Essay Read by Constituting America Founder, Actress Janine Turner
The essays in our study reference the following edition of Democracy In America: University of Chicago Press – 1st edition translated by Harvey Mansfield and Delba Winthrop. Today’s essay references pages 673 (start at chapter 8 heading) – 676 of this edition of Democracy in America.
In the final chapter of Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville says that he has one task left—to provide a summative judgment on how democracy, or the equality of conditions, will help or hinder “the lot of man.” In so doing, he provides a robust account of democratic greatness and offers cautious hope for the future of democracy.
Before giving his opinion, De Tocqueville hesitates. He says “I feel my sight becoming blurred and my reason wavering.” He is less confident about this final remaining task.
What prompts this circumspection? New democratic societies, De Tocqueville points out, are “only being born” and so “[t]ime has not yet fixed its form.” Here De Tocqueville revisits (and gently revises) a metaphor he used at the beginning of his book in which he compared newborns and nations. There he boasted that the best way to understand the habits, passions, and characteristics of a man’s maturity was to study him as a child. The whole man was “in the swaddling clothes of his cradle” (1.1.2). Likewise, nations always feel the effect of their origins. The problem that De Tocqueville admits here is that if the “whole” is contained in the beginning, then there’s no room for human freedom to play a role.
To some extent, the future of democracy is open ended. Much will depend on what Americans choose to do. The character of American democracy could be resentful and small-minded. Or it could be generous and magnanimous. It will be up to particular peoples and statesmen to pursuit the advantages and resist the weaknesses of democracy.
The principle effect of democracy on society, De Tocqueville observes, is to reduce all extremes. Most people will be of the “middling” sort in terms of wealth, fortune, education, arts, and ambition. Most people will be lifted up but at the cost of lowering the few at the top. The rise of democracy means less individual excellence but much less cruelty and injustice. Education will be more widely diffused throughout the population. Manners and mores will be “mild” and “legislation humane.”
De Tocqueville makes a confession. He laments this brave new world in which humanity is an “innumerable crowd” of mediocrity; he regrets the passing of aristocratic brilliance. He recognizes that his view is partial and that it is a “weakness.”
In order to correct his limited point of view, De Tocqueville adopts the perspective of God whom he credits as being able to see “the whole human race and each man.” From this divine vantage, De Tocqueville says that democracy is more just and “its justice makes for its greatness and its beauty.”
The grandeur and nobility of aristocracy that delights De Tocqueville personally, he concedes, comes at the expense of justice. In a democracy, more people get what they merit. Moreover, it is enough for democratic peoples to strive “to be honest and prosperous.”
De Tocqueville turns to consider what should be done. In his own time, reactionaries against democracy and liberalism, out of nostalgia, strove to preserve aristocracy and inequality. Aristocracy, he firmly says, is not coming back.
The political goal, De Tocqueville says, isn’t to cling to the benefits that aristocracy produced but to pivot to “securing the new goods that equality” offers. De Tocqueville’s moderate and humane liberalism teaches the weaknesses of democracy—not to scorn democracy—but in order to guard against them and to obtain the benefits that equality of conditions makes possible. As he prudently advises, “we ought not to strive to make ourselves like our fathers, but strive to attain the kind of greatness and happiness that is proper to us.”
De Tocqueville is “full of fears and full of hopes” for the future of democracy. Rival ideologies to democracy will emerge that will introduce new and brutal justifications for inequality. With great prescience, De Tocqueville warns against pseudo-scientific justifications for the superiority or inferiority of peoples based on history, race and ethnicity, and geography. He warns his readers against such doctrines and calls them “false and cowardly.” These ideologies will not mark a return to the brilliance and nobility of aristocracy. Rather, they will produce “weak men and pusillanimous nations” as the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century and various racial supremacy doctrines demonstrate.
De Tocqueville saves his best argument for democracy for the very end. Democracy is not only more just but more accurately mirrors the human condition. Aristocracy is based on an exaggeration of human freedom for a very few and exaggeration of human dependence for the many. The truth is in the middle. Individuals (as well as nations and peoples) are caught in the middle—neither wholly free nor wholly dependent. Every person lives within a “fatal circle” but that circle is expansive. De Tocqueville says “within its vast limits man is powerful and free.” It is up to individuals and nations to reach for the greatness within their grasp.
