The Guardian of Order.To insure domestic Tranquility.
You read the Constitution as the foundation of a government that must first keep people safe. Liberties matter, but they are weighed against public order and security, and a capable government should be able to enforce the law.
Where you stand. On all five axes.
The Guardian of Order
“No liberty survives without order.”
- Liberty and orderStrongly order and security
- The presidencyLeans strong executive
- States and the nationLeans national government
constilumen.com/play/compass
Your profile card. What you’d share.
Take the compass and your own card shows your scores on every axis. Copy the link to your result and anyone who opens it sees the same picture.
Where you’re strong
- Takes the Preamble’s promise of security seriously
- Supports the institutions that enforce the law
Where you’re tested
- History is full of liberties lost in the name of safety
- Hard to say when an emergency ends
Your docket. How you’d likely rule.
Six hypothetical cases, decided from where The Guardian of Order stands on each one’s axis. Hypothetical on purpose: no real judge’s record is implied.
- No. 01State v. Federal MandateA governor refuses to carry out a new federal program inside the state.States and the nationSides with the nation: federal law is supreme.
- No. 02In re AirstrikesThe President orders sustained airstrikes abroad without asking Congress.The presidencyUpholds the President’s call as Commander in Chief.
- No. 03City v. Rally OrganizersA city bans a peaceful rally whose message most residents find hateful.Liberty and orderUpholds the ban to keep the peace.
- No. 04Challengers v. Popular StatuteA law passed by a wide margin is challenged as unconstitutional.The courtsDefers to the legislature unless the violation is plain.
- No. 05Petitioner v. Unnamed RightA court is asked to recognize a right the text never names.Reading the ConstitutionWeighs the facts; could go either way.
- No. 06People v. Roadside SearchPolice search a car without a warrant and find evidence of a crime.Liberty and orderAdmits the evidence: the search was reasonable.
Cases that test you. From the record.
The landmark cases that turned on your two strongest axes: liberty and order and the presidency.
- Korematsu v. United States323 U.S. 214 (1944) · 6–3 · Liberty and orderWas the wartime exclusion of people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast constitutional?
- Brandenburg v. Ohio395 U.S. 444 (1969) · 8–0 · Liberty and orderCould Ohio convict a Ku Klux Klan leader for advocating violence at a rally?
- Katz v. United States389 U.S. 347 (1967) · 7–1 · Liberty and orderWas recording a call from a public phone booth without a warrant a search?
- Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer343 U.S. 579 (1952) · 6–3 · The presidencyCould President Truman seize the nation’s steel mills during the Korean War without authority from Congress?
- United States v. Nixon418 U.S. 683 (1974) · 8–0 · The presidencyCould President Nixon withhold White House tapes subpoenaed for a criminal trial?
- Trump v. United States603 U.S. 593 (2024) · 6–3 · The presidencyIs a former President immune from criminal prosecution for official acts?
Your rival: The Constitutional Libertarian
The Bill of Rights is a list of things government may not do.
Read their sideFurther reading. Official and nonpartisan.
The Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments, as ratified in 1791.
National Archives
Register to vote
Registration deadlines and how to register in every state and territory.
U.S. government
Constitution Annotated
The official, clause-by-clause analysis of how the Constitution has been interpreted.
Library of Congress
The Interactive Constitution
Each clause explained by scholars from different perspectives.
National Constitution Center
All civic resources, including how to register to vote and find your election office.