Constilumen
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The Living Constitutionalist.A charter meant to endure for ages to come.

You see the Constitution as a framework of principles whose application grows with the country. Courts should read its broad guarantees in light of what we now understand, and the nation should be able to act on national problems.

Take the compassSee how you’d rule

Where you stand. On all five axes.

Reading the Constitution

Strongly living document

States and the nation

Leans national government

The presidency

Balanced

Liberty and order

Leans individual liberty

The courts

Leans judicial engagement
Original meaningLiving documentNational governmentStatesThe MadisonianThe Originalist SentinelThe Federalist StewardThe Constitutional LibertarianThe Civil Liberties ChampionThe National BuilderThe Strong but Fair ExecutiveThe Guardian of OrderThe MajoritarianThe Pragmatic Centrist
The Living Constitutionalist (filled) among the other 10. Hover a dot for its name.

The Living Constitutionalist

“The principles hold; their reach grows.”

  • Reading the ConstitutionStrongly living document
  • The courtsLeans judicial engagement
  • 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

  • Lets old guarantees meet new facts, from wiretaps to the internet
  • Sees the document’s broad language as deliberate

Where you’re tested

  • Who decides what the principles now require?
  • Readings can shift with whoever holds the Court

Your docket. How you’d likely rule.

Six hypothetical cases, decided from where The Living Constitutionalist stands on each one’s axis. Hypothetical on purpose: no real judge’s record is implied.

DocketThe Living Constitutionalist
  1. 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.
  2. No. 02In re AirstrikesThe President orders sustained airstrikes abroad without asking Congress.The presidencyWeighs the facts; could go either way.
  3. No. 03City v. Rally OrganizersA city bans a peaceful rally whose message most residents find hateful.Liberty and orderStrikes the ban: the rally goes ahead.
  4. No. 04Challengers v. Popular StatuteA law passed by a wide margin is challenged as unconstitutional.The courtsEnforces the Constitution and strikes the law.
  5. No. 05Petitioner v. Unnamed RightA court is asked to recognize a right the text never names.Reading the ConstitutionRecognizes it from the document’s principles.
  6. No. 06People v. Roadside SearchPolice search a car without a warrant and find evidence of a crime.Liberty and orderExcludes the evidence: get a warrant.

The clauses you lean on. In the document itself.

The Ninth Amendment

Listing some rights does not deny others the people keep.

Due process

Liberty that no state may take without due process of law.

The Necessary and Proper Clause

The means to carry the nation’s powers into effect.

Cases that test you. From the record.

The landmark cases that turned on your two strongest axes: reading the constitution and the courts.

Your rival: The Originalist Sentinel

The words meant something, and they still do.

Read their side

Further 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.

All 11 constitutionalists. Which are you?

The MadisonianAmbition must be made to counteract ambition.The Originalist SentinelThe words meant something, and they still do.The Federalist StewardFifty laboratories, not one blueprint.The Constitutional LibertarianThe Bill of Rights is a list of things government may not do.The Civil Liberties ChampionRights are most tested when they are least popular.The Living ConstitutionalistA charter meant to endure for ages to come.The National BuilderOne nation, able to act as one.The Strong but Fair ExecutiveEnergy in the executive, under the law.The Guardian of OrderTo insure domestic Tranquility.The MajoritarianLet the people decide.The Pragmatic CentristIt depends on the case.
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