A defense of the Electoral College

“… when Hamilton stated . . . that he believed electors would use “information and discernment,” that is not very good evidence that future electors did in fact use information and discernment. But it is quite good evidence that Hamilton and his readers believed the Constitution empowered electors to do so.”

New scholarly article explains amendments conventions

The new article “marshals a massive amount of historical evidence to show that a convention for proposing amendments is simply a ‘convention of the states,’ a frequent kind of gathering in U.S. history, and one whose make-up and procedures is well known.

Underselling Originalism

Originalism is not a modern invention “[T]he ‘intent of the makers’ had been the lodestar of documentary construction since at least the 1500s.”