Charles Jett’s Post

Happy Constitution Day! I recently read Yuval Levin's brilliant new book, "American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation—and Could Again". It's the kind of book that should be included in AP American history, college courses on political science and American history, and law school seminars on the Constitution. Yuval has lots of compelling lessons on federalism, pluralism, the importance of institutions, the nationalization of our politics, the specific ways that Congress is failing, Madison's vision vs. Woodrow Wilson's, the problems with the administrative state, and the ways in which the Constitution not only restrains the worst impulses of the majority but also shapes and improves public behavior. The most frequent phrase in the book is some variation of how the Constitution helps us "act together even when we don't think alike." I counted 16 times. One of my favorite passages is the final two paragraphs: “American politics is an endless argument among people who share a history, a geography, a culture, a national character, and a set of broad commitments in common and who owe each other something. We sometimes disagree intensely, but what we disagree about is how to live out the shared promise of our country together. Those with whom we disagree in our society are not our enemies; they are our neighbors. They are not out to do harm to our country; they differ with us about what would be good for it. To love our country is to love them too—even when they do not make it easy. We should not allow ourselves to fall into hysterical fear of the supposed advances and victories of these ideological adversaries. They are struggling and mostly failing, just as we are. Our system of government makes sure that they have to persuade a substantial portion of our society for an extended period of time before they could get their way on any matter of real substance, just as we do. This helps us keep our balance as a nation, and avoid large mistakes. And it forces us to act together, even when we do not think alike.  “The Constitution thereby offers us the hope of greater unity. We should be cheered by that hope. And we should be profoundly grateful for the glorious fact that we all get to be Americans together.” Russell Roberts hosted an excellent podcast interview with Yuval, which is a great summary of the book. https://lnkd.in/ggz9-hsp American Enterprise Institute

📣 Join Chief Network Weaver Julia Roig & Director for Race and Democracy Jarvis Williams at the upcoming conference at the Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley for the session they are leading with Míriam Juan-Torres González and Kazu Haga: “We are facing a moment in history that requires us to develop new organizing modalities. We have to come together to BLOCK the threats we are facing to our democratic values, we need to BRIDGE across differences to foster broad-based movements with the widest participation, and we have to BUILD together the future we want to live within our communities. In the quest to realize belonging for all, protect democracy, and combat authoritarian populism, movements have to be and do several things at once: how do we step into the many paradoxes of being both in resistance and restorative? How do we stay future-oriented and hopeful while acknowledging and redressing past and current harms? Can we reconcile the need for spaciousness to envision the future we want to create and act with the urgency that the current threats demand? Sometimes, as a result of these tensions movements break internally, instead of navigating and, at times, embracing these tensions to achieve higher shared goals. In this session, we will interrogate these seeming tensions (some of which are false binaries) and collectively investigate how we can wrestle – in practice – with those paradoxes, allowing us to move forward together with the broadest participation possible along many lines of difference.” See you in Oakland!! https://lnkd.in/er4S5mWj

📣 Our VP of Education + External Affairs, Jose Patiño, shines a light on the crucial intersection of humanity and politics in Arizona Central. Read his compelling story on #HCR2060 here: bit.ly/jose-hcr2060

Watch Dr. Bridgett King, associate professor of political science at the University of Kentucky, share how business leaders can show investment in the civic and political process! Learn more at https://lnkd.in/eibGiF4G

The comparison between the Jacksonian era's invocation of popular sovereignty and the contemporary political landscape under Donald Trump reveals significant themes of hypocrisy, manipulation, and the selective application of democratic principles. There should the critical analysis of how these elements resonate across both historical contexts

"Kagan’s current thinking revolves around two concepts: “liberal world order” and “intervention.” In case one were tempted to miss it, the word “liberal” is encased in the first and implied in the second. His euphemism for war is intervention in defense of the “liberal world order.” He has co-opted the “l-word” and now employs it more than liberals themselves do. - democracyjournal.org (2015) Now we can see *precisely* the origins of President Hudsucker's naive and thoroughly undergraduate conception of the "rules-based order". In version one, it was cast as the "liberal world order" to appeal to the then in power Democrats. Following Trump 1.0 this was recast to "rules-based order". This was doubtless conceived as a more palatable rallying cry to the chaos of the late-Trump era in version 1.0. Of course, it is a complete fiction. The Biden "rules-based order" is *nothing* of the sort. As Former U.S. Ambassador Chas Freeman has sagely suggested: The "Rule of Law" that founded the United Nations Charter has been replaced with "Rule by Law" which is (essentially) rule by decree. You make up the rules, decide who they apply to, and whether to enforce them. Simultaneously, you tear up the UN Charter, and remove the "nation state" as the essential self-contained unit of international law. You replace this with the assertion that some nation states are not fit to rule themselves because their system does not fit with your desire. You then intervene to change that system. This is a recipe for *endless* conflict and war without purpose. It is war for the sole purpose of imposing the will of those who "Rule by Law". It is bullshit, but seductive bullshit. Large parts of NATO and certainly The Five Eyes have fallen for this crap. Fine. Either we wake up and change our minds, or we die in World War III. Take your pick which outcome you prefer. Take the cyanide of death or take the elixir of prosperity. Your choice. #NoMoreNeconCrapDownUnder

