Status Updates From Democracy in America (Signe...
Democracy in America (Signet Classics) by
Status Updates Showing 1-30 of 10,799
Reed Fagan
is on page 112 of 920
Political Jurisdiction in the US.
American "political jurisdiction...[may be]...the most formidable weapon [ever] placed in the grasp of a majority. When the American republics begin to degenerate, [we can test if this is true by] whether the number of political impeachments is increased." -p111
T lauds that impchmnt means poltcns face only pol. consqncs. In France it's also always crimnl, thus less likely to be used
— 14 hours, 7 min ago
Add a comment
American "political jurisdiction...[may be]...the most formidable weapon [ever] placed in the grasp of a majority. When the American republics begin to degenerate, [we can test if this is true by] whether the number of political impeachments is increased." -p111
T lauds that impchmnt means poltcns face only pol. consqncs. In France it's also always crimnl, thus less likely to be used
Reed Fagan
is on page 103 of 920
"But the American judge is brought into the political arena independently of his own will. He judges the law only because he is obliged to judge a case."-p.103
John Oliver this wk pointed out the danger of SCOTUS' discretionary power over which cases they ignore & esp which cases they elevate & expedite rulings on, i.e. "the shadow docket".
— 21 hours, 6 min ago
Add a comment
John Oliver this wk pointed out the danger of SCOTUS' discretionary power over which cases they ignore & esp which cases they elevate & expedite rulings on, i.e. "the shadow docket".
Reed Fagan
is on page 103 of 920
Judicial Power in the United States.
"by intimately uniting the trial of the law with the trial of an individual, legislation is protected from wanton assaults and from the daily aggressions of party spirit."-p.102
— 21 hours, 8 min ago
Add a comment
"by intimately uniting the trial of the law with the trial of an individual, legislation is protected from wanton assaults and from the daily aggressions of party spirit."-p.102
Reed Fagan
is on page 97 of 920
Townships & Municipal Bodies.
T claims it is politics at the town level that is the secret sauce of America. The buy-in/ownership/initiative there is genuine and enlivened in ways not true in much of Europe in his opinion, where generations of top-down governance makes ppl "subjects" rather than "citizens". NB, T extrapolates to all America from seeing mainly Mass. towns.
— 21 hours, 24 min ago
Add a comment
T claims it is politics at the town level that is the secret sauce of America. The buy-in/ownership/initiative there is genuine and enlivened in ways not true in much of Europe in his opinion, where generations of top-down governance makes ppl "subjects" rather than "citizens". NB, T extrapolates to all America from seeing mainly Mass. towns.
Reed Fagan
is on page 74 of 920
"It is to be remembered, too, that the affections of men generally turn towards power." -p. 66, Alexis de Tolkien 🤭
— May 06, 2026 06:04PM
Add a comment
Reed Fagan
is on page 71 of 920
Townships and Municipal Bodies.
"No idea was ever entertained of attacking the principal or contesting the rights of society; but the exercise of its authority was divided, in order that the office might be powerful and the officer insignificant, and that the community should be at once regulated and free. In no [other] country in the world... is the right of applying [the law] vested in so many hands." -p.71
— May 06, 2026 05:53PM
Add a comment
"No idea was ever entertained of attacking the principal or contesting the rights of society; but the exercise of its authority was divided, in order that the office might be powerful and the officer insignificant, and that the community should be at once regulated and free. In no [other] country in the world... is the right of applying [the law] vested in so many hands." -p.71
Reed Fagan
is on page 58 of 920
Sovereignty of the People.
"When a nation begins to modify the elective qualification, it may easily be foreseen that, sooner or later, that qualification will be entirely abolished...no stop can be made short of universal suffrage." -p. 57
Suffrage ended up going further than T might have been able to conceive.
"The people reign in the American political world as the Deity does in the universe." -p. 58
— May 05, 2026 10:29AM
Add a comment
"When a nation begins to modify the elective qualification, it may easily be foreseen that, sooner or later, that qualification will be entirely abolished...no stop can be made short of universal suffrage." -p. 57
Suffrage ended up going further than T might have been able to conceive.
"The people reign in the American political world as the Deity does in the universe." -p. 58













