We know checks and balances between the branches of federal government is a hallmark of our republic.  But have you considered the checks and balances the Founders crafted into the design of Congress itself, with the House and Senate splitting legislative power?  Why did the founders build in checks to prevent too much power residing within one chamber of our bi-cameral legislature and how did they accomplish this objective?  To answer these questions and so many more, we are delighted to welcome Dr. Matthew Green as our special guest this week.  Dr. Green is a prolific author on American politics and has been a professor of politics at Catholic University since 2005.

Did you know the United States Army is older than the United States?  The Army has its origins in 1775 at a time when the colonists had a distrust of a standing permanent army like the British employed in the colonies.  As such, it was a not a permanent army.  The War of 1812 showed our country the need for a permanent national army. In the ensuing years, the United States Army has fought a Civil War, two World Wars and protected American interests around the world.  To share further history and the impact of our Army, we are honored to have a very distinguished guest.  Col. Bryan Gibby graduated from the United States Military Academy in West Point in 1993 and first served with the 101st Airborne Division.  After two deployments to Iraq, a 3-year stint with NATO and completing his M.A. and Ph.D degrees, Col. Gibby returned to West Point where he now serves as the Deputy Head for the Department of History.

Thomas Jefferson cemented his legacy as an incredible orator and writer when he wrote the Declaration of Independence, almost 250 years ago. His soaring rhetoric drew inspiration from multiple government and historic traditions: from John Locke to the Magna Carta to the Enlightenment.  He used phrases and words that deserve special attention.  What did Jefferson mean when he talked about unalienable rights, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, self-evident truths, and the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God?  To shed important insight into this world-changing document, we are pleased to welcome back a fan-favorite guest, Tony Williams.  Tony is a senior fellow at the Bill of Rights Institute and prolific author of such books as “Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance that Forged America.”

Did you know the phrase “separation of church and state” does not appear in our Constitution?  The phrase was used by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802.  The First Amendment does guarantee “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”  What was the intent of the founders in codifying this in the Constitution?  Did they intend to keep religion out of government or rather government out of religion?  To help us answer these questions and so many more, we are pleased to welcome Vincent Phillip Muñoz, Tocqueville Professor of Political Science and Concurrent Associate Professor of Law at The University of Notre Dame, as our special guest this week.

Did you know the phrase “separation of church and state” does not appear in our Constitution?  The phrase was used by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802.  The First Amendment does guarantee “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”  What was the intent of the founders in codifying this in the Constitution?  Did they intend to keep religion out of government or rather government out of religion?  To help us answer these questions and so many more, we are pleased to welcome Vincent Phillip Muñoz, Tocqueville Professor of Political Science and Concurrent Associate Professor of Law at The University of Notre Dame, as our special guest this week.

Our Constitution does not spend a lot of time detailing foreign policy powers.  We know the president can appoint ambassadors, negotiate treaties and use executive agreements in our relations with other governments.  But beyond that, what is the role of the presidency?  What are the checks and balances with the other branches?  What do we mean when we say foreign policy is an “inherent” power?  To walk us through this complex power, we are pleased to have Dr. James S. Robbins as our guest this week.  Dr. Robbins is Dean of Academics, Institute of World Politics ; Senior Fellow in National Security Affairs at the American Foreign Policy Council; and Former special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

We have laws in our country passed by Congress.  Then we have regulations that come out of the bureaucracy.  Our guest today argues that when government grows, individual liberty shrinks.  Our guest, Andrew Langer, is the president of the Institute for Liberty.  He is going to discuss the benefits and costs (upwards of $4 trillion annually) of regulations, the process to challenge them and the impact of the Administrative Procedures Act (enacted in 1946) and the role of the public in the regulations process.

There’s been a lot of discussions in the current administration to streamline government.  Part of that includes shuttering departments, including the Department of Education.  Did you know for the vast majority of American history, the Department of Education didn’t exist and was created in 1979?  To walk us through the process of shutting down a department and the reasons for it, we are happy to welcome Neal McCluskey, director of Cato's Center for Educational Freedom.  Neal has worked on education reform for over two decades and will share his insights with our panel.

We have a very exciting guest on our show this week.  He identifies 4 great changes in American history brought upon by the President in office at the time: Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln and FDR.  If President Trump is able to fulfill his campaign promises, our guest believes we could be experiencing the 5th period of great change.  One of the targeted areas  of change the current administration is focusing are our trade agreements globally and tariffs.  Joining our all-star student panel to discuss tariffs and other constitutional issues in the news is historian and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich.

A mission statement for an organization is a list of aspirational goals.  It brings purpose and summarizes values.  Through that lens, perhaps we should look at our Declaration of Independence and Constitution as the mission statement for our country.  Both documents lay out our country’s values and goals in becoming a “more perfect union.” Our guest today, our board member Jay McConville, wrote an essay for one of our recent online studies in which he contrasts our country’s mission statement with that of communism via The Communist Manifesto.  Jay is a military veteran, CEO and civic volunteer and we look forward to him sharing his research with our student panel.