The right of the American people to revise the Constitution acting outside of Article V is supported by compelling historical precedents, as I have shown elsewhere.   A new constitution could be adopted through a national referendum or by popular ratification of proposals made by a popular convention, for example.  In this essay, I assume that […]

The 574 federally acknowledged Native nations inhabiting what is now the United States occupy a distinctive political and legal niche within the larger society. They are recognized as the original sovereigns of North America by virtue of their continuous existences and as documented in hundreds of formal diplomatic arrangements—often termed treaties—with multiple international states including […]

First things first:  Let me commend those who are behind this project to rethink the adequacy of the United States Constitution and to suggest some important reforms.  The most important legacy of those who framed the Constitution in 1787 is less their specific handiwork, which they recognized would have inevitable flaws and imperfections—thus the need […]

As unusual as these times seem in some ways, the question of constitutional change that looms in front of us—as Americans and as contributors to this symposium—is not new. It is the same question that faced James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and the other delegates who met in Annapolis in September 1786 in a precursor to […]