An Excess of Democracy

Madison responded to Jefferson in October 1788. He denied that he had ever really opposed a bill of rights; he just didn’t think such “parchment barriers” were very important. He conceded rather halfheartedly that a bill of rights “might be of use, and if properly...

The Self Righteous Mob

From Kevin Williams at National Review, Resist? The Democrats strive mightily to invent a crisis surrounding Trump — Russia, his travel habits, the emoluments clause, etc. — but the only real crisis for them is that they lost the 2016 election. They may lose the next...

Liberalism vs Democracy

from Kevin Williams in National Review,  A Built-In Bias toward Peace We often describe our mode of government as “liberal democracy.” (As opposed to illiberal democracy, or militant democracy.) We usually think of liberalism and democracy as things that go naturally...

Was Madison Wrong?

by Henry Oliner The seduction of reform is that the ideas circulating lack the empirical flaws of the problems faced. Crisis reaches for the untried ideas. Think tanks serve to explore ideas, waiting for the next crisis to enact. Our founders studied the history of...

The Justice of Citizens United

In National Review Kevin Williamson writes The Book Burners. Citizens United, he reminds us, was about much more than big money in politics.  It was about denying the government the right to ban books and media.  It was about the upholding of our most important...