Elizabeth Amato earned her B.A. at Berry College and her M.A. and Ph.D. at Baylor University in political science. She is the author of The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime: Political Theory in Literature (Lexington Books, 2018). She is currently an Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Gardner-Webb University.
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Philip D. Bunn is an assistant professor of political science at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. His research has been published in Political Research Quarterly and American Political Thought, and his reviews and essays have appeared in The Review of Politics, Plough Quarterly, Current, and The University Bookman, among other publications.
Dr. Robert Elder is an associate professor of history at Baylor University, specializing in the American South, the Civil War era, and intellectual and religious history. He is the author of The Sacred Mirror: Evangelicalism, Honor, and Identity in the American South (UNC Press, 2016) and Calhoun: American Heretic (Basic Books, 2021). He is currently working on a book about the Nullification Crisis. 
Andrew Bibby is an Assistant Professor in the Political Science and History Department at Utah Valley University. He serves as Associate Director of the Center for Constitutional Studies at Utah Valley University and is the director of the Federalism Index Project.
Randolph May is President of the Free State Foundation, a free market-oriented think tank in Rockville, MD.
Benjamin Slomski is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Campus Pre-Law Advisor at Purdue University Fort Wayne. He earned his PhD from Baylor University and his teaching and research focus on American political thought, constitutional law, and political institutions. He previously taught at Ashland University, Tarleton State University, and Baylor University.
Dr. Paul Schwennesen is an environmental historian and military affairs analyst. His major research interests are in the geopolitics of liberty and the environmental and transatlantic history of the 16th century, with special focus on the entradas of De Soto and Coronado into North America, 1539-1542. He holds a PhD from the University of Kansas, a Master’s degree in Government from Harvard University, and degrees in History and Science from the United States Air Force Academy. Paul served ten years in the US military in weapons-systems acquisition, foreign area intelligence, and flightline operations which included deployments to Central America and Afghanistan. In 2022 he volunteered in Ukraine to provide civilian aid and combat training on the frontlines against the Russian invasion. He was presented with the Verhkhovna Rada medal by the Ukrainian Parliament for “Merit to the Ukrainian People.” He is a regular contributor to the American Institute for Economic Research, and his writing has appeared at the New York Times, American Spectator, Claremont Review, and in textbooks on environmental ethics (Oxford University Press and McGraw-Hill).
Dr. Robbins is a former special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and in 2007 was awarded the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Meritorious Civilian Service Award.
James P. Pinkerton served as a domestic policy aide in the White Houses of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. He also worked in the 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, and 2008 presidential campaigns. From 1996 to 2016, he was a contributor to the Fox News Channel.
Eric Sands is Associate Professor of Political Science at Berry College in Rome, GA. He teaches a wide range of courses in American government and political theory. Dr. Sands is also a professor in Ashland University’s MAHG program. 
Kirk Higgins serves as the Senior Director of content at the Bill of Rights Institute. There, he has led several major curricula and content projects, including the Institute’s comprehensive U.S. history resource, 
Dr. Heather E. Yates is a professor of American politics at the University of Central Arkansas. She has published books and articles on regional and national politics with emphasis on the American presidency, political campaigns, and voting behavior. Her political analysis has been featured in national and regional print and broadcast media. She also speaks to community forums and events about the significance of electoral politics and civic engagement.
Erin Brooks-Hindman earned her B.A. in Politics from Hillsdale College in 2008 and continued her graduate education at Regent University and Claremont Graduate University, where she earned her Ph.D. in 2022. Specializing in Western and American Political Thought, her recent research is on civilian-military relations and the need for character-based officer education. While at Holy Cross, she has taught various courses, including introductory courses in both 
Troy Kickler is Founding Director of the North Carolina History Project and Editor of northcarolinahistory.org. He holds an M.S. in Social Studies Education from North Carolina A&T State University and a Ph.D. in History from the University of Tennessee.
John Boehner, the 53rd Speaker of the House, led the US House from January 2011 to October 2015, a time during which he navigated some of the most difficult legislative challenges of the modern era and forged strong relationships with business and government leaders throughout the world. An Ohio-native and former small businessman who entered public service because of his desire to remove barriers to economic growth and private-sector job creation, Speaker Boehner is respected on both sides of the political aisle for his efforts to find common ground on major policy matters without compromising on principle, and for his belief that individuals of competing viewpoints can “disagree, without being disagreeable.” After leaving Congress, Speaker Boehner joined Squire Patton Boggs—a full-service international law firm—to serve as a senior strategic advisor to the firm’s clients in the US and abroad, focusing on global business development.
