What ever happened to the Founders’ “checks and balances” in the U.S. Constitution? They rejected adoption of a monarchy, but ...

This power of each branch to check the ambitions of the others is not merely a theoretical power that should rest limp in the ...

When the Framers designed our government, they built in checks and balances for a reason: to make sure no one branch becomes too powerful. But Donald Trump has treated that system less like a ...

On June 24, a letter writer offers a shallow history lesson before declaring, “Protesting a king in 2025 is not just absurd; it’s a willful distortion of reality.” He justifies his claim by pointing ...

This note introduces our Spring 2025 issue. See the Table of Contents here. This issue is the first of Boston Review’s fiftieth anniversary year. You’ll find a forum on the constitutional crisis at ...

Congressional Republicans vote according to fear, supporting any random wish that Donald Trump has, despite their blustering and hot air, saying they will do the opposite. Forget about doing what’s ...

Mr. Watts, the one thing that is a “farcical display” is the truth you dodge around. Yes, our checks and balances were set in place during 1776. However, Trump has been working on eradicating those ...

What we can say, though, is that Trump is more or less right. Many people are increasingly entertaining the idea of a ...

Most important, it depends on average people venerating those institutions — even when the day-to-day results prove frustrating or disappointing. Circumstances leading to Thom Tillis’ recent decision ...

In this episode of the American Founding, Dr. Cost explores the system of checks and balances that runs through the Constitution. It was not enough that the branches of government be separate from one ...

Amid the brazen attacks of Trump’s first 100 days in office, courts have played a leading role in resistance to the authoritarian onslaught. The issue—the first in our 50th anniversary year—warns ...