in the world,

12:25.485 --> 12:29.865
but since we are that way, we have a constitution

12:29.865 --> 12:31.025
that reflects that.

12:31.645 --> 12:35.305
If you are able-bodied, if you are, if you are poor,

12:35.565 --> 12:38.625
you are entitled to help from the government.

12:38.885 --> 12:43.305
But if you are able-bodied poor, you must work.

12:44.535 --> 12:46.945
It's not enough to say you're training to work,

12:47.205 --> 12:51.305
you're looking to work, you must work.

12:52.485 --> 12:54.705
And it also is time limited.

12:55.565 --> 12:58.505
You can only stay on for a few years at a time

12:58.845 --> 13:00.265
to a total of five.

13:01.845 --> 13:06.425
And this has been an extraordinarily successful reform.

13:07.275 --> 13:11.015
It, it gave the right incentives to, to,

13:11.515 --> 13:16.345
to poor people, who in the previous regime,

13:16.445 --> 13:20.105
it was very hard for them to really

13:20.615 --> 13:22.625
have a great motivation to work

13:22.625 --> 13:25.985
because the amount of money they would make working,

13:26.555 --> 13:29.745
might not be all that much greater than

13:29.745 --> 13:31.985
what they could get from the government dole.

13:33.995 --> 13:37.975
But interestingly, with this work incentive,

13:39.495 --> 13:41.095
millions of,

13:41.245 --> 13:45.235
poor people left the dole and are working.

13:45.935 --> 13:49.395
And of course, it creates all kinds of inconveniences

13:49.395 --> 13:52.435
because a lot of this is aimed at,

13:52.825 --> 13:54.275
mothers with young children.

13:56.045 --> 14:00.905
But, first of all, there is embedded in most states,

14:01.125 --> 14:04.865
welfare reform, some real efforts at improving,

14:05.205 --> 14:06.305
daycare.

14:07.675 --> 14:12.265
And of course, you know, other working poor women had

14:12.265 --> 14:13.665
to, had to find daycare.

14:14.765 --> 14:18.465
So one of the things that welfare reform does is to

14:19.215 --> 14:21.585
abolish this invidious distinction

14:21.585 --> 14:25.785
between working poor women and welfare women.

14:26.765 --> 14:30.565
The main argument, is really quite simple,

14:30.785 --> 14:35.165
and I, it, it requires, returning, sort

14:35.165 --> 14:39.085
of emphasizing the theme that, we didn't discuss yet.

14:39.185 --> 14:42.085
But it's one of the most important themes of the book.

14:42.635 --> 14:46.325
Modernity presents terrible challenges

14:47.355 --> 14:48.975
to Republican democracy.

14:50.515 --> 14:54.455
The size, the mass, the, the modern state is huge.

14:54.845 --> 14:58.615
It's heterodox, it's fractionated.

14:59.755 --> 15:04.335
Um, it's very difficult for people to exercise the kind

15:04.335 --> 15:07.255
of democratic, participation

15:07.445 --> 15:12.215
that was possible in Athens that was possible in the,

15:12.365 --> 15:15.615
wonderful town, townships of New England.

15:16.235 --> 15:18.295
Uh, no, this isn't gonna work.

15:19.625 --> 15:22.565
You need a mitigated form of democracy.

15:22.945 --> 15:26.605
The popular will cannot directly

15:27.495 --> 15:32.005
unfettered expressions of the popular will lack the kinds

15:32.185 --> 15:35.965
of, checks,

15:36.195 --> 15:40.085
that are required to keep, to keep a stable government.

15:40.865 --> 15:44.885
So all these non-democratic aspects of the Constitution,

15:45.825 --> 15:48.965
and they are there as we've, I think I've already mentioned,

15:49.035 --> 15:52.485
that America's not a democracy, sorry,

15:53.395 --> 15:54.455
that's purposeful.

15:56.715 --> 16:00.445
What we do is we, we create not obstacles

16:00.545 --> 16:04.245
to democracies, hurdles for democracy.

16:05.285 --> 16:08.785
In the long run, the popular will wins out.