Dr. Dorothea Wolfson is the Program Director and a senior lecturer for the Masters in Government program at Johns Hopkins University. Her research and teaching interests center on democracy and civic engagement, American political thought, and family policy. Dr. Wolfson has published articles on Alexis de Tocqueville, Thomas Jefferson, Abigail Adams, John Locke, and children’s literature. She has collaborated on a book, Our Sacred Honor, with William J. Bennett, and her essays and reviews have appeared in The Claremont Review of Books, The American Interest, and Perspectives on Political Science. Dr.
Jon D. Schaff is Professor of Political Science at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he has taught since 2001. He teaches classes in American political thought, American political institutions, as well as politics in literature and film. He is author of multiple articles and book chapters as well as two books: 
Dr. Jonathan Den Hartog is 
Frank W. Garmon Jr. is assistant professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University where he specializes in American political economy. His first book, A Wonderful Career in Crime: Charles Cowlam’s Masquerades in the Civil War Era and Gilded Age, was published by Louisiana State University Press in July.
Dr. Melissa Matthes is a full professor in the Department of Government at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT. She teaches courses in religion and politics, ethics, and the history of political philosophy. She is the author most recently of When Sorrow Comes: The Power of Sermons from Pearl Harbor to Black Lives Matter, published by Harvard University Press in 2021. She holds a PhD from the University of California and a Masters of Divinity from Yale Divinity School. 
Dr. Jeff Scott serves as Executive Director of Academic Operations at Troy University. Jeff has taught and led at every level of education In his current role, Jeff develops and oversees programs designed for students and teachers that promote civic education through the lens of history. Dr. Scott has presented nationally at several conferences, including the National Council for the Social Studies and AP Conference. He was the keynote speaker for the Florida Council for the Social Studies in 2024.
Bill Reddinger is Associate Professor of Government at Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA, where he teaches courses in political philosophy and American politics. He directs the Lincoln Program in America’s Founding Principles, an educational initiative that offers seminars and lectures related to America’s founding principles and history for Regent University students, for teachers, and for others in southeastern Virginia. He is author of Political Thinkers for Our Time, forthcoming from NIU Press.
Zachary K. German is an assistant professor in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. His research focuses on American political and constitutional thought, along with early modern thought, on questions of statesmanship, political culture and civic character, constitutional design, civic education, and politics and religion. He teaches courses on political thought, leadership, and constitutionalism, largely but not exclusively in the American context. He also contributes to K-12 civic education efforts, including teacher workshops and summer seminars for high-school students.
Joey barretta received his B.A. in Political Science and History as an Ashbrook Scholar at Ashland University. He went on to earn an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship at Hillsdale College. His academic training is in political philosophy and American political thought, and he has published widely on the political thought of Frederick Douglass.
Wilfred M. McClay is Professor of History at Hillsdale College, and the author of Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story. He served for eleven years on the board of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and is currently is a member of the U.S. Commission on the Semiquincentennial, which has been charged with planning the celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026. He has been the recipient of fellowships from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Academy of Education, and received the Bradley Prize in 2022. He is a graduate of St. John’s College (Annapolis) and received his Ph.D. in History from the Johns Hopkins University.
Kevin Vance is Director of the Center for Constitutional Liberty at Benedictine College. He received his PhD and MA in political science from the University of Notre Dame and his BA from Claremont McKenna College. His research focuses on law and religion, constitutional law, and American political thought. His scholarship has appeared in the Journal of Church and State, the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, and the Journal of Law and Courts.
Kevin Vance is Director of the Center for Constitutional Liberty at Benedictine College. He received his PhD and MA in political science from the University of Notre Dame and his BA from Claremont McKenna College. His research focuses on law and religion, constitutional law, and American political thought. His scholarship has appeared in the Journal of Church and State, the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, and the Journal of Law and Courts.
John D. Wilsey is Professor of Church History and Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Church History at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy, an initiative of First Liberty Institute.
