Outside the Beltway

A potentially significant ruling on Separation Of Powers.

An attempt to declare the filibuster unconstitutional has ended in failure.

Elections put the players in office. They don’t dictate the outcome of the game.

The arguments in favor of major changes in the way we elect our President are unpersuasive.

Electing Romney hardly means repeal of the PPACA, even if he will make it sound that way.

Issa, Holder, and a little Madison.

The stage is set for a showdown between the Executive and Legislative Branches.

Is there any legal merit to the Administration’s invocation of Executive Privilege?

The dispute between the Justice Department and the House of Representatives just became a bigger deal.

President Obama’s immigration policy shift is legal, it’s good policy, but bypassing Congress won’t solve our immigration problems.

A new ruling from Egypt’s highest court has set in motion a chain of events that could end very badly.

If the Department of Justice does not fully comply with Congressional subpoenas, then there seems to be no alternative other than holding the Attorney General in contempt.

The President’s Cabinet is less a Team Of Rivals and more a Team Of Managers.

The Oval Office is nothing like a corporate boardroom.

There are a number of problems with the notion that the Federalist Papers provide a perfect guide to the Constitution.

Charlie Savage documents a major shift in Barack Obama’s philosophy of presidential authority.

Unsurprisingly, the Department of Justice confirms that it supports Marbury v. Madison

What walking around knowledge about our political system is necessary to be an informed citizen?

Starting tomorrow morning, the Supreme Court dives into the most significant case that has been before it in many years.

Yes, the US Constitution has been the most successful such document in human history. That does not mean it is a good template for other countries.

Ann Romney asked it of Mitt. (And Newt throws in his two cents).

Yes, it’s time to talk about that again.

Gingrich has some pretty radical ideas about separation of powers.

Newt Gingirch ups the ante in his rhetorical assault on judicial independence.

There is a fundamental problem with the feedback loop in American politics.

Newt Gingrich’s ideas about the role of the judiciary are very dangerous.

Except, of course, the parts he doesn’t like.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 authorizes the President the authority to indefinitely detain persons, even American citizens arrested on American soil, without trial because they allegedly support the enemy.

Oz provides an excuse for some comparative politics.

Let’s see if there is evidence to support the assertion.

Madison went to Philadelphia wanting to increase the power of the central government over the states (quite a bit, in fact).

The US came a lot closer to something resembling a parliamentary system than most people think.

Is America’s political system to blame for our current problems?

The Eleventh Circuit has struck down the individual mandate as exceeding Congress’ enumerated powers under the Commerce Clause.

Presidents are not a powerful as they seem (and a return to the “are things broken?” theme).

A political science-y response to the question of whether the system is broken.

Did the debt ceiling debate reveal dysfunctional government?

The constitutional purists in the Tea Party apparently do not understand either bicameralism nor separation of powers.

CA’s budget battles continue.

Dennis Kucinich and nine other Members of Congress are suing the President. They won’t get very far.

Once again, Congressional abdication has led to an Executive Branch power grab.

The 60 day deadline for Presidential discretion under the War Powers Act will expire next week. Congress won’t do anything about it.

An attempt at explaining where I am coming from on in the health care discussion.

Contempt for Congress is an old American tradition. Unfortunately.

President Obama’s signing statement on the allocation of funds to Presidential “czars” sets a potentially dangerous Constitutional precedent.