Will Morrisey
Politics
May 19, 2025

Becoming a Deficit Nation

The Roosevelt Administration tried to revive the World War I debt collection policy, only to see Hitler cancel reparations payments, dismiss the terms of the Versailles Treaty, withdraw from the League of Nations, and remilitarize Germany with malign intent.

Richard Epstein
Constitutionalism
May 16, 2025

There Is No Birthright Citizenship for Children Born of Aliens within the United States

Birthright citizenship is not required by our constitutional law.

Jonathan Miltimore
Politics
May 16, 2025

‍The Pope Who Foresaw the Horrors of Communism‍

Pope Pius IX denounced communism as a moral monstrosity in 1846.

Why We Can’t Quit Racial Redistricting

Why We Can’t Quit Racial Redistricting

GianCarlo Canaparo
Constitutionalism
May 16, 2025
Roberts’ Rules for Defending the Rule of Law

Roberts’ Rules for Defending the Rule of Law

Jonathan H. Adler
Constitutionalism
May 15, 2025
Ending Nationwide Injunctions

Ending Nationwide Injunctions

John Yoo, Robert Delahunty
Constitutionalism
May 15, 2025
Trump, Lincoln and a ‘Habeas Corpus Threat’
Trump, Lincoln and a ‘Habeas Corpus Threat’

Prof. John Yoo replies to William Galston.

John Yoo
Constitutionalism
May 18, 2025
Donald Trump Has Scrambled the Old Class Allegiances

Oligarchs, professionals and the working class are all divided among themselves.

Joel Kotkin
Politics
May 14, 2025
The Originalist Case for Birthright Citizenship

A Supreme Court guided by originalist principles should affirm the constitutionality of birthright citizenship.

John Yoo, Robert Delahunty
Constitutionalism
May 9, 2025
The High Cost of California’s Green Energy Policies

California can only prosper if it can develop affordable, reliable energy from all sources, including the state’s fossil fuel supplies.

Joel Kotkin
Economic Dynamism
May 7, 2025
The Pope of Progress?

Francis made progressive politics his lodestar. The result was a failed papacy.

Richard Reinsch
Politics
May 6, 2025
Faculty Viewpoint Diversity: An Instant Fix

To gain the trust of wary faculty, presidents need not only to set out a firm and precise understanding of the campus environment they would like to foster, but also to back up those words with consistent and determined action.

Jenna Silber Storey, Benjamin Storey
Pursuit of Happiness
May 5, 2025
Bad News for America Doomers

Prophecies of America’s downfall conflate the United States, a people and place, with the US government.

Joel Kotkin
Pursuit of Happiness
May 2, 2025
Religious Charter Schools Should Pass the Supreme Court Test

A case from Oklahoma will determine whether American education becomes more or less centralized, homogeneous, and anticompetitive.

Michael Toth, Gavin Schiffres
Pursuit of Happiness
Apr 29, 2025
The High Cost of California’s Green Energy Policies
The High Cost of California’s Green Energy Policies

California can only prosper if it can develop affordable, reliable energy from all sources, including the state’s fossil fuel supplies.

Joel Kotkin
Economic Dynamism
May 7, 2025
Partisan Trust in the Federal Reserve

This paper examines partisanship in public perceptions of the Federal Reserve.

Carola Binder, Cody Couture, Abhiprerna Smit
Economic Dynamism
Apr 22, 2025
A Bad Business on the Bayou

Chevron finds itself the victim of a political alliance between the tort bar and Louisiana Republicans.

Michael Toth
Economic Dynamism
Apr 1, 2025
Congress Must Shield US Companies from European Regulations

Congress should exercise its constitutional powers over foreign commerce to guard American companies against overregulation by the European Union.

Michael Toth
Economic Dynamism
Mar 27, 2025
ESG Would Rain on Spring Break

Americans have access to abundant, reliable energy, unlike Europeans under strict climate mandates.

Michael Toth
Economic Dynamism
Mar 10, 2025
The American Dream Is Not a Coin Flip, and Wages Have Not Stagnated

This paper challenges the prevailing narrative that stagnant wages are causing the American dream to fade. It contrasts subjective public opinion with revised objective intergenerational mobility measures.

