Maxwell Stearns

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

American Democracy Isn’t Broken… It Never Worked as Advertised - WhoWhatWhy The guardrails weren’t real — they were simply norms. The Constitution wasn’t a firewall. And the Madisonian dream? Always more myth than reality. So now what?

My second appearance on this wonderful Jeff Schechtman podcast--inspired by recent events and the genuine need to repair our broken democracy. Enjoy!

whowhatwhy.org/podcast/amer...

I'm not an Elise Stefanik fan, but damn. "Poisoned Ivies" is such a great book title.

Authentic Stollen (German Christmas Bread) One of the most famous of all Christmas pastries, German Stollen are prized throughout the world. This authentic Stollen recipe is the BEST!

In fairness, it's easy to get confused.
www.daringgourmet.com/stollen-germ...

Thanks so much for sharing! I really appreciate it.

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

Brilliant. Reminds me of Dylan.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWKS...

This hasn't soured me to your writings. Not even half sour.

Here's my honest advice: write the thing you can't not write. You'll never regret it because you know that's the one that truly matters. Don't worry about trodden ground, placement risk, etc. Write because you must. Those are the papers that will define you. That will come through, and it will land.

Yeah, I get that a lot, and I have the same reaction.

Link to symposium: balkin.blogspot.com

Finally, simply enacting the 1st amendment doesn't achieve the necessary changes along the two key democratic axes to ensure third parties play a meaningful role in creating governing coalitions. The integration is essential. Sorry this took a bit of detail to unpack. /end

Also, the Constitution doesn't recognize political parties, and voters would be casting one of 2 ballots for them. A deeper concern involves bonding. My 1st amendment assures each state the same relative voting power in the House as now. That assurance is critical. The other 2 clearly need ams. 3/4

first proposed amendment would satisfy that caselaw for the somewhat unusual reason that those elected under the party list system represent the state as a whole, not a geographic district. I can make arguments both ways, but it's at least not obvious that MMP could be achieved without amending. 2/4

This gets a bit complicated. Congress can increase the size of the House statutorily provided equal size districts are maintained. The one person/one vote cases, which really ensure close to equally populated districts, are based on equal protection caselaw, and it's not clear that my 1/4

Thank you! I'm truly pleased that despite the possibility of ending in despair, you end on a positive note. And I'm honored to have played even a small role in that. I wrote my book to encourage political entrepreneurs, media, and thoughtful citizens, to think seriously about a viable path forward.

Thank you!

I love this! It describes perfectly my project as well.

Thank you!

YouTube video by Democracy Currents with Maxwell Stearns Introduction to Balkinization Symposium on my book, Parliamentary America

balkin.blogspot.com

YouTube video by Democracy Currents with Maxwell Stearns Introduction to Balkinization Symposium on my book, Parliamentary America

youtube.com/shorts/Z4igl...
(Link in first comment)

“I have enough time” also said no academic, ever!

balkin.blogspot.com