Founding Values

Articles

In-depth analysis and commentary on America's founding principles.

Constitution·10 min read

Justice Thomas and the Colorblind Constitution

Across three decades of redistricting, affirmative action, and voting-rights cases, Justice Thomas has argued that the Equal Protection Clause means what it says: government may not classify citizens by race — ever.

May 16, 2026

Constitution·11 min read

A Republic, Not a Democracy: What the Founders Built

The founders deliberately chose a republic over a pure democracy — and the distinction is not semantic. Understanding the difference is essential to understanding the American constitutional order.

May 16, 2026

Constitution·12 min read

The Electoral College: Founding Design and Modern Controversy

The Electoral College was not an accident or a compromise of convenience — it was a deliberate architectural choice. Understanding why the founders built it illuminates the most contested feature of American presidential elections.

May 16, 2026

Progressivism·14 min read

Marcuse's 'Repressive Tolerance' and the Attack on Free Speech

Herbert Marcuse's 1965 essay argued that true tolerance requires suppressing conservative speech. Its influence on modern progressivism is profound — and deeply at odds with the First Amendment.

May 10, 2026

Liberty·8 min read

Natural Rights and the Declaration of Independence

How Locke's philosophy of natural rights shaped Jefferson's most famous words and the founding of a nation.

April 28, 2026

Constitution·10 min read

The Architecture of Limited Government

The framers' deliberate design to constrain federal power through enumerated powers, separation, and checks and balances.

April 15, 2026

Rule of Law·7 min read

Rule of Law: America's Most Radical Idea

From Magna Carta to the Fourteenth Amendment — why no one, not even a president, is above the law.

April 5, 2026

Constitution·12 min read

Clarence Thomas and the Case for Originalism

Justice Thomas's decades-long commitment to reading the Constitution as its framers understood it — and why it matters today.

March 22, 2026

Progressivism·11 min read

Progressivism and the Rise of the Administrative State

How the Progressive Era transformed American governance and what the founders would have made of it.

March 10, 2026

Individual Rights·9 min read

The First Amendment's Original Meaning

What freedom of speech and press meant in 1791 — and how that understanding holds up in the digital age.

February 28, 2026