Outside the Beltway

Are we betraying the Founders?

When checks and balances aren’t enough.

A mere technicality?

A proposal by Jamell Bouie

More on primaries with a foray into Madison and the general politics of power-seekers and incentives.

A bloc of moderates is not coming to a Senate near you.

Even the smartest designers can’t anticipate all the flaws with the rules they write.

Yet another reminder about pathologies of US democracy.

America’s institutions are undemocratic but only some of them are a product of the Constitution.

Gridlock doesn’t mean government stops. It just shifts who is governing.

The election appeal.

To defang impeachment is an invitation for presidents to ignore the rule of law.

The House Judiciary Committee has issued its report on the impeachment of President Trump.

Given the times we live in, you may be tempted to argue about politics tomorrow. Here’s my advice — don’t do it.

George Washington invented the concept and was quite clear that it did not apply to impeachment proceedings.

The time for sitting on the sidelines is over. Donald Trump cannot be allowed to get away with his usurpation of power, his disdain for the law, or his continued policies that have damaged the country.

For a change not by me.

In this case, Rich Lowry’s.

In a significant setback for challenges to partisan gerrymandering, the Supreme Court has effectively ruled that Federal Courts do not have jurisdiction to hear challenges to redistricting based on partisan motivations.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has entered the race for the Democratic nomination for President, making him the 23rd candidate in an already crowded field.

Princeton historian Sean Wilentz lays to rest a pernicious idea propagated by . . . Princeton historian Sean Wilentz.

Already the longest-serving former President, he’ll pass George H.W. Bush as the longest-living tomorrow.

One of the strongest climate regulations in the country is almost certainly unconstitutional.

The Republican Party’s nominee for Senator in Virginia really is as bad as you’ve heard, probably worse.

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez is running for a third term under a dark ethical cloud. That probably won’t matter.

Madison was right about politicians and ambition. He just didn’t see the how it would all play out.

The dean of conservative columnists argues that the Republican Congress must be taught a lesson.

A Federal Judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to invalidate Federal laws against marijuana use and possession.

A Federal Court in New York City is set to hear argument tomorrow in a case that essentially argues that a large swath of Federal laws regarding marijuana are unconstitutional.

And a little Electoral College for good measure.

A Federal Court in North Carolina has issued a stinging ruling against the partisan gerrymandering undertaken by the Republican legislature in that state.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a second case dealing with political Gerrymandering.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear its first case on partisan gerrymandering in more than ten years, but opponents of the practice shouldn’t start celebrating just yet.

#RulesMatter

Be clear on what one is defending.

Concepts, basic applications, and even a bibliography! Merry Festivus, everyone.

The rise of Trump and Sanders has resurrected a debate as old as Western civilization.

Donald Trump is trolling the depths of the Internet’s conspiracy dungeons once again. This time to raise the largely absurd argument that Marco Rubio may not be eligible to serve as President.

SCOTUS has upheld the use of election commissions to draw Congressional district lines.

Hillary Clinton continues to look more inevitable by the day, but Joe Biden doesn’t want to go away just yet.

Today is a day for turkey and football, not a day for politics.

Two Duke University academics make an incredibly weak, ultimately unpersuasive, argument in favor of eliminating midterm elections by changing the length of Congressional terms.

When I saw the entry at memeorandum proclaiming that “Wikipedia Is Now Trying To Eliminate The Federalist’s Online Entry,” I was flummoxed.

Back to the Ten Commandments and Alabama politics.

Many who speak with great passion about the Constitution rather frequently make anti-Federalist arguments.

The line “don’t know much about history” comes to mind.