Is the doctrine of separation of powers, powerless? Columbia Law Professor Tim Wu thinks maybe so. We at the Adams Institute have long said that the Constitution only ever guaranteed the legal form of a democratic republic, but that that Constitution is powerless to preserve the political substance of one: An upright and independent middle class, continually refreshed by upward mobility. And that as our middle class erodes and middling security increases, so too will our pessimism, polarization, faction, and authoritarianism, until the people grow exhausted of the insecurity and the politics, and exchange their republic for the safety and security of the man on the horse, some great monarch-patron figure. Professor Wu's outlook on the Constitution's ability to preserve our republic, while looking at it from a different angle, doesn't seem to be any less bleak. Come check out our June 2024 letter to him, part of our open correspondence project: https://lnkd.in/eZxhYPQQ

If you value preserving our democratic republic and preventing authoritarianism, read the summaries of the first ten Federalist Papers. Authored by visionaries Madison, Hamilton, and Jay, these 1787 essays reveal critical insights on federalism, checks and balances, and the dangers of factionalism. Their timeless wisdom provides a blueprint for safeguarding our freedoms and maintaining a unified nation. Explore these summaries to understand their enduring relevance in defending our democracy. #democraticrepublic #constitution #jamesmadison #alexanderhamilton #johnjay #authoritarianism #democracy

No civic virtue, no republic, says Columbia Law Professor Tim Wu. But, no middle class, no civic virtue, says The Adams Institute: "We suggest that the term middling virtues is more precise than civic virtue. Describing the qualities essential for self-government as “civic virtue,” without linking those virtues to economic situation supports the implication that a deficit of virtue is attributable chiefly to moral failure or cultural inferiority. Those favoring this implication, often seeking refuge in their nostalgia for a homogenous Western Civilization, cannot help but attribute “civic virtue” to their cultural or religious heritage, which in turn cannot avoid creating the most invidious distinctions and animosities within such a diverse nation as the United States. In truth – and the point at which we will start our next letter to you wherein we will make our ask of you – the modesty, industry, honesty, loyalty, cooperation, and economic independence essential to republican government, are for reasons understood since Classical Antiquity derivative of moderate fortunes, where everyone has a decent stake in the commonwealth, and none too great, whoever their gods may be." In his 2020 op-ed that we cover, Tim Wu had two main takeaways: First, the idea of separation of powers doesn't actually work. We've been saying the same thing, but in a different way, and for different reasons. Second, in line with James Madison (and John Adams and George Washington and others), without civic virtue, you can't have a republic. Another point with which we agree, but we don't call it "civic virtue." We call it the "middling virtues." Because what the heck is "civic virtue?" The concurrent increase of middling insecurity along with cultural, religious, racial, and linguistic diversity in America has a lot of legacy Americans confused into thinking that "civic virtue" is synonymous with "Western Civilization." In truth, as all history shows - especially the history of Classical Antiquity where Western Civilization began - the widespread diffusion of those traits essential for self-government are derivative of a widespread diffusion of wealth in an independent middle class. Civic virtue, in other words, is less the product of culture or religion than it is the sum total of the habits and dispositions essential to a moderate and optimistic economic station. Come check out our second letter for June 2024 in our open correspondence project.

Race, Democracy, and Empire: Delegates to Congress from DC and the Territories - PDF: https://lnkd.in/gVTfWZ3h Both democracy and empire are central to American political development. Yet, the role of Congress—that organ of democratic politics—in the expansion of US empire is not well understood. This article explains how and why Congress institutionalized representation from Washington, DC and the US territories in the mid-twentieth century. We uncover the history of a puzzling position: the Congressional delegate, who is permitted to debate, but not vote. Drawing on extensive original archival research and quantitative analysis of legislative voting behavior, this article explicates how racial attitudes structured conflict over the delegate position. We highlight the centrality of racial ideas to the institutionalization of American empire in the mid-twentieth century.