A Not-so Quiet Riot – The Court and the Constitution in American Presidential Politics

A dangerous twist on the trend, however, might be the coming desolation of American democracy. Two broadly unpopular candidates – one doddering and one who faces half a dozen criminal indictments – seem destined to contend for a second term in the White House. A few blocks down Pennsylvania Avenue, the Congress hasn’t done much better. The majority in the House of Representatives seems ungovernable, and unable to govern. Individual Senators have engaged in a mix of tactics, including party-defying independence or lone-wolf obstructionism, that have hobbled “the world’s greatest deliberative body.” Meanwhile, a new conservative super-majority at the Supreme Court is hell-bent on reshaping American constitutional doctrine while shrugging off allegations of partisanship and ethical indiscretions.