Jamelle Bouie's writing spans everything from 19th century American history to 1990s movies, but he's spent a lot of time recently thinking about America's founders, the Constitution, and the still-unfinished work of making America a multi-everything democracy. In that work, he's identified a contradiction that he believes is impeding democratic progress:
"Americans take for granted the idea that our counter-majoritarian Constitution — deliberately written to constrain majorities and keep them from acting outright — has, in fact, preserved the rights and liberties of the people against the tyranny of majority rule, and that any greater majoritarianism would threaten that freedom," Bouie wrote.
In this interview, we discuss that claim and why he's is looking to Reconstruction as a time that could provides lessons for our current political moment. Bouie is a columnist for the New York Times and political analyst for CBS News. He covers U.S. politics, public policy, elections, and race.
Jamelle Bouie at the New York Times
Bouie's lecture on "Why the Founding Fathers Still Matter" at Penn State
When the People Decide - our series on ballot initiatives and direct democracy
Laboratories against democracy [rebroadcast]
How positive and negative freedoms shape democracy
Introducing: When the People Decide
Democracy's summer blockbusters
Can American democracy have nice things?
Baby Boomers and American gerontocracy
No Jargon: How white Millennials think about race
Book bans are never just about books
Debating the future of debates
What student debt says about democratic institutions
Combating disinformation at home and abroad
Jon Meacham on creating a more perfect union
The roots of radical partisanship
How democracies can win the war on reality [rebroadcast]
Ro Khanna on dignity and democracy
Russia and Ukraine: How we got here
Defending democracy at home and abroad
What academic freedom really means in a democracy
Tracing the rise of illiberalism
Moving beyond news deserts and misinformation
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