A misinformed idea underlies much of the work of John Roberts’s Supreme Court.
Jack Rakove
Jack Rakove is the William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies and professor of political science and (by courtesy) law, emeritus, at Stanford University.
Posted inGovernment
Independence Day, From Jefferson to Reagan to Trump
The 47th president has smashed norms, enriched himself, and even bungled cleaning the Reflecting Pool. But July 4 still survives.
Posted inLaw and Justice
The Roberts Court’s Gutting of the Voting Rights Act Nears Completion
Two rulings this year, including one this month, have laid bare the court’s fundamental misinterpretation of the landmark law and the Reconstruction Era Constitutional amendments that transformed America.
Posted inLaw and Justice
Playing the Grinch at America’s 250th Birthday Party
How do we celebrate the moment amidst the Trump-era constitutional collapse?
Posted inMagazine
What’s Wrong with The American Revolution by Ken Burns
The acclaimed filmmaker’s latest PBS series is long on muskets and bayonets, but the political history of the Revolution remains strangely understated.
Posted inLaw and Justice
The Great Might-Have-Been of the Constitutional Convention
The U.S. Senate was almost structured very differently in ways that would have dramatically altered the chamber and America.
Posted inLaw and Justice
It’s Not Just a Constitutional Crisis in the Trump Era. It’s Constitutional Failure
The problem isn’t just the crisis of the administration defying the courts. It’s the failure of the legislative and judicial branches to check the president.
