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I mean, I do think this entire process that I described suggests that there are certain norms that we have in a separation of power system like the United States,

that we've seen the deterioration as a result of polarization.

You know, there's a lot of scholarship these days talking about the decline of American democracy,

and much of it focuses on the decline of separation of powers and norms.

And I think this decline of the treaty power fits with that,

but it's really sort of the ramp up of the decline in the past 15 years that we've seen that clearly fits that approach.

I mean, for the longest time, you know, polarization has been a problem for a couple of decades or so,

but it's only done recently that we've seen it be especially problematic.

I'm Jack Goldsmith, and this is the LawFair podcast, May 8, 2023.

The Constitution specifies only one process for making international agreements.

Article 2 gives the president the power to make treaties, provided that 2 thirds of the senators present concur.

The treaty process has been on a long, slow path to obsolescence,

having been replaced by various forms of binding and non-binding executive agreements.

To assess the causes and impact of the United States declining uses of treaties,

I sat down with Jeffrey Peake, a political scientist at Clemson University,

who's the author of the book, Dysfunctional Diplomacy,

...