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LPE Originals

Capitalism and Democracy: Always, Weimar, and Now

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In the current moment, it is not a crisis of capitalism that challenges democracy, but its triumph. For this reason, our political-economic situation is quite different from that of Weimar Germany, whatever continuities and similarities may exist.
LPE Originals

Rebuilding State Authority In A Post-Trump America

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In the ruins of the administrative state after Trump, many on the left see an opportunity to design a New Deal-type reconstruction agenda. But building state capacity requires a government that is seen as legitimate, and it is precisely the erosion of legitimacy in the eyes of the public that has enabled Trump to carry out his deconstructive agenda.
LPE Originals

NIH v. APHA and the Inequities of Two-Track Justice

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The Supreme Court’s NIH v. APHA decision creates a harmful “two-track” litigation process, forcing plaintiffs to file duplicative lawsuits in different courts to obtain relief. Echoing the Pennhurst ruling of 50 years ago, the Court’s procedural maneuvering threatens to obstruct justice for those challenging discriminatory government actions.
LPE Originals

Students for Fair Admissions and the Threat of Decentralism

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By misstating the holding of SFFA in a recent dear colleague letter, the Department of Education has created a gap between what the law requires and the agency’s interpretation of the law. This gap, in addition to inviting anticipatory overcompliance, risks giving rise to inconsistent policies at different colleges and universities.
LPE Originals

Agencies Outflanked

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Four Supreme Court decisions concerning the power of the administrative state have left agencies increasingly vulnerable to attack. Each decision is significant on its own, but together they underscore the precarious position of agency action today.
LPE Originals

Federal Labor Unions Strengthen the Administrative State

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Many unitary executive proponents argue that federal labor rights undermine presidential power. This position is simplistic and short-sighted: labor rights offer the executive a different, more valuable form of power – expanded state capacity – that is necessary for modern presidents to deliver on their political priorities. And they so do in a manner that is more democratically accountable than any of the likely alternatives.
LPE Originals

The New Carceral Public Health Law

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According to recent judicial decisions, the state can criminalize homelessness, ban abortion, and restrict gender-affirming care, all in the name of public health, yet it cannot mandate vaccines nor pause evictions. How should we understand this asymmetry, and how might we realign public health jurisprudence with the pursuit of equality?
LPE Originals

From the Vault: LPE & Administrative Law

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A collection of our most illuminating posts on administrative law and democratic governance, featuring Sabeel Rahman, Karen Tani, Sophia Z. Lee, Kate Jackson, Daniel Walters, Blake Emerson, and more.
LPE Originals

America’s First Religious Public School?

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This past Friday, the Supreme Court granted cert in a case that concerns the first religious charter school in the United States. But this case is not merely about school choice or religious freedom — it also reflects a broader contest over how law structures public responsibility and private power.
LPE Originals

The TikTok Ban and the Limits of the First Amendment

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The Supreme Court’s unanimous affirmation of the TikTok Ban reveals a dangerous weakness in the First Amendment: its failure to protect against government repression that targets the economic infrastructure of speech, rather than speech itself — precisely the kind of repression that is likely to be a hallmark of the second Trump presidency.