Tag Archives

Archive of posts published in the tag: National Affairs

The Limits of Federalism

“The kind of federalism the founders espoused was not a freewheeling endorsement of state sovereignty — they had seen how dreadful the results of that might be — but a federalism that restrained power where they had seen its worst abuses: in the states. As Hamilton would write in Federalist 15, “[w]hy has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.” It is such constraint that requires not solely federalism, but a nation.”

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Redefining Liberty

I attended a Hillsdale College Free Market Forum in Atlanta last week. I was able to meet Don Boudreaux from Café Hayek, one of my daily go to blogs, and Ronald Pestritto, a history professor at Hillsdale. Ron authored three

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When Democracy Trumps Liberty

George Will wrote an excellent piece in National Affairs, The Limits of Majority Rule.  My very brief summary and a few comments: The Progressive pivot of about 1890- but reached in full bore under FDR  is when democracy superseded liberty

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Democracy and Liberty

From National Affairs George Will writes The Limits of Majority Rule.  It is an excellent summary of the history of the court as it has moved from judicial review to activism.  The success of Progressivism has hinged on the court shifting from

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The Great Irony of Majoritarianism

From National Affairs George Will writes The Limits of Majority Rule.  I strongly recommend you read the entire essay. an excerpt: So, we must ask: How aberrant, or how frequent, are abusive majorities? A related but different question is: When legislatures, which

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The Essence of Restraint

From National Affairs George Will writes The Limits of Majority Rule. : an excerpt: If the sole, or overriding, goal of the Constitution can be reduced to establishing democracy, and if the distilled essence of democracy is that majorities shall rule in

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The Conscience of the Constitution

From National Affairs George Will writes The Limits of Majority Rule.  I strongly recommend you read the entire essay. an excerpt: Another reason many conservatives favor judicial deference and restraint is what can be called the conservative populist temptation. Conservatives are hardly

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More Than a Democracy

From National Affairs George Will writes The Limits of Majority Rule.  It is an excellent summary of the history of the court as it has moved from judicial review to activism.  The success of Progressivism has hinged on the court

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