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Full-Text Articles in Law
Lessons From A Journey Through State Subnational Constitutional Law, James A. Gardner
Lessons From A Journey Through State Subnational Constitutional Law, James A. Gardner
Journal Articles
No abstract provided.
The Constitutional Convention And Constitutional Change: A Revisionist History, Matthew J. Steilen
The Constitutional Convention And Constitutional Change: A Revisionist History, Matthew J. Steilen
Journal Articles
How do we change the Federal Constitution? Article V tells us that we can amend the Constitution by calling a national convention to propose changes and then ratifying those proposals in state conventions. Conventions play this role because they represent the people in their sovereign capacity, as we learn when we read McCulloch v. Maryland.
What is not often discussed is that Article V itself contains another mechanism for constitutional change. In fact, Article V permits both conventions and leg-islatures to be used for amendment, and, as it happens, all but one of the 27 amendments to the Constitution have …
Presidential Whim, Matthew J. Steilen
Presidential Whim, Matthew J. Steilen
Journal Articles
This article describes a new body of legal literature on the presidency. In contrast to older bodies of writing, which emphasize presidential independence, this body of writing emphasizes the dependence of the executive power, and a set of moral values associated with the office: faith, faithfulness, responsibility, honesty, due care, and professionalism, among others. The article considers prospects for enforcing this vision of the presidency in light of the particular problems posed by the Trump presidency. Many writers have complained of President Trump's leadership style, which is abrupt, reflexive, dissembling, and unilateral. I refer to this as the problem of …