Robert J. Burton is the Tocqueville Assistant Professor of Civic Thought and Leadership within the Department of History and Political Science and director of the Civic Thought and Leadership Initiative (CTLI) within UVU’s Center for Constitutional Studies.
John Bicknell was a journalist for 30 years, as a reporter, editor, columnist, and opinion writer in Florida and Washington, D.C. He is the author of three books – America 1844: Religious Fervor, Westward Expansion and the Presidential Election That Transformed the Nation, Lincoln’s Pathfinder: John C. Fremont and the Violent Election of 1856, and The Pathfinder and the President: John C. Fremont, Abraham Lincoln, and the Battle for Emancipation –and was a senior editor of the 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022 editions of The Almanac of America Politics.
Robert E. Wright is a lecturer in economics at Central Michigan University. He previously taught economics at the University of Virginia, New York University, and Augustana University. He is the (co)author of 25 books, including, most recently, FDR’s Long New Deal: A Public Choice Perspective (Palgrave, 2024) and Liberty Lost: The Rise and Demise of Voluntary Association in America Since Its Founding (AIER, 2023)
Jonathan Yudelman is Assistant Professor of Political Theory in Intellectual Foundations at UATX. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Boston College and from 2020-2024 held postdoctoral positions at Princeton, Harvard, Baylor, and Arizona State University. His current research focuses on early modern political theory, the idea of progress, sources of political authority, and the intersection of politics and religion.
J. Eric Wise is a partner in the law firm of Alston & Bird.
Trevor Shelley is Assistant Teaching Professor and Associate Director of Graduate Studies at the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership, at Arizona State University. He is author of Liberalism and Globalization: Montesquieu, Tocqueville, and Manent (Notre Dame, 2020), co-editor of Citizenship and Civic Leadership in America (Lexington, 2022) and of Renewing America’s Civic Compact (Lexington, 2023), and author of various book chapters and articles on political theory.
Matthew Van Hook received his doctoral degree in political science from the University of Notre Dame with a focus on political theory, constitutional studies and American political thought. He also holds a master’s degree in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Prior to joining the Torrey Honors College faculty, Van Hook served on active duty as an Air Force pilot and political science professor at his alma mater, the US Air Force Academy. His research and published work ranges from the statesmanship of Abraham Lincoln to politics and law in the novels of Harper Lee. 
Jack Fitzhenry is a Legal Fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies.
David Lewis Schaefer is professor emeritus of political science at the College of the Holy Cross. He has written and edited numerous works on political philosophy in general, as well as on American political thought. His most notable works include The Political Philosophy of Montaigne (second edition 2019) and Illiberal Justice: John Rawls vs. the American Political Tradition (2007).
Antonio Sosa is associate director and lecturer at the School of Civic Leadership. In this capacity, he oversees the development of fellowships, conferences, and courses that invite students to reflect on the principles of a liberal society. Prior to joining School of Civic Leadership, Antonio was an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas, where he taught classes on classical political philosophy, the American Founding, modern European history, and the history of liberal arts education. He is primarily interested in the political thought of De Tocqueville, Ortega y Gasset, and Leo Strauss.
Frank M. Reilly is a partner in the Texas law firm of Potts & Reilly, LLP, a Texas judge, and teaches law related political science courses for Texas Tech University.
Dr. Eric Schmidt is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Kentucky Wesleyan College, specializing in political philosophy and American political institutions. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and a Master’s in Philosophy from Louisiana State University. His current research focuses on the intersection of political philosophy, civics, and the digital transformation. As head of the Political Science and Legal Studies programs at KWC, Dr. Schmidt enjoys serving as an advisor to students interested in law and public service careers. He resides in Owensboro with his wife and daughters.
Jacob Wolf is Assistant Professor of Politics and a Founding Faculty member of the University of Austin (UATX). He was previously the 2020-2021 Barry Fellow of the James Madison Program at Princeton University. He received his PhD in Political Science from Boston College. His scholarly and popular writings have appeared in The Political Science Reviewer, Perspectives on Political Science, Interpretation, Public Discourse, VoegelinView, and Modern Age Online.
Michael Greve is the author of The Upside-Down Constitution (Harvard UP, 2012), as well as several other books and numerous law review articles, editorials, book reviews, and blog posts. He is a frequent speaker for professional and scholarly organizations and has made many appearances on radio and television. Before joining the law school faculty, Professor Greve served as John G. Searle Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he specialized in constitutional law, courts, and business regulation. Prior to joining AEI, Greve was founder and director of the Center for Individual Rights, a public interest law firm specializing in constitutional litigation.