16:11.205 --> 16:14.695
It's a question of restraining it, of creating

16:16.035 --> 16:20.295
arenas for serious deliberation, which is what our House

16:20.295 --> 16:23.175
of Representatives and Senate are supposed to be.

16:23.955 --> 16:27.095
If we have time, we can see why that's not working so well.

16:27.275 --> 16:28.935
But I don't know if we have time for that.

16:29.555 --> 16:33.435
Um, so the emphasis of the,

16:34.995 --> 16:39.435
constitution is mitigated democracy to provide the time

16:39.575 --> 16:42.035
and space for deliberation.

16:42.375 --> 16:45.795
And, you know, both sides prevent challenges. To what?

16:45.815 --> 16:47.435
To the constitutional grain.

16:48.175 --> 16:50.275
The emphasis is always on Trump.

16:50.935 --> 16:53.435
And, the risks that he poses.

16:53.535 --> 16:57.595
And those are, Adam braided by January 6th.

16:58.535 --> 17:03.485
So, I, I don't pretend to be sanguine, about Trump.

17:04.085 --> 17:08.325
I, I have a strong sense in the residual strength

17:08.385 --> 17:09.725
of our institutions.

17:10.485 --> 17:14.045
I, I don't think we're going to, descend

17:14.065 --> 17:15.685
to fascism under Trump,

17:16.725 --> 17:19.665
but the Democrats, have been,

17:19.965 --> 17:21.905
saying mostly responsible

17:22.045 --> 17:24.185
for a whole trend in our government

17:24.215 --> 17:28.065
that I talk about at some length in the book of

17:28.735 --> 17:32.975
replacing a constitution based

17:33.525 --> 17:36.725
essentially on representation

17:37.145 --> 17:40.965
and deliberation with a cons, with a, an actual government

17:41.025 --> 17:45.885
that's run mostly by government agencies and courts.

17:46.795 --> 17:48.125
This is profoundly

17:48.345 --> 17:51.045
Anti-democratic, and, and

17:51.045 --> 17:54.525
because of the total lack of democratic accountability,

17:55.365 --> 17:56.885
a totally anti-Republican.

17:57.145 --> 17:59.205
So both sides present challenges

17:59.275 --> 18:01.925
that Trump is the more flamboyant challenge.

"Defending the Foundations: The Resilience and Critique of American Constitutionalism"

00:00:00 - Defending American constitutionalism, which wouldn't need defense if it wasn't under such absolutely, vast attack from law, professors, journalists, other political scientists, they, there's a famous headline in the New York Times by two Harvard law professors, or, no, I think the two Harvard Political Science professors. The Constitution is broken and cannot be redeemed. It's obsolete. It's undemocratic, it's egalitarian. It, it, it fosters greed.
00:00:47 - of the criticism. So that was our immediate aim. This, this has to be responded to. But our larger aim, we do have a larger aim. And that, that's really to, to give a, a, a sense of why our constitutional order, is so well constructed to enable the United States to retain a Republican democracy in the face of all the challenges that modernity offers. And I, I do wanna add, you, you have to,
00:01:25 - You, you have to build a constitution for the people you have. I'm not saying this is the best constitution for uk, but, it's the best. The American people are very strange and somewhat difficult, rambunctious set of people. This constitution is admirably designed for us, not for you. So the key to our constitution is that it really was our founding. there was no United States before the Constitution.
00:02:09 - I mean, there was, there was France before there was a republic. there was certainly England, before the rise of Parliament. But, but we founded ourselves. And that's really important because our co mo, many constitutions ri everybody has a written constitution now that's just dere. But in most places, it's only part of what's important in the governing of the country. For us, it's the essence. It's who we are. It, it really does found us as a people.
00:02:52 - heritage, and from, I'm sorry to say, the oppression we suffered from Britain. Militias Were formed in all the colonies, local militias, farmers, and, you know, merchants who on imagine Saturday morning, came to the town green and oiled their muskets and, and, hopefully practiced a little shooting. So it's, it, it's ingrained in us. And when you, most, most people,
00:03:29 - But this is a big country. And I'm telling you, I'm recently back from Ohio, and people who live in rural areas where that are very lightly policed, they, they would not give up their guns. And they have the, the advantage that it is written into our Bill of rights, which is part of the Constitution. The criticisms, I, I think there are of, of several different kinds. One is just the specific criticism against the non-democratic aspects of our constitution.

