At the end of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin was asked whether we have a republic or a monarchy. He replied “A Republic…if you can keep it.” In The Specter of Dictatorship: Judicial Enabling of Presidential Power (Stanford UP, 2021), David M. Driesen argues that Donald Trump's presidency challenged Americans to consider whether the Madisonian system of checks and balances could robustly respond to a president claiming extensive executive power and disregarding traditional processes such as the peaceful transition of power. Driesen notes that Benjamin Franklin and many men in the “founding” generation observed tyrannical government in Europe – and they explicitly included safeguards in the U.S. Constitution to prevent extensive executive power in the United States.
In this tradition, Driesen analyzes the chief executive's role in the democratic decline of Hungary, Poland, and Turkey. He argues that an insufficiently constrained presidency is one of the most important systemic threats to constitutional democracy. Driesen urges the U.S. to learn from the mistakes of these failing democracies. Specifically, he sees the United States Supreme Court as enabling the expansion of executive power. Specter of Dictatorship highlights how the Supreme Court’s reliance on and expansion of the legal approach called unitary executive theory threatens the separation of powers in the U.S. Driesen recommends a less deferential approach in which the judiciary checks the executive. The Supreme Court has been acting a if policing presidential power is the threat to democracy – but the real danger for constitutional democracy lies in expansion of executive power. For Driesen, judges and justices should give substantial weight to concerns about democratic erosion. Because autocracy is spreading abroad and presidential power is expanding in the US, Benjamin Franklin’s concern about maintaining democracy is relevant in 2024.
Professor Driesen is the thirteenth University Professor at Syracuse University where he teaches constitutional and environmental law. He is a graduate of the Yale Law School and has published several books and numerous articles with leading academic publishers and law reviews.
David’s editorial on the POTUS debate, Victor Orban, and Haitian Immigrants
Correction from Susan – the two dissenters in Roe v. Wade were appointed by John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. The justices voting in favor of reproductive rights were 5 men appointed by Republican presidents (Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon) and 2 men appointed by Democratic presidents (Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson).
In 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter stumbled upon one of the most pristine tombs of an Egyptian Pharaoh ever found: the tomb of King Tutankhamun. That discovery became a pop culture sensation and revolutionized our understanding of Ancient Egypt. Learn more about King Tutankhamun, aka King Tut, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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A slew of new polls shows Vice President Kamala Harris with a slim lead over former President Trump in the must-win swing state of Pennsylvania. With just about a month until Election Day, both presidential running mates spent the weekend campaigning in the state to shore up support for their respective tickets. One person who definitely knows how to connect with voters in Pennsylvania, though, is Democratic Rep. Summer Lee, whose district includes parts of Pittsburgh and its surrounding area. She joins us to talk about her success as a progressive lawmaker in today’s Democratic Party and the lessons that the Harris-Walz campaign can learn from younger politicians like her.
And in headlines: House Speaker Mike Johnson announced an agreement for a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, four top campaign officials for Republican North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson resigned amid a swirling scandal over comments he allegedly made on a porn website’s message board, and Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah inched closer to all-out war.
We'll tell you about the latest from the campaign trail in what’s said to be the closest presidential election of the century, including whether former President Trump says he would run again in 2028.
Also, it looks like there’s a bipartisan deal in Congress just one week before a possible government shutdown. We’ll explain where this new spending plan would—and wouldn’t—direct money.
Plus, a one-week warning for anyone with student loans, why Cards Against Humanity is suing Elon Musk, and which movie brought in the most money at the box office for the third weekend in a row.
Those stories and even more news to know in about 10 minutes!
Join us every Mon-Fri for more daily news roundups!
With songs like "Let Me Blow Ya Mind," "Satisfaction" and "Tambourine," Eve's music was a staple of early 2000s hip-hop. In her new memoir, Who's That Girl? Eve and co-author Kathy Iandoli detail the rocky path to the rapper's success. In today's episode, Eve speaks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about coming up in a male-dominated hip-hop industry. They discuss an early-career setback, female representation in hip-hop today and why Eve disagrees with being called a "kept woman."
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What message was Israel sending to Hezbollah, its backers, and the population of Lebanon, by blowing up pagers and walkie-talkies last week? And does the international community view this act as a violation of the laws of armed conflict?
Guest: Shane Harris, intelligence and national security reporter at the Washington Post.
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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.
Hispanic voters who came to the country legally are “not for people just coming over the border” illegally, Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue says.
“No,” Unanue said, when asked whether former President Donald Trump’s border policies would cost him the Hispanic vote in the 2024 presidential election.
The CEO is a longtime supporter of Trump and was thrust into the political spotlight four years ago after stating publicly that the U.S. was “blessed” to have Trump as president. The remark triggered calls from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., and others to boycott the Goya brand, which sells its products in the U.S. and many Spanish-speaking countries.
The boycott failed, and “business has been great” since then, Unanue says.
Unanue remains a vocal Trump supporter, and in his new book, “Blessed, Donald J. Trump, and the Spiritual War,” he explains why he thinks Trump is the leader America needs at this moment in history.
The chairman of the Hispanic Leadership Coalition, Unanue, whose grandfather immigrated to America from Spain, joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the biggest issues on the minds of Hispanic voters and why he is an unapologetic Trump supporter.
