The US Constitution is designed to divide power and keep it accountable. Hanson examines how that balance erodes when administrative agencies exceed their mandates, political actors bypass constitutional procedures, and authority shifts to institutions beyond direct democratic control. Preserving self-government requires keeping public power within constitutional limits and accountable to citizens.
VIDEO
A healthy civic culture depends not only on institutions, but on how citizens participate in public life. Rebuilding it requires political engagement, greater restraint in public discourse, and a willingness to preserve common civic bonds across deep disagreement.
VIDEO
A self-governing society depends on citizens who share civic knowledge, economic independence, and allegiance to a common national culture. Sustaining that system requires a strong middle class, successful assimilation, and a civic identity that rises above tribal loyalties.
Articles
His providential escape from Brooklyn and Manhattan in 1776 helped save American independence.
August 31, 2026
