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Trump's Slush Fund to Reward Jan. 6 Insurrectionists Is Grotesquely Corrupt
It also quietly excuses Trump and his family from accountability for underpaying past IRS tax bills
 • Walter Olson
The Shuttering of Alligator Alcatraz Doesn't Mean That Trump's Terror Campaign Against Immigrants Is Ending
He relishes the performative cruelty because it keeps the salience of the issue alive
 • Berny Belvedere
LibCon2026 Will Start Imagining a Post-Authoritarian Future: Sign Up Now
ISMA’s conference this July is where liberals move beyond diagnosis and begin hammering out a second Reconstruction Agenda
 • Andy Craig
29:16
A Bloated Executive and a Starved Congress Is a Bad Combination: A Conversation with Kevin Kosar
It distorts our scheme of checks and balances and undermines our ability to self-govern
 • Andy Craig
The Revolution Is Dead, God Save King Trump: A Video Roundup
Our mid-May collection of clips
 • Landry Ayres

Recent posts

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Universities' Best Defense Against Censorship in the Public Square Is Free Inquiry
In their otherwise valuable new book, two prominent professors acknowledge the need for diverse viewpoints on campuses but don't offer a cure for…
 • Jonathan Marks
Political Islam Is Rank Populism That Perverts a Fundamentally Liberal Faith
The Western right’s smearing of the entire religion and the left’s romanticization of it are both misguided
 • Mohammed Nosseir
The VRA Ruling Might Have Handed Republicans a Weapon to Attempt a Jan. 6-style Midterm Coup
An outlandish scenario to refuse to seat newly elected blue state representatives just became more plausible
 • Andy Craig
Trump’s War on the First Amendment Escalates as He Goes on Another Revenge Spree: An Executive Watch Roundup
Our early-May selection of the president's latest and greatest assaults on the rule of law
 • Executive Watch
America's Immigration Prohibitionism, Not Undocumented Immigrants, Breeds Cartel Violence
Stephen Miller is blaming the victims of U.S. laws for an outcome that is the consequence of policies he pushes
 • Nathan Goodman and Molly Rovinski
LibCon2026 Is Coming, July 16–17
Register now and avail yourself of our early-bird special to hear and meet the world's most brilliant and courageous liberal thinkers and activists
 • Berny Belvedere
Constitutional Amendments to Stop America’s Authoritarian Turn Are Doable and Necessary
Americans will back them enthusiastically—so long as they fix governance, not push partisan advantage
 • Andy Craig
1:04:11
Mamdani's 100-Plus Days: Abundance Liberal or Democratic Socialist? A Discussion
The UnPopulist Live featuring Berny Belvedere, Jeremiah Johnson, and Tibita Kaneene
 • Berny Belvedere
Kash Patel Is Talented In One Thing—Trump Sycophancy
Senior Editor Berny Belvedere explains in his debut video (taking the first step to internet stardom) in our early-May video roundup
How the Chinese Immigrant Experience Shaped Birthright Citizenship
Reviving this history is vital to understanding the 14th Amendment's true intention
 • J. L. Wall
Hungary’s Opposition Used Social Media to Topple the Authoritarian-in-Chief
Politically neutral platforms are a better way than censorship to fight propaganda and disinformation
 • Jacob Mchangama
MAGA Exploits Shooting to Justify Trump's Illegal Ballroom Vanity Project
An orchestrated chorus is trying to discredit objections to a corruption-ridden project that has bulldozed every required procedure
 • Berny Belvedere
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Berny Belvedere
The Shuttering of Alligator Alcatraz Doesn't Mean That Trump's Terror Campaign Against Immigrants Is Ending
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Andy Craig
LibCon2026 Will Start Imagining a Post-Authoritarian Future: Sign Up Now
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Landry Ayres
The Revolution Is Dead, God Save King Trump: A Video Roundup
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Shikha Dalmia
Where Will the GOP—and Where Should Democrats—Go After Trump: A Conversation with Jamelle Bouie
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Birch Smith
Has the Trump Administration Crossed the Rubicon When Lawlessness Makes Lawful Transition Impossible?
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The UnPopulist Presents:

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Defending liberal democracy against authoritarianism in the U.S. and around the world.

Reconstruction Agenda

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29:16
A Bloated Executive and a Starved Congress Is a Bad Combination: A Conversation with Kevin Kosar
It distorts our scheme of checks and balances and undermines our ability to self-govern
 • Andy Craig
31:56
Americans Have Never Had Less Recourse for the US Government Violating Rights: A Conversation With Steve Vladeck
Accountability under both state and federal law faces high hurdles, but Congress could fix that
 • Andy Craig
Robust State Constitutionalism Can Protect Rights and Resist Authoritarianism
We need a movement to fully unlock the potential for resistance by states
 • Kathrina Szymborski Wolfkot
Americans Need Legal Remedies Restored Now to Protect Themselves Against Reckless ICE Agents
Congress, state legislatures, and courts can take steps to reopen avenues for litigation unduly closed off
 • Anya A. Bidwell and Marie Miller
All-Party Primaries Can Release Us From Our Partisan Doom-Loop Trap
Our republic is being destroyed by an electoral system that ignores the vast majority of the voting public
 • Danielle Allen
Trump’s Bogus Rationale for Invading Venezuela Is an Impeachable Offense
The Framers would have regarded this president as an out-of-control lunatic in desperate need of reining in by Congress
 • Andy Craig
50:39
What Tools Does Congress Still Retain to Control a Recalcitrant Executive? A Conversation with Josh Chafetz
Eventually, though, Congress needs to fix itself to effectively rein in the president
 • Andy Craig
If Soldiers Become Cops, Americans Will Have Even Less Legal Redress Against Abusive Law Enforcement
This is yet another reason why President Trump should not be allowed to call in the military for fighting crime
 • Anthony Sanders

