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One sometimes hears it said that, in America, every citizen is sovereign. The opposite is nearer the truth: In America, no one is sovereign. This is vital to the American understanding of rule of law. The word sovereign has more than one meaning, and is applied both as noun and as…continue reading →

As we have discussed in previous posts, the Framers were brilliant men who had deeply studied the lessons of history, and they sought to establish a Constitutional order fit for the realities of human nature as seen in the light of experience. Nevertheless, they knew they were doing a new…continue reading →

In our last post, we discussed the Constitution as an extraordinary intellectual achievement by men of extraordinary ability, who had deeply steeped themselves in the lessons of history.  Those lessons were debated, sometimes heatedly, both in the Convention itself and in the ratification debate which followed. It was from the…continue reading →

In the previous post, where we discussed the Constitution as law, we of necessity also discussed the basis for its legitimacy. We asserted that its ratification by the legislatures representing the people of the original States made it binding on those States and their people.  The people and territorial legislatures…continue reading →

The Constitution declares itself to be "the supreme Law of the Land" (Supremacy Clause).  If we are to take this declaration seriously, we must first take seriously the concept of the rule of law; understand what "law of the land" (lex terrae) means, particularly when modified as supreme; and understand the…continue reading →

Our whole system is set up to keep the government from becoming the State. --Jonah Goldberg   What does it mean to take the U.S. Constitution seriously? In the first place, it means taking the U.S. Constitution seriously as law.  The Constitution declares itself the supreme law of the land,…continue reading →

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. Recess appointments were a regular and not too controversial part of American politics until the last two years…continue reading →