The 2020 Election and the Rule of Law

Jonathan Zittrain (HLS)

The United States is the oldest presidential democracy in the world. The rhetoric around its upcoming Presidential election reflects fear that the rules and norms governing and constraining the United States’s highest office may be failing or have already failed.

This reading group will discuss what the rule of law means both in theory and in practice, particularly with respect to the U.S. executive branch. We'll discuss the 2020 Presidential election and explore the source and limits of the executive's power, taking into consideration how current social, political, and even epidemiological realities may affect how that power is exercised and experienced. We'll discuss and think critically about what it means to govern a nation split along starkly partisan lines in a moment of nationwide and worldwide turmoil and crisis.

3 Day 3: Between Perception and Legal Reality: When is the Rule of Law Intact, Despite Worries? 3 Day 3: Between Perception and Legal Reality: When is the Rule of Law Intact, Despite Worries?

What is constitutional ‘hardball?’ When does it go too far?

3.1. Mark V. Tushnett, Constitutional Hardball, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 523-553 (2004).

Mark V. Tushnett, Constitutional Hardball, 37 J. Marshall L. Rev. 523-553 (2004).

3.2. Jack Balkin, The Cycles of Constitutional Time, Balkinization [Blog] (2020).

Jack Balkin, The Cycles of Constitutional Time, Balkinization [Blog] (2020).

3.3. Marin K. Levy, Packing and Unpacking the State Courts, William & Mary L. Rev. 61:1121 (2020).

Marin K. Levy, Packing and Unpacking the State Courts, William & Mary L. Rev. 61:1121 (2020).