Scott Winship
Economic Dynamism
Mar 6, 2025
Political Economy and the Rise of Commercial Humanism

Western attitudes toward commerce have transformed from early moral condemnation to a modern appreciation that sees trade as socially beneficial.

Erik Matson
Economic Dynamism
Feb 28, 2025
Why Failure-to-Market Claims Are Preempted Under Federal Law

A California appellate court invented out of whole cloth a new and troubling theory of tort liability.

Richard Epstein, Benjamin Flowers
Economic Dynamism
Feb 5, 2025
Donald Trump Has Scrambled the Old Class Allegiances
Donald Trump Has Scrambled the Old Class Allegiances

Oligarchs, professionals and the working class are all divided among themselves.

Joel Kotkin
Politics
May 14, 2025
The Pope of Progress?

Francis made progressive politics his lodestar. The result was a failed papacy.

Richard Reinsch
Politics
May 6, 2025
The Dangers of the Political Gender Gap

Young women and men are gravitating towards opposite political extremes, with potentially explosive consequences.

Joel Kotkin
Politics
Apr 24, 2025
What Trump Can Learn from George W. Bush on Immigration Strategy

The White House should follow the Bush administration’s example and avoid antagonizing the Supreme Court.

John Yoo
Politics
Apr 23, 2025
Trump Could Have a Strong Case to Revoke Harvard’s Tax-Exempt Status

Thanks to a 1983 opinion widely hailed by progressives at the time, the administration could be on solid ground.

John Yoo, Robert Delahunty
Politics
Apr 21, 2025
Mahmoud Khalil Invites America to Judgment

A free and good society cannot be ‘open’ to everything, no matter how ugly or pernicious.

Richard M. Reinsch II
Politics
Apr 7, 2025
Are the Democrats Drifting Further Left?

Now is a good time to examine what the Democratic party believes in, who its main protagonists are, and what their agenda is.

Joel Kotkin
Politics
Apr 5, 2025
An M.I.A. Congress Exacerbates the Clash Between Trump and the Courts

Congress has to step up and take some responsibility for the shaping of public policy.

John Yoo, Robert J. Delahunty
Politics
Mar 26, 2025
Trump, Lincoln and a ‘Habeas Corpus Threat’
Trump, Lincoln and a ‘Habeas Corpus Threat’

Prof. John Yoo replies to William Galston.

John Yoo
Constitutionalism
May 18, 2025
The Originalist Case for Birthright Citizenship

A Supreme Court guided by originalist principles should affirm the constitutionality of birthright citizenship.

John Yoo, Robert Delahunty
Constitutionalism
May 9, 2025
Religious Exemptions?: What the Free Exercise Clause Means

A conversation among three religious liberty scholars on the Free Exercise Clause’s original meaning.

Andrew Koppelman, Michael McConnell, Vincent Phillip Muñoz
Constitutionalism
Apr 28, 2025
Burnham’s Counterrevolution

Richard Reinsch reviews David T. Byrne's new biography of James Burnham.

Richard M. Reinsch II
Constitutionalism
Mar 28, 2025
How Not to Run the World

John Yoo examines Straussian approaches to foreign policy.

John Yoo
Constitutionalism
Mar 23, 2025
Trump’s Risky Reliance on the Alien Enemies Act

A symbolic show of resolve on illegal immigration could hamper Trump’s effort to revive the Monroe Doctrine.

John Yoo, Robert Delahunty
Constitutionalism
Mar 21, 2025
Trump’s Worthy Effort to Rein In ‘Independent’ Agencies

The Trump administration is making a bold and principled attempt to restore these wayward bodies to the control of the executive branch.

John Yoo & Robert Delahunty
Constitutionalism
Mar 3, 2025
Rational Nondelegation

The nondelegation doctrine, which forbids Congress from transferring excessive power to the executive branch, has risen from the dead.

John Yoo
Constitutionalism
Feb 27, 2025
Faculty Viewpoint Diversity: An Instant Fix
Faculty Viewpoint Diversity: An Instant Fix

To gain the trust of wary faculty, presidents need not only to set out a firm and precise understanding of the campus environment they would like to foster, but also to back up those words with consistent and determined action.