Johnson is a former journalist, member of the White House staff under President Gerald Ford, Chief of Staff to House Republican Leader Bob Michel. He has been active in a number of non-profit organizations and served as a media consultant, lobbyist and co-author of two books: Fixing Congress and Surviving Inside Congress. He is married to Thalia Assuras, has five children and four grandchildren.
Andrea Criswell is a wife, mother, and homeschool teacher in the northwest Houston area. Graduating from both Texas Tech University and Asbury Theological Seminary, she teaches Christian Worldview classes. Her passion is helping high school students become responsible young adults who critically think and learn how to solve problems.
An expert on constitutional law, and member of the Southwestern Law School faculty, Professor Joerg W. Knipprath has been interviewed by print and broadcast media on a number of related topics ranging from recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions to presidential succession. He has written opinion pieces and articles on business and securities law as well as constitutional issues, and has focused his more recent research on the effect of judicial review on the evolution of constitutional law. He has also spoken on business law and contemporary constitutional issues before professional and community forums, and serves as a Constituting America Fellow.
Christopher Burkett is Associate Professor of Political Science at Ashland University and Academic Director of the Ashbrook Scholar Program and Academies. He is editor of Ashbrook’s 50 Core American Documents, and has written on the American Founding, Progressivism, and American Foreign Policy. He holds a B.A. from Ashland University, and received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Dallas.
Horace Cooper is a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research and chairman of Project 21 – the black leadership network
Robert Pence is a Washington D.C. native who attended Maryland University as an undergrad, American University for J.D. and two M.A. degrees, and Yale University from which he received a M.Phil. degree in Italian Language and Literature. President Donald Trump appointed Bob to serve as the American ambassador to Finland; he served in Helsinki from May, 2018 until January, 2021. He served for years on various educational, artistic and philanthropic boards including The Kennedy Center, the Wolftrap Foundation, the World Affairs Council and American University. The is currently a member of boards of George Mason University (VA) and The Gary Sinise Foundation.
Will Morrisey is the author of ten books, including studies of the political thought of the American founders, the American Progressives, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, and Shakespeare’s comedies. He has been an editor of Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy for 45 years. He retired from the Politics Department at Hillsdale College in 2015. His articles and reviews may be found on “Will Morrisey Reviews.”
Richard A. Epstein is the inaugural Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at NYU School of Law, where he serves as a Director of the Classical Liberal Institute, which he helped found in 2013. He has served as the Peter and Kirstin Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution since 2000. Epstein is also the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law Emeritus and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago.
Ben Peterson is an assistant professor in the Department of Government and Criminal Justice at Abilene Christian University. He writes on a range of public policy issues, drawing from resources in Christian social and political theory, the broader Western tradition of political thought, and contemporary social science. You can find links to his other writings and information about his scholarship on his website.
Paul McNulty is the president of Grove City College. Prior to assuming this position in 2014, he served more than thirty years in Washington, DC as an attorney in public service and private practice. In 2005 he was appointed to the position of Deputy Attorney General by President George W. Bush after serving for more than four years as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia where he was a leader in the nation’s response to the terrorist attacks of 9-11. He served for more than ten years in the U.S. House of Representatives including as Chief Counsel for the House Majority Leader, Chief Counsel for the Subcommittee on Crime, and Counsel to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. Mr. McNulty also led the corporate compliance and investigations practices at the global law firm Baker McKenzie.
Stephen Tootle is Professor of History at the College of Sequoias in Visalia California and Honored Visiting Graduate Faculty at Ashland University. His reviews, articles, and essays have appeared in National Review, the Claremont Review of Books, Presidential Studies Quarterly, the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, and his hometown newspaper. He hosts a weekly podcast/webcast called “Tootle Talk.”
Val Crofts began his teaching career in 2001 at Westosha Central High School in Paddock Lake, Wisconsin, and is currently employed as the Chief Education and Programs Officer at the American Village in Montevallo, Alabama. He previously taught at Milton High School in Milton, Wisconsin, for 17 years and worked as a teaching consultant for the Wisconsin Virtual School for nine years.
