What are executive orders, and how has the Biden administration used them thus far? Presidential power experts Cristina Rodriguez, professor at Yale Law School and author of The President and Immigration Law, and Michael McConnell, professor at Stanford Law School and author of The President Who Would Not Be King, join host Jeffrey Rosen to answer those questions and more. They recap what they think are the most notable executive actions President Biden has taken in his first weeks in office, what their implications might be, and how they are being challenged, before reflecting on presidential power more broadly.

To see the full list of executive actions discussed in this episode, visit the National Archives Federal Register page “2021 Joe Biden Executive Orders”

Resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library

Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org

President Biden’s Executive Orders

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In this episode of We the People, Jeffrey Rosen has a special one-on-one conversation with the historian Allen Guelzo on his new book Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment. They discuss Lincoln’s powerful vision of democracy, revisit his approach to tackling slavery and preserving the Union, and explain how Lincoln remains relevant as a political thinker today. 

Resources

Allen Guelzo, Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment (2024)  

“Lincoln’s Speeches and the Refounding of America,” NCC America’s Town Hall program (Nov. 2021) 

William H. Herndon, Herndon on Lincoln: Letters (2016) 

Abraham Lincoln, “Speech to the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield,” (1838)  

 

Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.  
Continue today’s conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #WeThePeoplePodcast.
Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.  
You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.

Lincoln, Democracy, and the American Experiment

On November 7, 2023, historians Carol Berkin, author of A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism, and H.W. Brands, author of Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, and the Brawling Birth of American Politics, joined Jeffrey Rosen for a conversation on political partisanship and nationalism in early America, and how, despite the founders’ fear of factionalism, deep partisan divisions emerged almost immediately after the Revolution. They discuss the election of 1800, the first hotly contested partisan election in American history, and trace the history of American partisanship to the present day.  
 
Resources: 


H.W. Brands, Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics (2023) 


Carol Berkin, A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism (2017) 

“Genet Affair,” Mount Vernon  


The Alien and Sedition Acts, NCC Founders’ Library 


Virginia Resolutions, NCC Founders’ Library 


Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.
Continue today’s conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #WeThePeoplePodcast.
Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.
You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.

Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics

On Thursday March 28 at the NCC, Jeffrey Rosen sat down with Justice Stephen Breyer to discuss his new book, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism. Justice Breyer deconstructs the textualist philosophy of the current Supreme Court’s majority and makes the case for a better way to interpret the Constitution based on pragmatism.
 
Resources
Justice Stephen Breyer, Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism (2024) 
 
Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.  
Continue today’s conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #WeThePeoplePodcast.
Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. 
You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.

Justice Stephen Breyer on Reading the Constitution

On March 18, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Murthy v. Missouri and NRA v. Vullo—two cases in which government officials allegedly pressured private companies to target disfavored viewpoints. Alex Abdo of the Knight First Amendment Institute and David Greene of the Electronic Frontier Foundation join Jeffrey Rosen to break down both cases. Together they discuss the state action doctrine, explore the line between coercion and persuasion, and interrogate the tension between government speech and private speech. 
 
Resources: 


Murthy v. Missouri (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript) 


NRA v. Vullo (oral argument via C-SPAN; transcript) 


Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan (1963) 

Alex Abdo, Brief in Support of Neither Party, Murthy v. Missouri 

David Greene, Brief in Support of Neither Party, Murthy v. Missouri 

David Greene and Karen Gullo, “Lawmakers: Ban TikTok to Stop Election Misinformation! Same Lawmakers: Restrict How Government Addresses Election Misinformation!,” EFF (March 15, 2024) 

 

Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.  
Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. 
Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.  
You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.

Can the Government Pressure Private Companies to Stifle Speech?

Three political scientists join Jeffrey Rosen to discuss democratic instability, backsliding, and demagogues from a historical and global perspective. Guests included Harvard’s Steven Levitsky, author of Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point, the University of Texas-Austin’s Kurt Weyland, author of Democracy’s Resilience to Populism’s Threat, and Princeton University’s Frances Lee. This program originally aired on November 27, 2023.

Resources: 


Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point 


Frances Lee, “Populism and the American Party System: Opportunities and Constraints” 


Kurt Weyland, Democracy’s Resilience to Populism's Threat: Countering Global Alarmism 


Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die 

 
Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org.   
Continue today’s conversation on social media @ConstitutionCtr and #WeThePeoplePodcast.
Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.  
You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.

President Biden’s Executive Orders

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