Throughout US history, judges, scholars, and citizens have argued about how to go about interpreting the US Constitution. The current Supreme Court has embraced a methodology called “originalism” or “original public meaning.” But what exactly is “originalism”? What is its backstory? How does it differ from other approaches to interpretation? Are there good arguments for and against it? How does the Court’s focus on this one methodology shape its decisions and affect our lives? Three distinguished authorities will help us understand originalism and its discontents in this presentation from the Network for Responsible Public Policy.
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Video: Is America a Democracy or a Republic?
Feb 17, 2025
From the Penn State McCourtney Institute for Democracy:
New Democracy Discourse Lesson Addresses an Age-Old Question
Is the United States a democracy or a republic? The answer to that question often varies depending on who you ask. We explore the differences in the newest episode of Democracy Discourse, our educational series on YouTube.
In this lesson, host Brandon Stover explores the definitions and distinctions between different types of democracy, including direct and representative democracies, as well as liberal and illiberal representative democracies.
We also discuss the concept of a republic and how it contrasts with monarchy. The video features insights from experts including Francis Fukuyama and provides a comprehensive overview of the principles of democracy and liberalism in the United States, as well as the impact of federalism.
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
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Video: Primary Reform and Pivotal Voters
Jan 16, 2025
From the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers:
Primary Reform and Pivotal Voters: A discussion of research on how ideological purity gets translated into representation, the concept of the pivotal voter, and what’s on the horizon.Join the National Association of Nonpartisan Reforms for a conversation with Sam Wang, Ph.D., from Princeton University, regarding his research on the impact of primary reform on electoral outcomes, how "pivotal voters" play into the dynamic, and what electoral reformers should keep in mind moving forward.
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Video: The dignity index
Jan 02, 2025
UNITE is a national initiative to ease divisions, prevent violence, and solve problems. UNITE designed the Dignity Index, an eight-point scale that measures the level of contempt or dignity in a selected passage of speech. Lower scores (1-4) reflect a lack of dignity and the presence of contempt, with the lowest score (1) showing the most contempt. The higher scores (5-8) reflect language grounded in dignity, with the highest score (8) showing the most dignity.
In September 2022, a team from the University of Utah that included the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, the David Eccles School of Business, and the Hinckley Institute of Politics joined the project UNITE effort to pilot the Dignity Index in Utah. With a team of 22 student coders from politically and ideologically diverse backgrounds, the Utah pilot tested using the Dignity Index in coding passages in Utah political campaigns.
Video: How America's two-party doom loop is driving division
Jan 01, 2025
"We're in a doom loop of toxic politics," says political reform scholar Lee Drutman. In this new video from Unite America, Drutman's doom loop theory is explained and we unpack how the doom loop threatens the very fabric of our nation.
How did we get here? What are the impacts of the doom loop? And most importantly, how do we get out?
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