Roundup

Are there holes in the Constitution?

by Michael Klarman

A Congress controlled by Republican majorities has done almost nothing to check the president’s transgressive behavior. That's a problem that suggests the Constitution's not working as intended.

Americans are right to wonder if the Great Experiment has failed

by Heather Cox Richardson

Americans are right to wonder if, at long last, what George Washington called the Great Experiment has failed, and that our founders have lost their extraordinary wager that regular people could govern themselves better than a few rich men could.

Trump has taken Putin's side

by Tom Nichols

His stability and America's safety are now in question.

Roundup Top 10!

This week's broad sampling of opinion pieces found on the Internet, as selected by the editors of HNN.

The Supreme Court Doesn't Need 9 Justices

by Jacob Hale Russell

It needs 27.

How the Right Wing Convinces Itself That Liberals Are Evil

by David A. Walsh

Since the 1950s, the conservative movement has justified bad behavior—including supporting Donald Trump—by persuading itself that the left is worse.

"They are deliberately destroying democracy in favor of oligarchy."

by Heather Cox Richardson

In the 1890s and the 1920s, Americans took back their democracy. Today, we are at an even more dramatic crisis.

How the GOP Embraced the World—And Then Turned Away

by William I. Hitchcock

Decades ago, Dwight Eisenhower defeated the isolationist faction of the Republican Party. Now, Trump is toppling his legacy.

Europe’s Dependence on the U.S. Was All Part of the Plan

by Claire Berlinski

Postwar U.S. statesmen designed our world order as it is for a reason. They had lived through what happened without it.

A new book examines the real and threatened power of impeachment

An interview with the authors: Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz.

Trump and the Return of Divine Right

by David Armitage

In deploying his pardon power freely and using the Bible to justify family separation, the president is exactly the sort of ruler that Enlightenment thinkers feared.

Never Trumpers Will Want to Read This History Lesson

by Joshua Zeitz

In the 1850s, disaffected Democrats made the wrenching choice to leave their party to save American democracy. Here’s what happened.

Meet the Trumpverstehers

by Eliot A. Cohen

We know about the president’s most vocal supporters. But what about his more discreet following?

Roundup Top 10!

This week's broad sampling of opinion pieces found on the Internet, as selected by the editors of HNN.

The History Test

by Jill Lepore

How should the courts use history?

The George Soros philosophy – and its fatal flaw

by Daniel Bessner

Unlike most of the billionaire class, George Soros is not an out-of-touch plutocrat, but a provocative thinker committed to progressive ideals – which is what makes his failures so telling.

Human Zoos in the Age of Trump

by Ariel Dorfman

Humans as “Animals,” Then and Now

Why Frederick Douglass's struggle for justice is relevant in the Trump era

by Ibram X Kendi

Douglass fought against the horrors of President Andrew Johnson who, like Donald Trump, represents the same force of racist progress, of white male nationalism, of racial walls.

Here’s What Happened the Last Time the Left Got Nasty

by David Greenberg

History shows why Democrats shouldn’t take the low road.

We Should Embrace the Ambiguity of the 14th Amendment

by Eric Foner

A hundred and fifty years after its ratification, some of its promises remain unfulfilled—but one day it may still be interpreted anew.