The Constitution in 2020
The ACS Spring 2005 Reading Group
It is time for progressives to set a constitutional agenda for the 21st Century. The Constitution in 2020 project is our attempt to build a counterweight to the conservative vision of the constitution developed so successfully by the right 25 years ago. This reading group is a forum for us all, as students, to think through, propose, and debate different elements of that progressive vision.
This reading group meets Tuesdays at 7pm. See the BlackBoard site for "Constitution in 2020." Email Ian Bassin (ian.bassin at yale.edu), Sarah Lipton-Lubet (sarah.lipton-lubet at yale.edu), and Matt Spence (matthew.spence at yale.edu) for more information.
Readings
At its first meeting, the reading group discussed the infamous "Meese Memos" (The Constitution in 2000 document that the Reagan Justice department wrote in 1988) that inspired this project. We are leaving that assignment here on the web for anyone who is interested:
The memos are available here:
It is not necessary to read the entire document before the first reading group meeting, but glance over it and pick subjects you are interested in to read. (Each section on a particular subject is quite short.)
For a quick introduction to these memos, take a look at this article by Dawn Johnsen:
The faculty participating in the spring conference have spent the past few months writing posts to a blog with their ideas about progressive visions of the constitution in 2020. Here is a link to that discussion -- reading some of the posts should generate ideas:
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