Tom Hand is the visionary behind 
Jeff Broadwater’s publications include Jeffferson, Madison, and the Making of the Constitution (2019); James Madison: A Son of Virginia and a Founder of the Nation (2012); and George Mason, Forgotten Founder (2006). He also co-edited, with Troy Kickler, North Carolina’s Revolutionary Founders (2019). He currently serves as the book review editor for the Journal of the North Carolina Association of Historians.
Jason W. Stevens is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Ashland University, where he teaches political thought and history courses with fields of expertise in the American Founding, Abraham Lincoln, and political philosophy. He is also Co-Director of the Ashbrook Scholar program.
Brenda Hafera is the Assistant Director and Senior Policy Analyst at The Heritage Foundation’s Simon Center for American Studies.
Joseph A. Ledford is a Hoover Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Paul Carrese is a Professor in the School of Civic & Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University, and its founding Director, 2016-2023. Formerly he was a professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy and co-founded its honors program blending liberal arts education and leadership education. He teaches and publishes on the American founding, American constitutional and political thought, civic education, and American grand strategy. He has held fellowships at Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar); Harvard University; the University of Delhi (Fulbright fellow); and James Madison Program, Princeton University; and currently is a Senior Fellow of the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History.
Roberta (Bobbi) Herzberg is a Distinguished Senior Fellow for the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and Emerita Associate Professor in political science at Utah State University (USU), where she served as department head and administrative director of The Institute of Political Economy. Dr. Herzberg currently serves as president of the Society for Development of Austrian Economics and was president of the Public Choice Society from 2014-2016. Dr. Herzberg received her Ph.D. in political economy from Washington University in St. Louis. She writes and speaks regularly on public policy, public choice, institutional analysis, civil society, and the Bloomington School.
James C. Clinger is an emeritus professor in the Department of Political Science and Sociology at Murray State. For many years, he was the director of the Master of Public Administration Program at Murray State. He now serves as an on-line adjunct instructor for any university willing to hire him and as a substitute teacher for the Henry County (Tennessee) School System.
Michael C. Maibach is a Trustee and Managing Director of the James Wilson Institute and a Distinguished Fellow On American Federalism at Save Our States.
Peter Roff is a contributing editor at Newsweek and a Senior Fellow at several Washington-based public policy organizations.
Joseph M. Knippenberg is Professor of Politics at Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven, GA, where he has taught since 1985.
Marc A. Clauson is Professor of History, Law and Political Economy and Professor in Honors at Cedarville University. Marc holds a PhD from the University of the Orange Free State, SA, Intellectual History and Polity); JD (West Virginia University College of Law, Jurisprudence); MA, ThM (Liberty University, New Testament Studies and Church History); MA (Marshall University, Political Science); BS (Marshall University, Physics); and PhD work (West Virginia University, Economic Theory).
Adam M. Carrington is Associate Professor of Political Science at Ashland University, teaching courses on U.S. political institutions and the intersection of faith and political thought. Previously, he taught in The Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship at Hillsdale College, focusing on the U.S. Constitution, Constitutional Law, The American Presidency, and Politics & Literature. His writing has appeared in such popular forums as The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, National Review, and Washington Examiner. His book on the jurisprudence of Justice Stephen Field was published in 2017 by Lexington. Carrington received his B.A. from Ashland University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Baylor University. He lives in Hillsdale with his wife and their two daughters.
Dr. Robert Brescia is a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT), serving as Social Studies Department Chair at Permian High School in Odessa, TX. The Governor of Texas re-appointed him to the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) for a six-year term. Bob has a doctoral degree with distinction in Executive Leadership from The George Washington University. He also teaches ethics to university students and leadership to organizations.
Christopher C. Burkett is Associate Professor of History and Political Science, and Director of the Ashbrook Scholar Program at Ashland University.
Robert Lowry Clinton is Professor Emeritus at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He is the author of Marbury v. Madison and Judicial Review, God and Man in the Law: The Foundations of Anglo-American Constitutionalism, and numerous articles in academic and popular publications.
is a former soldier, political activist, and business executive who writes on Substack at Goose & Gander (jaymcconville.substack.com). He is also a fitness trainer and a doctoral candidate at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University. Jay has served for more than seven years on Constituting America’s Governing Board of Directors.
