At the Liberty and Law blog, Michael Rappaport has posted a thoughtful response to my recent post arguing that liberal democrats are sometimes justified in supporting restrictions on democracy in cases where the majority public opinion is highly illiberal. I cited survey data and other evidence suggesting that Egypt is probably such a case. Michael […]
Author Archive | Ilya Somin
Upcoming Huffington Post Live Discussion on Egypt, Constitutionalism, and Democracy
This Monday at 4:30 PM (eastern time), I will be participating in a Huffington Post Live video discussion on democracy, constitutionalism, and their role in recent events in Egypt. I don’t yet know the exact parameters of the discussion or who the other participants will be (the organizers indicated that this article helped inspire them […]
Upcoming Talk on the War on Drugs before the Northern Virginia Chapter of NORML
On Thursday, July 11, I will be giving a speech on the politics of the War on Drugs before the Northern Virginia chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). The event is open to the public. The NORML meeting will begin with refreshements at 7:30 PM, and my talk and […]
France’s NSA-Like Electronic Surveillance Program
Yesterday, the major French newspaper Le Monde published an article revealing that the French government runs a massive electronic surveillance program similar to the US NSA program that has caused massive international controversy. Here is a summary of the revelations in English, published by the left-wing British newspaper The Guardian. For French-speaking readers, the original […]
Restricting Democracy in Order to Protect Other Liberal Values
Some argue that it would be hypocritical for the United States or other Western nations to support the recent military coup against radical Islamist Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. After all, we supposedly champion democracy, and Morsi was democratically elected. Whether the US should endorse the post-coup government, oppose it, or take a wait-and-see attitude is […]
A Real Live Third Amendment Case
The Third Amendment, which forbids the “quarter[ing]” of “soldiers” in private homes in peacetime without the owner’s consent, is often the butt of jokes among lawyers, because it generates so little litigation. But the Amendment has come up in this ongoing Nevada case, along with the Fourth Amendment and state law claims [HT: my former […]
Updated Reflections on the Revolution in Egypt
When the Egypt’s Mubarak dictatorship began to collapse two years ago, I wrote a post entitled “Reflections on the Potential Revolution in Egypt,” shamelessly copying Edmund Burke. I suggested that the rebellion could easily end up establishing a regime even worse than Mubarak’s was. Unfortunately, the new radical Islamist government of Mohammed Morsi did indeed […]
Frederick Douglass on How We Should Remember the Civil War
On Civil War anniversaries, like today’s 150th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Gettysburg, it has become traditional to commemorate both sides equally. There is some logic to this practice. We do not want to unnecessarily perpetuate sectional grievances, or be seen as somehow blaming today’s white southerners for the wrongs of earlier […]
The 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg
Today is the 150th anniversary of Pickett’s Charge and the last day of the Battle Gettysburg. Many modern historians take issue with the traditional view that this Union victory was the decisive battle of the Civil War. They point out that the Confederacy still had a chance to win by demoralizing northern public opinion during […]
Canada Day
By Ilya Somin on July 1, 2013 8:56 pm in Canada, Economic LIberties, Federalism, Growth of Government, Sports and Games
Since today is Canada Day, this is an appropriate time to thank that nation for giving us most of the greatest Boston Bruins players, including Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Ray Bourque, and Rick “Nifty” Middleton (my favorite player when I was little). I even rooted for Canada more than the US in the 1984 and […]
The Case for Federal Eminent Domain Reform
By Ilya Somin on July 1, 2013 7:54 pm in Blight, Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
Nick Sibilla of the Institute for Justice, the libertarian public interest firm that litigated Kelo v. City of New London and many other property rights cases, has a good op ed in Forbes on the need for reform measures to curb federal funding of abusive condemnations by state and local governments: Eight years ago, the […]
A Brief Review of World War Z
I saw the movie version of World War Z last night. Although it was mostly for entertainment, I was also conducting in-depth academic research for my article on political ignorance and the undead, my planned contribution to Economics of the Undead: Blood Brains and Benjamins, edited by Glen Whitman and James Dow! The article builds […]
Did the Obama Administration have a Duty to Defend DOMA?
By Ilya Somin on June 30, 2013 5:20 pm in Constitutional Theory, DOMA, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Presidency
I have a somewhat different perspective than co-blogger Todd Zywicki on the Obama administration’s decision not to defend DOMA in court. In my view, the President’s duty to uphold the Constitution supersedes any obligation he might have to defend a federal statute. Therefore, if he sincerely believes that a federal law is unconstitutional, he should […]
The First Anniversary of the Obamacare Decision
By Ilya Somin on June 28, 2013 1:30 pm in Federalism, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper, Spending Clause, Taxing and Spending Clause
Today is the first anniversary of NFIB v. Sebelius, the Supreme Court’s controversial decision in the Obamacare case. It is still too soon for us to fully appreciate the long-term impact of the ruling. We are also still far from reaching any kind of consensus about the correctness of the Court’s decision. For the moment, […]
Stuart Taylor’s Response to My Post on Prospects for Challenges to University Affirmative Action Policies After Fisher
By Ilya Somin on June 27, 2013 12:10 pm in Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas, Racial Discrimination
Well-known columnist Stuart Taylor has posted a thoughtful response to my critique of his earlier post arguing that the prospects for future challenges to university affirmative policies after Fisher are bleak: Ilya Somin has posted a critique of my Minding The Campus commentary worrying that the Supreme Court’s decision in Fisher v. University of Texas […]