More on Perry's Constitutionalism

Adam White, a lawyer in Washington D.C. blogging for The Weekly Standard, finds a surprising partner in agreement with Rick Perry on his idea to add an amendment to the Constitution which would give the Congress the ability to overturn Supreme Court rulings by a two-thirds majority:  the Progressive Party of 1912.

White explains more:

In 1912, one of the party's major platform planks was the referendum, empowering voters to overturn state court decisions. And while the party's platform proposed the referendum to supersede state courts, its presidential candidate, Teddy Roosevelt, more than hinted that they should apply to the federal judiciary as well.

He goes on to lambast Ruth Marcus, who disingenuously argued that Perry's plan would have caused Brown v. Board of Education to be overturned by Congress in 1954.

Referendum, recall, and other like measures initiated by progressives early in the twentieth century greatly weakened the structure of federalism and increased the importance and power of the federal government.  For progressives, this fit into their project of fundamentally transforming politics so that it would center on following the will of the governed.  The administration of politics was left to administrators in the bureaucracy who would be insulated from partisan opinions.  Government then was seen as the primary mover and instigator in bringing about change at a rapid pace.  The Founders' ideas on separation of powers, federalism, and a written constitution were seen as impediments to quickly enacting policies demanded by the public will.  This is why Woodrow Wilson argued in his early years to restructure Congress as a cabinet, or parliamentary, system of government.

I know Perry obviously does not base his political proposals on the foundations described above, but it should give one pause to wonder if his well-intentioned proposals are truly compatible with founding principles.