Because Article V demands supermajorities that are unattainable in a polarized era, formal constitutional change has stalled. Both parties increasingly route major policy shifts through executive orders and Supreme Court rulings instead of amendments, sidelining voters in foundational decisions.
— If durable reform is funneled through courts and the presidency, democratic legitimacy weakens and the risk of executive overreach and institutional backlash grows.
2026.09.10
82% relevant
The newsletter’s lead item documents how presidents since 9/11 have repeatedly invoked emergency powers for crises (2008 financial crisis, Covid, tariffs), supporting the broader claim that political stalemate in legislatures and constitutional amendment paralysis pushes policy-making into the executive branch.
Michael W. McConnell
2026.09.09
85% relevant
The article documents how a one‑time national emergency (Proclamation 7463) became a perpetual legal and political baseline as successive presidents extended emergency powers, thereby concentrating authority in the executive; this maps directly to the existing idea that when formal constitutional change (amendment) stalls, political adaptation shifts power into executive prerogatives.
Ilya Shapiro, Rafael A. Mangual
2026.04.23
66% relevant
Hosts discuss the scope of executive power and the role of independent agencies, and anticipate how Court composition and retirements could shift doctrine — tying into the existing pattern that legislative gridlock pushes policy making into executive and administrative channels contested before the Court.
Cass Sunstein
2026.03.05
75% relevant
The article emphasizes constitutional checks (separation of powers) as barriers to the 'dark impulses' of powerful actors; that connects to the existing idea that when constitutional amendment pathways stall, pressure shifts to executives who expand authority — both diagnose institutional failure modes that produce concentrated executive power.
Tim Brinkhof
2025.10.10
100% relevant
Jill Lepore’s interview claims that since the New Deal, and especially today, Democrats and Republicans bypass Article V and reshape government via executive action and Supreme Court rulings.