Lessons from the Right: Progressive Constitutionalism for the Twenty-First Century

by Dawn Johnsen

During the closing years of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first, ideological conservatives made significant progress in their efforts to transform constitutional meaning and the dominant sources and methods of constitutional interpretation. They accomplished substantial rightward shifts in the makeup of the federal courts and the constitutional doctrine those courts announced, as well as in the constitutional views and understandings held outside the courts—by presidents, Congress, and the American people.

For twenty-first-century progressives working to further their own constitutional vision, success will depend on the effective development and promotion of substantive views. Success will also require attention to perceptions of the underlying legitimacy of these progressive efforts. Those on the ideological right long have sought to undermine progressive constitutional interpretations not only on their merits, but as illegitimate attempts to “rewrite” the Constitution—even as the Right intentionally crafted and promoted its own agenda for radical constitutional change. After years of inadequate responses to these concerted attacks, this conservative message resonates with many Americans, even with some who strongly disagree with the Right’s substantive agenda.

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