The Constitution and National Unity

In the struggle to forge solidarity in our divided society, the Constitution is not the problem but the solution.

We are living through a moment of intense division in American public life, and it often seems like our constitutional system exacerbates our bitter conflicts.

That system can be slow and cumbersome, riddled with veto points and mechanisms of restraint, which can make the majority party in our politics at any given time feel as if its will is being denied. But the system is also democratic, and so in crucial respects...