Podcasts

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29:16
A Bloated Executive and a Starved Congress Is a Bad Combination: A Conversation with Kevin Kosar
It distorts our scheme of checks and balances and undermines our ability to self-govern
 • Andy Craig
1:02:47
Where Will the GOP—and Where Should Democrats—Go After Trump: A Conversation with Jamelle Bouie
The New York Times columnist offers his thoughts on the great MAGA crackup and the rightward shift of centrist Democrats
 • Shikha Dalmia
50:30
Trump Proved to be Unimaginably Bad for the Free Market Cause: A Conversation with Veronique de Rugy
Watch now (51 mins) | He has done things that Bernie Sanders would never have dared and opened the door to radical leftist interventions
 • Shikha Dalmia
47:07
The Case for Impeaching Trump Even if He's Not Convicted: A Conversation with Bill Kristol
Watch now | With the internal guardrails collapsing as Trump becomes more dangerously erratic, it is vital to activate this key constitutional check
 • Andy Craig
A Government Limited by the People Was Hard Won But Easily Lost: A Conversation with Robert Black
The philosophical origins of limited government were in Europe but they reached full fruition in America
 • Samantha Hancox-Li
1:08:42
Not All Trump Voters Love Him but They Regard the Other Side as Out of Touch with Them: A Conversation with Jason Mangone
Identifying opportunities to win them over requires understanding them as they understand themselves
 • Thomas Shull
Podcasts
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Zooming In at The UnPopulist
Mamdani's 100-Plus Days: Abundance Liberal or Democratic Socialist? A Discussion
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Reconstruction Agenda
A Bloated Executive and a Starved Congress Is a Bad Combination: A Conversation with Kevin Kosar
Recommendations
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The Argument
The Argument
The Argument
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Can We Still Govern?
Don Moynihan
The Renovator
The Renovator
Danielle Allen
The Watch
The Watch
Radley Balko
Dog Shirt Daily
Dog Shirt Daily
Benjamin Wittes
Top posts

Book Reviews

View all
Universities' Best Defense Against Censorship in the Public Square Is Free Inquiry
In their otherwise valuable new book, two prominent professors acknowledge the need for diverse viewpoints on campuses but don't offer a cure for…
 • Jonathan Marks
How the Chinese Immigrant Experience Shaped Birthright Citizenship
Reviving this history is vital to understanding the 14th Amendment's true intention
 • J. L. Wall
The Constitution's Sweeping Pardon Power Is Its Achilles' Heel for Checking an Imperial President
Worse, there are no good fixes in our polarized times for stopping the abuse of this dangerous tool
 • Gabriel Schoenfeld
Dear Liberals: Don’t Forget to Brag About Liberalism
Critical self-appraisals are fine so long as they don’t validate bad-faith attacks on the liberal order
 • Jonathan Rauch
Let’s Not Grant the Postliberal Critique of Market Liberalism
Discontents with liberal modernity are perennial and a spiritual awakening won't cure them
 • Jonathan Rauch
Bernie Sanders Wants to Counter MAGA's Gains With the Working Class by Challenging the Oligarchy
He wants his party to offer a bold social democratic alternative to the neoliberal consensus just as Trump has done on the right
 • Matt McManus

World

View all
Political Islam Is Rank Populism That Perverts a Fundamentally Liberal Faith
The Western right’s smearing of the entire religion and the left’s romanticization of it are both misguided
 • Mohammed Nosseir
Hungary’s Opposition Used Social Media to Topple the Authoritarian-in-Chief
Politically neutral platforms are a better way than censorship to fight propaganda and disinformation
 • Jacob Mchangama
Orbán Lost Spectacularly Because the Hungarian People Simply Stopped Fearing His Authoritarianism
They understood that his corrupt party was selling out the country to serve its own interests
 • Laszlo Gendler
If Orbán Loses Hungary's Election, It Will Dispel the Air of Invincibility Around Strongmen
This would prove that consolidating power does not protect authoritarians from self-destructing, especially when a smart opposition exploits their…
 • Laszlo Gendler
The Leading Realist Theorist Ignores Reality to Depict Putin as the Victim
John Mearsheimer’s analytic framework blinds him to the Russian dictator’s real motives for invading democratic Ukraine
 • Tom G. Palmer
Democrats Should Own Free Trade, Not Just Oppose Trump's Protectionism
Their tactical opposition to the president's tariffs will cost them leadership on this issue
 • Tibita Kaneene
Progressive Jews Are Deeply Distressed by the Rising Antisemitism on Their Own Side
They distrust the right but are pained by the left
 • Jay Michaelson
India Is Embracing China’s Authoritarian Tactics for Digital Surveillance and Control
The country’s undemocratic turn is dangerous not only for its own citizens but also the world as other populist rulers emulate its methods
 • Amal Chandra
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