The Battle for the Constitution
A special project on the constitutional debates in American life, in partnership with the National Constitution Center
Support for this project was provided by the Madison Initiative of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. (More)
Trump’s Defiance Is Destroying Congress’s Power
Congress and the White House have a tense relationship, and future administrations might well choose to build on rather than repudiate the Trump example of how to respond to a hostile Congress.
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Kevork Djansezian / Getty The Fragility of American Citizenship
Some people are learning that their birth or naturalization certificates aren’t enough to prove citizenship—a problem that the Fourteenth Amendment should ideally prevent.
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Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP / Getty How the Court Could Limit Abortion Rights Without Overturning Roe
No matter which path the court takes, the destination will likely be the same—the end of access to safe, legal abortion for many women.
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Dana Verkouteren / AP Does the Constitution Guarantee a Right to an Insanity Defense?
When the Court opens its October 2019 term, it will face a pressing criminal-justice question: Can states abolish the insanity defense?
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Cedar Attanasio / AP Immigration Law Defies the American Constitution
Immigration restrictions have been held to a far lower constitutional standard compared with almost any other exercise of government power.
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Bettmann / Getty The Constitution Is the Crisis
The system is rigged, and it’s the Constitution that’s doing the rigging.
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Alexander Drago / Reuters The Need for Congressional Oversight Goes Far Beyond Impeachment
Congress needs the executive branch to comply with its requests, not only to monitor an unruly president, but for the more basic work of writing legislation.
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Simon Montag The Fourth Battle for the Constitution
The latest struggle to define America's founding charter will define the country for generations to come.
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James Trenchard / Library of Congress The Not-So-Supreme Court
The Founders never intended for the Court to be the final arbiter of what the Constitution means.
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Bettmann / Getty Federal Officials Should Be Accountable for Their Wrongdoing
And judges need to be the ones to make them pay.
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The Atlantic Introducing ‘The Battle for the Constitution’
How will a system that is more than two centuries old meet the challenges of today?
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The Print Collector / Getty Why the Founders Added ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors’
In defining the scope of impeachment, they had in mind the alleged crimes of Warren Hastings.
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Chip Somodevilla / Getty The Electoral College Was Terrible From the Start
It’s doubtful even Alexander Hamilton believed what he was selling in “Federalist No. 68.”
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Walter McBride / Getty Cheering the Constitution’s Demise
Heidi Schreck isn’t a fan of America’s founding charter—which may be why her audiences are such big fans of hers.
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Eric Thayer / Reuters Don’t Use These Free-Speech Arguments Ever Again
Most speech, hateful or not, is protected by the Constitution. To pretend otherwise is foolhardy.
