By Zack Beauchamp
Bruce Ackerman looks at France for inspiration:
As Americans increasingly allow their president to break free of constitutional checks, the French are moving in precisely the opposite direction. The Constitution of 1958 created a presidency that gave DeGaulle truly extraordinary powers. Article 16 gave the president unchecked authority to declare an emergency and assert unlimited power for as long as he thought appropriate. And Article 35 authorized him to commit military forces abroad, without ever gaining parliamentary approval. But a generation onward, the French have engaged in a sweeping reappraisal of their Gaullist inheritance, leading to fundamental constitutional revisions.
A question: is the sort of legislative assertiveness Ackerman describes possible in contemporary America? If not, why?
The Dish 