Title: "Evaluating the Critiques and Legacy of American Constitutional Democracy"

00:04:11 - The way we have every, every state represented equally in our upper house, which, unlike yours, is equally powerful, in some ways more powerful. It's undemocratic. There's no, our system of federalism, which allows different, states to go off and to very, very different directions is undemocratic. So it's a powerful ca it's a powerful argument. And so there's efforts to ref, to change the Senate, to change the electoral college, to reform the Supreme Court, which doesn't exactly require
00:04:52 - but is our, our view, the way of our Supreme Court is deeply ingrained in our constitutional tradition, I think. I think those are the biggest ones. and then there's a broader critique I call the critique. Not so much of the letter as the spirit of the Constitution, that it's anti-democratic egalitarian, fosters materialism, excessively capitalistic. there there's a sense that we as a people have, have, have taken too much,
00:05:36 - So I, I would combine those two. Well, let me speak to the Great Society. I'm old enough to have lived through the Great Society. So I feel that both is a certain kind of affection and certainly a certain kind of experiential knowledge of the, of the Great Society. Great society is a, is a great place for us to look at a theme that we raise in the book called The Constitutional Grain. We are, we're saying just like, in, in furniture building, you wanna stick with the grain.
00:06:17 - orient us, I think, to see that there are certain ways to do reform that are in the constitutional grain, certain forms of, of reform that are against the grain. So John, the, the Great Society had both. Let's talk about, talk about the whole Johnson administration. So the Civil Rights acts of 64 and 1965 are probably the most important, in the constitution, in the grain reforms of the, of our modern history, right?
00:06:58 - discrimination on the basis of race in public accommodations in, eateries in, employment. and then most importantly in the 65 Act voting, this was the kind of, well, I would call it a conservative revolution, because it, it really did change America, but well within the, the grain of our, of our constitution. But the great society also,
00:07:37 - probably the clearest example, well, first of all, affirmative action was born in the, in the great society, even though it's not in, it's not at all in the civil rights laws, never has been. But, Johnson went beyond the law. He was so moved by the plight of African Americans that he said, you know, it's not enough to just set up a a, put it letting everybody get to the starting gate at the same time. Because if some people have lousy footwear and haven't been coached

"Affirmative Action and the Constitutional Landscape: Navigating Rights and Responsibilities"

00:08:18 - to the starting gate at the same time. So the whole idea of affirmative action was to give special consideration to a, a particular race of people. And there's, I have enormous sympathy with this idea, except it is so flagrantly unconstitutional, and it, in its actual what it amounted to. In fact, and this was even clear in the very first executive order that Johnson issued to implement affirmative action.
00:08:57 - You can't really do that kind. You can do affirmative action in a very positive way by literally, you know, searching out minority applicants, certainly providing all kinds of opportunity for remedial education. I'm so proud that my school, Boston College now has started a two year separate school for, disadvantaged high school graduates to bring them up to speed. Right? You can say that's good affirmative action, bad affirmative action, of course means quotas, which
00:09:37 - and the spirit of the Constitution, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness assembly. Every imaginable political question of political liberty is settled by the Constitution in favor of liberty. Now, the interesting modern phenomenon is the extension of rights beyond what you might say government can't do to, rights that we, that that have become largely part of the, public understanding, a right to security in your old age.
00:10:24 - to, medical care, despite what you may hear in some circles. the, the US covers medical care for everybody, as well as anybody else. Well, I'm not saying anybody, you know, the Scandinavians always do better, but I, I think we compare quite favorably to Britain and France, Germany. you know, now we have discussion of a right to, a stable climate, a right to clean air. I mean, these, these are very much in the
00:11:01 - I think they, they're extremely difficult matters, but Constitution does not prevent any of that. if the people, if the people's Representatives wanna pass laws that are very protective of environment, constitution is, is quite neutral on that. The Constitution is a capitalist document. If you don't like capitalism, you are, I think, quite free to not like the, the Constitution. Remember I said that the Constitution was written for the,
00:11:45 - America was then and is now an extraordinarily enterprising nation. People love private property. They love the ability to compete that as long as it's protected by some broad notion of equal opportunity, that holds, that can be called capitalism. I, I think that's a little too, reified. What I think it really re we are an enterprising people. Japanese are an enterprising people, right?