Jenna Silber Storey, Benjamin Storey
Pursuit of Happiness
May 5, 2025
Bad News for America Doomers

Prophecies of America’s downfall conflate the United States, a people and place, with the US government.

Joel Kotkin
Pursuit of Happiness
May 2, 2025
Religious Charter Schools Should Pass the Supreme Court Test

A case from Oklahoma will determine whether American education becomes more or less centralized, homogeneous, and anticompetitive.

Michael Toth, Gavin Schiffres
Pursuit of Happiness
Apr 29, 2025
‘American Oasis’ Review: The Lure of the Desert

The Southwest has recently sent left-leaning senators to Washington. As more minorities move there, the region might shift to the right.

Joel Kotkin
Pursuit of Happiness
Apr 9, 2025
California’s Population Bump Won’t Make Up for Its Long Term Slide

People are leaving, or not coming to California, for rational reasons — and most of them are economic.

Joel Kotkin
Pursuit of Happiness
Apr 1, 2025
How Federal Lands Can Be Used to Ease the Housing Crisis

To create affordable homes on federal lands, the federal government shouldn’t sell lands for development — it should lease them.

Joel Kotkin, Michael Toth
Pursuit of Happiness
Mar 10, 2025
In Southern L.A., These Cities Are Making a Comeback

The key is governance and a strong local focus.

Joel Kotkin
Pursuit of Happiness
Mar 6, 2025
California’s Housing Problems Require a Better Solution than Densify, Densify, Densify

California’s mounting housing problem requires more alternatives, especially for people seeking lower rents and affordable single-family houses.

Joel Kotkin
Pursuit of Happiness
Feb 18, 2025
No items found.
No items found.
Who we are

We are a community of scholars exploring the ideas and institutions that create flourishing societies.

Independent thought, civil discourse, reasoned deliberation and intellectual curiosity are central to the Civitas ethos.

Learn more
Join the newsletter

Get the Civitas Outlook daily digest, plus new research and events.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
The latest from

Civitas Outlook

View all

Becoming a Deficit Nation

The Roosevelt Administration tried to revive the World War I debt collection policy, only to see Hitler cancel reparations payments, dismiss the terms of the Versailles Treaty, withdraw from the League of Nations, and remilitarize Germany with malign intent.

Will Morrisey
Politics
May 19, 2025

There Is No Birthright Citizenship for Children Born of Aliens within the United States

Birthright citizenship is not required by our constitutional law.

Richard Epstein
Constitutionalism
May 16, 2025

‍The Pope Who Foresaw the Horrors of Communism‍

Pope Pius IX denounced communism as a moral monstrosity in 1846.

Jonathan Miltimore
Politics
May 16, 2025

Why We Can’t Quit Racial Redistricting

The racial redistricting madness created by the Supreme Court happened because some justices claimed the power to rewrite laws to fit their enlightened views about social policy.

GianCarlo Canaparo
Constitutionalism
May 16, 2025

Roberts’ Rules for Defending the Rule of Law

Chief Justice John Roberts has called out both Democrats and Republicans for unwarranted attacks on the judiciary.

Jonathan H. Adler
Constitutionalism
May 15, 2025

Virginia Postrel and Adam Thierer on Big Trends and Big Ideas in Dynamism

Economic Dynamism
Apr 29, 2025
1:09:22

Joel Mokyr on American Dynamism vs. Techno-pessimism

Economic Dynamism
Apr 29, 2025
1:04:30

Arthur Herman on Mobility, Markets, and Natural Law

Economic Dynamism
Apr 29, 2025
45:04

Yuval Levin on How the Constitution Unified our Nation – and Could Again

Constitutionalism
Mar 27, 2025
1:08:53

Dignity and Dynamism: The Future of Conservative Technology Policy

Economic Dynamism
Mar 5, 2025
2:49:13

Law Talk

Welcome to Law Talk with Richard Epstein and John Yoo. Our show is hosted by Charles C. W. Cooke.

View all
** items

The Three Whiskey Happy Hour

Steven Hayward brings you the Power Line Blog's perspective on the week's big headlines.

View all
** items
Upcoming events
No items found.
View all
In-person Event
Apr 16, 2025

Austin Symposium on Economic Dynamism