Nondelegation: The Constitutional Principle Almost Everyone Ignores
“The very definition of tyranny.” That’s how James Madison described the consolidation of legislative, executive, and judicial power in the same hands. This wasn’t just a warning. It’s one of the core principles underlying the Constitution:...
Not Just Bad Policy: The Founders Called it Treason and War
Treason. Invasion. Conquest. That’s how the Founders and old revolutionaries described usurpation – power stolen, not delegated. And it wasn’t just rhetoric. It was a foundational, and now-forgotten principle at the very heart of the American Revolution. When...
A Positive Feedback Loop of Power-Grabbing
The classical liberal philosophy expounded by John Locke and many of the American founders was a brilliant attempt to abolish government by the principle of “might makes right.” They wanted to convert government from an arbitrary force over the people into something...