"Navigating Welfare Reform and Democratic Challenges in Modern America"

00:12:25 - but since we are that way, we have a constitution that reflects that. If you are able-bodied, if you are, if you are poor, you are entitled to help from the government. But if you are able-bodied poor, you must work. It's not enough to say you're training to work, you're looking to work, you must work. And it also is time limited. You can only stay on for a few years at a time to a total of five. And this has been an extraordinarily successful reform.
00:13:11 - to poor people, who in the previous regime, it was very hard for them to really have a great motivation to work because the amount of money they would make working, might not be all that much greater than what they could get from the government dole. But interestingly, with this work incentive, millions of, poor people left the dole and are working. And of course, it creates all kinds of inconveniences
00:13:52 - mothers with young children. But, first of all, there is embedded in most states, welfare reform, some real efforts at improving, daycare. And of course, you know, other working poor women had to, had to find daycare. So one of the things that welfare reform does is to abolish this invidious distinction between working poor women and welfare women. The main argument, is really quite simple,
00:14:35 - of emphasizing the theme that, we didn't discuss yet. But it's one of the most important themes of the book. Modernity presents terrible challenges to Republican democracy. The size, the mass, the, the modern state is huge. It's heterodox, it's fractionated. it's very difficult for people to exercise the kind of democratic, participation that was possible in Athens that was possible in the,
00:15:16 - no, this isn't gonna work. You need a mitigated form of democracy. The popular will cannot directly unfettered expressions of the popular will lack the kinds of, checks, that are required to keep, to keep a stable government. So all these non-democratic aspects of the Constitution, and they are there as we've, I think I've already mentioned, that America's not a democracy, sorry,
00:15:56 - What we do is we, we create not obstacles to democracies, hurdles for democracy. In the long run, the popular will wins out. It's a question of restraining it, of creating arenas for serious deliberation, which is what our House of Representatives and Senate are supposed to be. If we have time, we can see why that's not working so well. But I don't know if we have time for that. so the emphasis of the,

"Challenges to Constitutionalism: Trump, Democracy, and Institutional Resilience"

00:16:39 - and space for deliberation. And, you know, both sides prevent challenges. To what? To the constitutional grain. The emphasis is always on Trump. And, the risks that he poses. And those are, Adam braided by January 6th. So, I, I don't pretend to be sanguine, about Trump. I, I have a strong sense in the residual strength of our institutions. I, I don't think we're going to, descend to fascism under Trump,
00:17:19 - saying mostly responsible for a whole trend in our government that I talk about at some length in the book of replacing a constitution based essentially on representation and deliberation with a cons, with a, an actual government that's run mostly by government agencies and courts. This is profoundly Anti-democratic, and, and because of the total lack of democratic accountability, a totally anti-Republican.
00:17:59 - that Trump is the more flamboyant challenge.

Faculti AI can make mistakes

Faculti

Popular in Political Science

Entrepreneurial thinking: the politics and practice of policy impact

Parties and Elections: An End to Canadian Exceptionalism?

The Politics of Knowledge in Development

Fifty years of declining confidence and increasing polarization in trust

The Opening Dilemma

Wait and See?

The Colonialist Roots of Democratic Decay

Keeping the Republic

Next in American Politics

Guide

Platform and Category Pages

Contact Us

FAQs

What is Faculti?

How do you select interviews?

Interview Process

Page Structure

Popular in Political Science

Guide

Platform and Category Pages

Contact Us

FAQs

What is Faculti?

How do you select interviews?

Interview Process

Accessibility Options

Contrast Adjustment

Text Size Adjustment

Text Spacing Adjustment

Line Height Adjustment

Cursor Size Adjustment

Page Structure Options

Page Structure