Division and Polarization in American Politics: Balancing Majority Rule and Minority Rights
The Michael Shermer Show
Michael Shermer
4.3 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 20 July 2024
⏱️ 73 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Common ground is hard to find in today's politics. Many people, frustrated with a system demanding constant compromise, blame the Constitution for the discord. However, conservative scholar Yuval Levin argues that the Constitution is not the problem but the solution. In American Covenant, Levin blends engaging history with lucid analysis to reveal the Constitution's true genius and its power to facilitate constructive disagreement, negotiate resolutions, and forge unity in a fractured society. He also offers practical solutions for reforming malfunctioning aspects of the constitutional order.
Hospeful and insightful, American Covenant celebrates the Constitution's remarkable power to unite a diverse society, reassuring us that a less divided future is possible. Levin's work is rooted in the best of our political tradition, highlighting the framers' sophisticated grasp of political division and the Constitution's exceptional ability to foster unity.
Yuval Levin is the director of social, cultural, and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He is the founder and editor of National Affairs and a senior editor at The New Atlantis. Levin's previous books include The Fractured Republic and A Time to Build. A former member of the White House domestic policy staff under George W. Bush, he lives in Maryland.
Shermer and Levin discuss: Trump assassination attempt: conspiracy or incompetence? • Biden cognitive infirmities and why the party can't replace him • Out of 340 million Americans why did we end up with these two guys? • why the country is more polarized than ever before • the unique genius of the founding fathers • The Federalist Papers • why the three branches of government—legislative, executive, judicial—were established • what the founders got right and what they got wrong.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the Michael Sherman Show. The Michael Sherber Show Hey everybody it's Michael Schurmer and it's time for another episode of the |
| 0:27.8 | Michael Schurmer show as always brought to you by the Skeptic |
| 0:30.4 | Society and Skeptic magazine hey here it it is. Here's the latest issue on |
| 0:34.0 | culture wars. Yes censorship, culture, cancel culture and so on has reached the realm of |
| 0:41.0 | science and science magazines except for Skeptic. You can pick us up at |
| 0:45.9 | any fine bookstore and we're carried pretty much in every bookstore in North America. |
| 0:49.8 | You can go to Skeptic.com slash magazine and order your subscription or you can get back issues all the way back to |
| 0:55.8 | 1992 when we founded the magazine and started with Isaac Asimov on our cover. |
| 1:01.1 | We had just died then. If you want to support the society we are |
| 1:04.1 | of a 501c3 go to skeptic.com slash donate. All right. My guest today is |
| 1:09.9 | Yavaldavin the director of social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise |
| 1:15.3 | Institute, AEEI, where he holds the Beth and Ravenel Curry chair in public policy. The founder and editor of National Affairs, he is also a senior editor at The New Atlantis, |
| 1:27.6 | a contributing editor at National Review, and a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times. |
| 1:33.8 | His previous books include The F fractured Republic. |
| 1:37.4 | Oh boy, he's gonna have to do an update on that one. |
| 1:39.1 | Well he did because he has a new book out. |
| 1:41.0 | And his other book is called A Time to build here's the new book American |
| 1:45.6 | covenant how the Constitution unified our nation and could again and oh boy do we ever need that. |
| 1:54.0 | Yevall nice to see you you're the perfect guest for this week. |
| 1:56.6 | Oh my God. |
| 1:57.6 | Well thank you very much for having me Michael. |
| 2:02.3 | You must be discriminating the factored republic when was that was that was like eight years ago you wrote that book? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Michael Shermer, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Michael Shermer and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

