Thread by @jbouie

.⁦@willwilkinson⁩ being brilliant as usual modelcitizen.substack.com/p/the-anti-maj…

want to tattoo this on the back of everyone who has made founder worship and “constitutional conservatism” their personality

and this is just a good point.

I think I might amend Will’s point by saying that there’s nothing illegitimate about limits on majoritarianism and that the American system of shared powers, separated institutions, federalism, and substantive representation is a good one for governing a large, diverse polity.

The issue is that the counter-majoritarian parts of the system have been weaponized to stymie governance and entrench factional interests.

This exactly. It is not clear to me why necessary limits on majoritarianism thus justifies overlapping structures and veto points that empower narrow factions and minority governance.

https://twitter.com/fyodor32768/status/1385584973491675139

Let me revise this by saying I think this is the essence of the American system and that there are different institutional arrangements that can meet its terms. And I think we should look for one that maximizes political equality within the scope of American-style democracy.

https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/1385584571576688647

Which gets to the central point that for all the warnings about majoritarianism there really isn’t any part of the American system that, right now, works on majoritarian terms. Majorities cannot directly elect the president, or elect majorities in the House or Senate.

And the conservative position is to entrench and deepen this.